American automation consultancy Ashling arrives in Australia
Melbourne has been selected as the site for the first international business expansion of intelligent automation consultancy Ashling Partners.
US-headquartered intelligent automation and process improvement consultancy Ashling Partners has expanded into Australia with an office launch in Melbourne, with former Reveal Group partner Benjamin Lingard recruited to head up its local operations.
The move follows last year’s investment into the global UiPath partner by strategy consulting giant Bain & Company, and will focus on the manufacturing, finance, and healthcare sectors.
“Australia is ripe for leveraging the true potential of automation because it offers a talented workforce and a market that has always been an early adopter of technologies like AI and automation,” Lingard told IT media outlet CRN. “It is the ideal commercial centre for the Asia Pacific and Japan because it aligns with Ashling Partners’ core values and is a great client service hub as we continue to grow our delivery centres in India and beyond.”
Outside of India and a second development and support centre in Romania, the launch in Melbourne marks Ashling Partners’ first international foray beyond its well-established American market, where the firm claims to be the county’s largest intelligence automation services provider. Founded by Marshall Sied and Don Sweeney in Chicago in 2017, Ashling today has a global headcount pushing towards the 200 mark.
Backed by specialist private equity firm THL since 2021 and bolstered by a series of recent acquisitions, Ashling specialises in robotic process automation, AI and process mining solutions in areas such as order fulfilment, accounts payable, and inventory management. The firm last year received a second consecutive UiPath worldwide partner of the year award, alongside the likes of Ernst & Young and Accenture.
Speaking on Ashling’s venture down under, UiPath’s Sydney-based APJ president Lee Hawksley said the software firm was excited by the prospect of supporting more Australian companies to achieve productivity gains through automation; “The combination of Ashling Partners’ knowledge and expertise and UiPath’s leading business platform offers companies in the Asia Pacific region greater opportunities for meaningful digital transformation.”
Leading that offering will be Lingard, who joined the firm as Australia country head toward the end of last year after more than a decade at Reveal Group – a fellow, Melbourne-headquartered automation consultancy and UiPath partner which suddenly ran aground in the earlier stages of the year. Notably, in a neat little circle, Lingard is credited with leading Reveal’s recent growth in North America, where it continues to operate as a separate entity.
