Placement in a Global Consulting Firm – Building a Data & AI Leadership Team to Accelerate Growth in the Middle East
The Challenge
A leading consulting firm in the Middle East had ambitious plans to rapidly expand its Data & AI capability in response to growing client demand across both the public and private sectors.
Rather than hiring individuals over an extended period, the client wanted to establish an experienced leadership team capable of making an immediate commercial and delivery impact. They tasked us with identifying and securing a high performing team from within the consulting market that could accelerate the firm’s growth plans from day one.
The challenge was significant. Beyond identifying individuals with the right technical expertise and leadership capability, we needed to assess whether an established team could successfully transition together. The search also required careful navigation of contractual obligations, notice periods, restrictive covenants and the commercial sensitivities associated with hiring multiple senior leaders from a direct competitor.
Our Approach
Working closely with the client’s executive leadership team, we mapped the regional consulting market to identify established Data & AI practices with complementary capabilities, strong leadership and a proven track record of delivering complex transformation programmes.
Our focus extended beyond individual talent. We assessed team dynamics, leadership structures, complementary skill sets and the likelihood of a successful transition without disrupting the cohesion that had made the team successful in the first place.
The assignment required patience, discretion and meticulous planning. Over a period of six to nine months, we maintained regular engagement with the individuals, carefully managing the process whilst respecting contractual obligations and ensuring every decision was made professionally and ethically.
The Outcome
The result was the successful transition of the vast majority of the target leadership team into the client organisation, providing an immediate step change in capability across Data & AI.
Within twelve months, approximately 90 per cent of the identified team had joined the business, significantly accelerating the client’s market presence, strengthening its leadership bench and creating immediate momentum in winning and delivering strategic client engagements.
Rather than building a capability gradually over several years, the client was able to establish a market leading practice in a fraction of the time.
Beyond the Placement
Successfully moving a team is only the beginning. Successfully integrating that team is where long term value is created.
Although the individuals already knew one another and had developed strong ways of working together, they were moving from a highly structured global consulting organisation into a faster growing, more entrepreneurial business. Decision making was quicker, governance was lighter and there was greater expectation for leaders to shape the organisation rather than simply operate within established frameworks.
As part of our Search & Succeed™ methodology, our executive coaches worked with both the incoming leadership team and key stakeholders within the organisation to support a smooth integration. The focus centred on communication, cultural adaptation, stakeholder alignment and helping the team balance the agility of their new environment with the discipline and best practice they had developed previously.
This structured support accelerated integration, strengthened relationships across the wider business and enabled the team to begin delivering value whilst preserving the collaborative culture that had made them successful.
The Value We Delivered
Building a high performing capability is rarely about hiring one exceptional individual. Sometimes it requires bringing together an established team that already knows how to deliver, innovate and win together.
By combining deep market intelligence, careful stakeholder management and structured post placement integration, we helped our client achieve in twelve months what would typically take several years, creating a market leading Data & AI capability that continues to support its long term growth ambitions.
Delivered by David Cohen, Partner
