Capgemini appoints Olaf Pietschner as Australia & New Zealand CEO
An ex-Deloitte partner has been chosen to lead Capgemini in Australia & New Zealand. Olaf Pietschner has, as of late last month, been appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer.
After joining Capgemini in May last year as Chief Operational Officer, Olaf Pietschner has moved up to take the top executive spot as CEO. Pietschner will replace the outgoing CEO Nicolas Aidoud who retained the position for two years but recently resigned in pursuit of ‘other opportunities’.
The new head of Capgemini will bring to the table over 25 years of consulting and digital experience, having formerly worked with a number of leading organisations both within and outside of Australia.
According to a press release announcing the promotion, Pietschner has a “strong record of delivering quantitative and qualitative measures of operational efficiencies while changing mindsets and culture to successfully realise a compelling digital vision for media, energy, technology and engineering businesses.”
Before he joined the Capgemini team, Pietschner held executive positions at both Origin Energy and News Corp. During his eight-year stint with Origin, he served as Chief Information Officer, and prior to that, Pietschner worked as News Corp’s Group Director of Technology for five years. In both of these positions he led the digital and technological transition agenda and facilitated a customer-focused and innovative culture. He has also held a position as a partner with Deloitte.
The new appointee holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Verwaltungs- und Wirtschaftsakademie in Bochum, Germany, and has completed an Executive Leadership Program with MIT Sloan School of Management. Pietschner said in regard to his new position; “I am honoured to have the opportunity to lead Capgemini in Australia and New Zealand as we continue to build on our momentum for growth.”
“With over 2,000 employees working with our clients in the top 50 ASX listed companies and major public sector organisations, we will continue to leverage our investments in digital and cloud, taking a client-centric approach to drive our clients’ innovation priorities for real business outcomes,” he continued.
Having previously worked with Capgemini for a brief period between 2002 and 2004, Pietschner said on his return to the global consulting leader as COO in May last year. ‘I am very excited to return to Capgemini to be part of what is undoubtedly the most collaborative, innovative and results orientated consulting and technology organisation in the market, and to support our Group ambition for Australia in driving competitiveness and growth. We will drive innovation with our clients to create value for their ongoing digital transformation and to foster top talent in Capgemini.”
Executive chairman of Capgemini in Asia Pacific and Middle East, Luc-Francois Salvador, said in a statement: “As we move forward into the next phase of our continued transformation and growth, Olaf’s extensive experience in business, technology consulting and digital transformation will strengthen our innovation agenda to address the business ambitions of our clients, aligning our service portfolio with customer demand for both innovation and competitiveness.”
“Olaf has been a key member of our executive team and is a proven leader with extensive industry experience and operational expertise,” continued Salvador.
“As we move forward into the next phase of our continued transformation and growth, Olaf’s extensive experience in business, technology consulting and digital transformation will strengthen our innovation agenda to address the business ambitions of our clients, aligning our service portfolio with customer demand for both innovation and competitiveness,” he concluded.
