Kearney appoints Gerd Schenkel to Australian partnership
Global management consulting firm Kearney has bolstered its partner team in Australia with Gerd Schenkel.
The 51-year-old brings over 25 years of experience to Kearney, including five years at Boston Consulting Group in the early stages of his career, and most recently two years at Partners in Performance as head of its Digital practice.
In between his consulting spells, he held several executive roles in industry. Schenkel served as the chief executive of Tyro Payments – an Australian fintech now valued at over $1.5 billion (market capitalisation on the ASX), resigning in the summer of 2017 because he wanted to “pursue other business opportunities and spend more time with his family”.
Prior to Tyro, Schenkel was the founder and Executive Director of Telstra Digital, the digital division of giant Telstra, having previously helped found the company’s low cost broadband business Belong. Earlier, he launched UBank, the direct bank of National Australia Bank which has grown its balance sheet to approximately $20 billion.
Now at privately-held Kearney, he specialises in advising clients in the media & telecom and financial services sectors, with a focus on digital strategy, digital transformation and data analytics. “Kearney has awesome global capabilities and experience in these areas, and also has a fabulously capable and friendly team here in Australia.”
Schenkel becomes Kearney’s sixth new partner since the start of the year. They lead a team of around 150 consultants and staff across offices in Sydney and Melbourne.
