PA Consulting, an innovation and transformation consulting firm, has named Ken Toombs as the firm’s global CEO.
Toombs has more than 30 years of experience in consulting, and joined PA in December 2018 to lead the firm’s Americas business.
He succeeds Alan Middleton, who will continue on as a partner and will work with Toombs during the leadership transition process.
As CEO, Toombs will lead the management consultancy’s more than 3,200 professionals in Europe and the US. Founded in 1945 and headquartered in London, the firm helps clients in a range of industries leverage innovative thinking and breakthrough technologies to achieve their organizational goals.
The firm has 19 offices and design studios overall, with seven locations in the US and seven locations in the UK, and with additional locations in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands, and Ireland.
As head of the Americas region, Toombs grew the regional team’s talent and substantially increased PA’s client base. He also oversaw the firm’s global healthcare, life sciences, and energy and utilities sectors, while also serving on the company board. During his tenure, PA acquired 4iNNO, a Cincinnati-based firm focusing on innovation and new product development.
“In Ken we have a leader with great intellect and a well-balanced moral compass. He is a true strategist at heart and will be an excellent guardian of PA’s purpose, values, history, and of our bright future,” Middleton said.
Before joining PA, Toombs was the global leader of Infosys Consulting, the Fremont, CA–based management consulting practice within IT services giant Infosys. While there, he led a team of over 3,000 global consultants, refreshing the firm’s operating model while launching new service offerings.
Prior to that, Toombs was CEO of Capgemini’s North America consulting business, where he launched a transformation growth initiative and served as the editor of the tech consultancy’s Digital Transformation Review. Before that, he held senior roles at IBM/PwC and Monitor Group.
He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BS in accounting and management from the University of Southern California.
“As CEO I plan to continue growing PA as the market leader and further expanding our end-to-end innovation capabilities,” Toombs said.