WES Guest Speakers/Panellists

 

About the Event

The things that define businesses today, from strategies, operations, implementations and innovations require some level of an entrepreneurial mindset to thrive. An entrepreneur is able to formulate an idea, nurture it, build on it and launch it as a solution to the most pressing global challenges facing humanity. From high tech, Capital markets, Consumer goods and services, Software and Platforms, Banking, Agriculture to healthcare, automotive, travel retail and energy among others, entrepreneurs are creating solutions that redefine the way we live and what we do. 

COVID-19 has seen the world evolve in an unprecedented manner than we could ever imagine while exposing the weaknesses we have within our institutions and businesses as well as how we interact. Businesses are struggling to keep up, new ideas are springing up to address the problems of the new order. 

Firms like McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Accenture among others known for their traditional consulting expertise are stepping up to help businesses survive or adapt to the new normal. In so doing, the entrepreneurial skills which allow them to think out of the box to proffer solutions to the most challenging business problems are revealed. We begin to see that indeed a consultant is a natural entrepreneur who is able to help businesses, governments and institutions create or extract values as they solve difficult business challenges.

In this series of WES panel, we will look at the utility of entrepreneurial skills in consulting industry as well as explore how an entrepreneur could break into top consulting firms while x-raying the obstacles on the way, especially for minority groups. This event will be moderated by the WES founder and former President David Izuogu.

 

About the Panellists

Gerald is a transformation solution manager at Bain & Company where he manages enablement of Bain’s technology offering in the transformation space. Aside from his role at Bain, Gerald is founder and managing director of ‘Collarbone London’ a bespoke tailoring business he established 3 years ago that enables it’s clients to create, customize and order bespoke shirts that are made and delivered in 10 working days.

Gerald has an academic background in Computer Sciences with a specialization in Business information systems, he holds a BSc from De Montfort University and an MA in Big Data from King’s College London.

Gerald has had 10+ years’ experience in Technology consulting, with extensive experience leading E2E solution implementation and management across varied sectors. He started his career in computer product engineering before going into technology consulting in healthcare information systems; this eventually led to him being headhunted for leading technical innovations at BCG and currently Bain & Company.

For many years in his personal life, Gerald struggled with finding off-the-peg options that fit his 6ft 5 inch frame; he decided to utilize his constant travel in consulting to seek out tailors elsewhere in the world who could work to a standard akin to high priced tailors on London’s Savile Row. He established Collarbone not just to cater to clients with similar off-the-peg limitations but also to those who like to express their individuality in how they dress. He is passionate about technology and its many utilities in our future, he aims to revolutionize the fashion industry through his brand by ushering in innovative approaches in how we make and sell clothes.

 

Ricky Asemota is an Associate Partner in McKinsey and Company’s Lagos office and has since joining the firm, led transformation programs across various industries including Telecommunication, Financial Services, Oil & Gas, Governments, etc. across multiple geographies on a variety of transformation topics

Ricky has led a variety of transformation programs including the EBITDA transformation of the leading Telecom company in Nigeria to increase EBITDA by 8pp over 1 year through an integrated set of cost reduction and revenue growth levers.  

Ricky has also managed the transformation of a top 10 bank in Europe to deliver Digital at scale and improve EBITDA performance by 5pp over a 2 year period; as well as a leading bank in West Africa, project managing clients in 5 countries across West Africa to deliver initiatives across retail banking; she designed and implemented the Group operating model for Tier 1 bank in West Africa

Prior to joining McKinsey, Ricky qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG, London and led the Africa funding strategy at the Wellcome Trust, where she led the transformation of the Trust operating model for funding public health research in Africa

Ricky holds an MBA from London Business School as well as a BSc. (Hons) in Accounting and Finance from Oxford Brookes University.

 

Leon Pietschmann is a doctoral researcher at the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge. Prior to that he worked as a Management Consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). During his time at BCG he was part of a team driving legislative change to improve the start-up environment in Germany (#ESOPasap campaign). Leon has a strong interest in new technologies as well as the start-up ecosystem and loves sharing his experience from founding his own company.

 

 

 

 

I joined Accenture in 2004 after 4 years at Arthur Anderson. I've spent all my career focused in shaping and implementing Data and Analytics solutions for global clients, combining programme delivery with domain expertise and AI skills. I spent the first half years of my career on a mix of exciting CMT clients such as Warner Brothers, Universal and various Telco's but moved primarily into FS thereafter following a number of large engagements within Insurance and Banking.   Outside of work I enjoy mountaineering, scuba diving and snowboarding, all of which have currently been superseded by a young family, where all my energy now goes.

 

Date: Monday 12 April 2021

Time: 18:00 - 19:30 (GMT)

Location: Live across the listed platforms (see hyperlinks below)

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