Global consultancies CGI and Thoughtworks get new CEOs
Two global technology consultancies with growing operations in Australia have recently welcomed new CEOs: Mike Sutcliff (Thoughtworks) and François Boulanger (CGI).
Based out of Florida, Mike Sutcliff joins Thoughtworks as CEO after a period setting up a trio of tech start-ups in the areas of digital health, sports and immersive AI, before which he spent three decades building up Accenture’s digital business.
François Boulanger meanwhile ascends to the chief role at CGI after joining the Canadian-origin consultancy as a director in its Montreal headquarters back in 1998, having over the past two years served as president and both CFO and COO.
Despite their wildly divergent paths to the top of their respective firms, both men will be keeping a keen eye on the Australian market, where each of the consultancies have been quietly building up their stocks in recent years, including via respective local acquisitions in Itoc (picked up by Thoughtworks last year), and Unico, which CGI bought at the end of 2021 to then double its local headcount.
Sutcliff, who succeeded former Thoughtworks CEO Guo Xiao this month, was a key figure in the establishment of Accenture Digital (since blooming into Interactive and now Accenture Song), and served as its long-time chief until early 2020, a line which has helped propel the global professional services behemoth to revenues now pushing $65 billion.
Sutcliff said of his appointment; “I want to acknowledge the vibrant legacy and innovative spirit that have been the hallmarks of the company since its inception. I’ve long admired Thoughtworks for its focus on developing technology to create a positive impact for the world and have a deep respect for the company’s strong culture, technical excellence, and tremendous influence.”
Meanwhile, Boulanger is set to take the next step up from the start of October, replacing retiring incumbent chief and almost four-decade CGI veteran George Schindler, who has held the role for the best part of the past decade. Kicking off his career as an auditor at Deloitte, Boulanger has been president and chief operating officer of CGI since 2022, before which he was CFO.
“On behalf of CGI worldwide, I want to congratulate François on his appointment to lead CGI,” said founder and chair Serge Godin. “The board and I have been planning for a seamless CEO succession for several years and given the continued operational strength and resilience of our company it is an opportune time for François to step in and lead it into the future.”
Godin also noted that CGI had grown to annual revenues of more than $14 billion over the past eight years under Schindler’s watch, with a headcount heading toward 100,000 professionals across more than 40 countries worldwide, while Thoughtworks crossed the $1 billion barrier in 2022 with a global team of around 10,000, but has since been battling against its Chinese connections.
As of early last year, the consultancy, headed by former McKinsey & Company digital vice president Karin Verloop out of Melbourne, had assembled a local team of more than 400 professionals, while Tara McGeehan oversees CGI’s UK and Australia business, which altogether has a headcount of around 5,000, albeit with perhaps less than a tenth of that based in Australia.
