Ajay Chowdhury becomes BCGDV Global Chief Client Officer

13 January 2022 Consultancy.uk

BCG Digital Ventures has appointed Ajay Chowdhury as its Global Chief Client Officer. Chowdhury is a renowned entrepreneur, and takes the position as the firm prepares to help more innovators make the most of opportunities resulting from the pandemic.

BCG Digital Ventures (BCGDV) is the corporate innovation and digital business building arm of Boston Consulting Group. The organisation designs, launches, scales, and invests in new businesses with the world's most influential companies. BCGDV's multidisciplinary team of entrepreneurs, operators, and investors work cross-functionally, rapidly moving from idea to market in less than 12 months. Since it was founded in 2014, BCGDV has launched and scaled more than 180 new digital business models worldwide.

Commenting on the firm’s plan for the year ahead, Stefan Gross-Selbeck, Global Managing Partner of BCG Digital Ventures, said, “To help address these new challenges, we are delighted to announce a new regional setup and two proven experts – Juergen Eckel and Ajay Chowdhury – that will help businesses strengthen their ability to adapt to a changing world by encouraging and scaling innovation.”

Ajay Chowdhury, Global Chief Client Officer, BCGDV

Occupying the newly created role of Global Chief Client Officer, Ajay Chowdhury has been promoted from his previous role at BCGDV. He was regional lead for Western Europe, South America, and Africa (WESA), but now joins the firm’s board and will spearhead the development and roll out of new BCGDV offerings – while working to maximise impact for the organisation’s clients.

A serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Chowdhury was CEO of European ticket marketplace Ticketmaster, chairman and part of the founding team of Shazam, and founding general partner of IDG Ventures Europe, a $100 million early stage venture capital fund. In 2015, he was also the founder of BCGDV’s London hub, which has gone on to launch 22 ventures over the last six years, including MachineMax, a revolutionary machine analytics service for construction and mining companies; FYLD, a platform for the digital transformation of fieldwork; and Koru, a digital incubator for one of the world’s largest private equity funds.

Chowdhury remarked, “Having been on this exciting journey with BCG Digital Ventures for the last 6 years, I am delighted to be working with our colleagues around the world to develop and launch the next phase of our offerings… As our clients face new challenges and opportunities in the areas of climate change, harnessing artificial intelligence, and scaled innovation, I firmly believe that we will remain a trusted partner to help them build new businesses in these areas.”

Elsewhere, Juergen Eckel now leads the firm’s Europe, Middle East, South America and Africa region. Having joined in 2014, Eckel was similarly instrumental in building the BCGDV’s Berlin hub, where he was one of its first employees.