EY alumni take top posts at technology consulting firms
Three of Australia’s budding technology firms have announced new executives, with a trio of EY alumni – Julian Gilchrist, Ken Maxwell, and Paul Migliorini – named in the roles.
Julian Gilchrist
After setting up shop in the Asia Pacific toward the end of last year with the launch of an office in Melbourne, British technology consultancy BJSS has named its first local lead; Julian Gilchrist, who joins from a director role with Ernst & Young. Gilchrist has spent the past six with the Big Four professional services firm between Melbourne and New York, and prior to that was a technical director with Accenture acquisition Reactive.
BJSS Head of International Expansion, Amir Soufizadeh (who joined the firm from Infosys), said, “We’re delighted to have Julian lead our Melbourne operation. Julian’s experience in the local market, coupled with his delivery and consulting background, is hugely significant as we embark on the next phase of our growth and expansion in the region.”
Ken Maxwell
Ken Maxwell, meanwhile, who left EY’s partnership in June, has been appointed as the new managing director and CEO of xAmplify, with the Canberra-based IT consulting and services provider eyeing its next stage of growth. Prior to joining EY in Canberra at the end of 2019, Maxwell spent eight and a half years as a partner at rival PwC, before which he worked as a project management consultant with the federal government.
“It is a privilege to have the opportunity to come onboard to lead xAmplify through the next stage of growth,” Maxwell said, noting the 90 percent rate of national security clearances held by the firm’s staff. “The technology and artificial intelligence industries are seeing rapid growth, and the importance of having an Australian sovereign business providing world class tech to government and Australian industry is more vital than ever.”
Paul Migliorini
The former Amazon Web Services managing director for Australia and New Zealand, Paul Migliorini, has been recruited by Australian cloud and automation consultancy Versent as its new CEO, replacing founder Thor Essman. Migliorini kicked off his career with three years as a management consultant at EY, before spending a decade in senior leadership roles between Motorola and BT Global Services across the Asia Pacific.
“Paul and I have been working together closely over the past year to set the direction of this company and to help evolve it to where it is today,” Essman said, with Migliorini having served on the board of Versent since October. “We share common values and a common vision, as well as a belligerent commitment to customer success. Paul’s extensive experience in building technology scale-ups is vital to the next stage of Versent’s growth.”
