Ben Gilbertson and Aaron Hill join Accenture as managing directors

Professional services firm Accenture has recruited two senior leaders from rival consultancies, with former Strategy& boss Ben Gilbertson and Deloitte Access Economics South Australian leader Aaron Hill both joining as managing directors based out of Melbourne.

Previously the managing director of Strategy& in Australia and Operations practice leader for the consultancy’s ANZSEA region, Ben Gilbertson has now reunited with former Strategy& senior colleagues Anthony James and Peter Burns – the latter who now serves as Accenture’s national CEO.

Gilbertson has been with Strategy& and its predecessor Booz & Company for more than two decades. He joins Accenture’s Strategy & Consulting division.

Joining in 2000 on the completion of a chemical engineering degree with the University of Melbourne, and gaining partnership in 2012, Gilbertson has led numerous operations transformations engagements for private and public sector clients across Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia in asset-intensive industries such as industrials, mining, oil & gas, utilities, agriculture and defence.

Aaron Hill joins Accenture Strategy & Consulting as managing director of economic insights after leading Deloitte Access Economics in South Australia and the Northern Territory for the past two and a half years, along with its civil government sector practice nationally. Hill has been with Deloitte in Adelaide for altogether eight years, first joining in 2014 after a stint as an advisor to former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill.

“In my new role, based in Melbourne but working right across the country, I'll be helping government and corporate clients tackle big economic and public policy issues, as well as using data and economic tools to guide business strategy and execution in innovative ways,” Hill said on LinkedIn, while shouting out to former Deloitte colleagues Natasha Doherty, Georgina Kilroy and Jessica Mizrahi who he now reunites with at Accenture.

In other senior hires, Accenture also recently welcomed PwC leaders Andrew Wilson and Carrie Smith in national leadership roles.