Interview: Ties Carbo, Senior Consultant at BCG Platinion Western Europe
Ties Carbo joined BCG Platinion at the start of 2017. He currently works as Senior Consultant for the firm’s Western Europe practice – and believes that the things he has learned since his arrival have more than justified his move a year ago.
“Somewhere around the middle of 2016 I realised that my job was not giving me the satisfaction anymore. It triggered several considerations which converged into a single contagious thought; ‘I want to pursue a career in IT strategy consulting – touching the wide topics that are on the agenda of any CIO/CTO and known for the challenging environment.’”
Consultant Ties Carbo joined BCG Platinion in Amsterdam from Deloitte at the start of last year. Carbo worked with the Big Four firm for just over two years as a cybersecurity consultant, before the unexpected realisation that his work was leaving him unsatisfied caused him to redirect his career. This train of thought led him to pursue a new challenge in December 2016, leaving the firm, where he had been a Senior Consultant, to take on the of IT Consultant at BCG Platinion a month later.
BCG Platinion is the IT architecture and solutions unit of The Boston Consulting Group, one of the globe’s premier strategy consultancies. BCG Platinion sits alongside several other wings the firm has to broaden its multidisciplinary offering globally. These including BCG Digital Ventures, its digital innovation, incubation and investment arm; and BCG Gamma, an advanced analytics and data science service. BCG Platinion first launched in Germany, and has since expanded to boast a worldwide presence of its own, with offices in Europe, the US and Canada. The firm’s Western European base consist of offices in London, Amsterdam and Paris.
Remembering his first day at a new beginning, Carbo reminisces, “It was a cold Monday morning January 2nd 2017. As I stood in the elevator of the SOM1 building [in Amsterdam], I was both excited, and also a bit nervous, because I was about to start a new chapter in my career.”
Key meeting
Despite being in his current role for a relatively short amount of time, according to Carbo, there have already been many occurrences which have taught him a great deal. One particular meeting has stuck with him during his time at BCG Platinion.
“Later in the year, it was a Friday, and I was on my way to the client office. Today we had our final steering committee with our main customer (the CIO) and several other high-profile stakeholders (i.e. the CTO and the CISO). My nerves returned, as, although I was confident that we delivered high quality work, we were going to ask for budget approval to execute the strategy we had developed.”
“There are two elements that I will never forget from that meeting. First, the CTO mentioned that he never really ‘liked’ consultants, but that we really changed his perspective on this, as our analyses were really deep and our recommendations were actionable, with a clear plan forward. This made me realise how much I love the consulting industry, which at the end of the day, is all about driving changes in behaviours, and enabling the growth of a company.”
“Secondly, the meeting ran over by approximately half an hour. We spent these minutes having an open discussion with the executives on the executing power of the client teams (i.e. if the client teams are ready to execute the plan we developed). This was a real eye opener for me; I had never expected that these discussions would ever take place like this. For me, this was the most open and honest client conversation I had ever had in my career.”
Despite the initially frosty reception that the CTO gave the team, then, the consultants’ efforts paid off. He recalls, “After the meeting, everybody walked out of the room with smiles on their faces. Our team presented its plans very clearly, resulting in an approval for the proposals. This was a great compliment for the team as a whole, but it also gave me a personal sense of fulfilment, since I had been the driving force behind those plans. After this very challenging but rewarding day I finally headed home to spend some quality time with my girlfriend over dinner. It was a great week!”
The right choice
According to the man himself, time has flown since Carbo first arrived at BCG Platinion. Having been promoted to the position of Senior IT consultant at the turn of 2018, he suddenly finds that one year has passed since his first day at the office. Mulling over his decision to make the leap of faith, and leave his last job to join the consultancy, he still feels he made the right choice.
“At another Friday later in the year and several additional cases I was standing in the elevators of SOM1 again but this time I was heading home for a (well-deserved) leave. Reflecting on my choice for BCG Platinion I am still super happy. I found the right field, that of IT strategy consulting, and the right challenge (i.e. strategic/complex cases working directly with high-level senior executives). 2017 has been a great year full of cool assignments, great interactions with amazing colleagues and a cherry on the cake (my promotion).”
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