Jordi Fernandez moved to South Africa from his native Spain in May 2009, eager to take up the challenge of growing the local Accenture Technology Solutions unit.
A computer science graduate, Fernandez is a technologist through and through—but after almost 20 years with Accenture, it is technology’s contribution to the achievement of high performance that is central to his vision of his new role.
“We have the technical skills here, but what we need to develop are broader skills in delivery methods, business processes and in working with offshore units,” he explains.
“As the multi-polar world develops, clients are increasingly relying on us to give them global scale and enable the kind of flexible organisation that can respond rapidly to new threats or opportunities. Technology is the enabler–and that’s why our technologists need to be much more.”
Guiding the local Accenture Technology Solutions team in this direction will make it possible for the local Consulting team to focus on their core consulting activities rather than having to stay involved during the delivery phase. Fernandez will be actively involved in developing training curricula that include training in key methodologies—and in facilitating the local Technology team’s involvement in complex, global projects. In this way, practical and theoretical training will reinforce each other.
A keen traveller, Fernandez is excited by the prospect of exploring a new country. He’s particularly impressed by the range of national parks, and anticipates many photographic safaris over the coming years. An avid supporter of the AC Barcelona soccer team, he is happy to be on the spot for 2010—but is still looking for a local team to support, though.
Back to the Executive View home page