PwC in Cork: Delivering positive client outcomes in a rapidly changing commercial world
Business leaders with PwC in Cork: Darrelle Dolan, Partner, Asset and Wealth Managment, Shane O'Regan, Partner, Assurance, and Will O'Brien, Director of Cybersecurity.
These are exciting times for PwC in Cork, as the firm evolves to meet the needs of business, both in Cork and throughout the country. As a leading provider of consulting and business services, PwC views Cork as a fundamental enabler for its Ireland growth strategy through a vibrant local and multinational economy, underpinned by a reservoir of high quality talent. `
“This is indeed an exciting time in PwC as we have recently launched our National Strategy,” says Michael McDaid, Leader, PwC Advisory. “The strategy is designed to help our clients build trust and deliver sustained outcomes in a rapidly changing world. Clients are currently operating in an unprecedented period of change, dealing with geo-political turbulence and conflict, volatility in markets, inflation and increased interest rates, in addition to complicated and more expensive supply chains.”
McDaid added that PwC clients are also dealing with “the issue of the day — climate change — and how they can adapt and drive an Environmental, Social & Governance agenda that responds to all the associated opportunities and fundamental challenges associated with that.”
This year’s PwC Global CEO survey revealed that the impetus to re-invent is intensifying, with 45% of the 4,700 respondents concerned about the long-term viability of their businesses on their current path, anticipating the need for significant changes within the next ten years.
“From climate change disrupting their businesses both with physical and transition risk, to geo-political change, talent scarcity, or the need to drive digitisation and automation, our clients are now asking us to bring more of our capabilities to bear in addressing their business challenges and to be with them throughout their entire transformation journey, not just at a point in time,” Michael McDaid explains.
“These changes bring about huge opportunities both for our clients and for our Advisory practice. By adopting this strategy, we will be relentlessly client and sector focused, technology enabled and continuing to deliver excellence for our clients, our people and our firm.”
PwC is very focused on developing deep alliance relationships with key technology providers, such as Microsoft, SAP, Salesforce and others, in addition to more specific industry and technology platforms.
“It is a tough environment at the moment for our clients, but there are opportunities as well as the challenges they are facing,” McDaid points out. “We have developed a strategy to respond to that environment — and a key dimension of that is staying close to our clients.”
PwC’s strategy is underpinned by Cork's fundamental role as a key business driver. “We are leveraging Cork’s attractiveness to engage young people and attract talent from other areas. That regional dimension is very important to PwC.”
He noted the recent Partner appointments in Cork of Shane O’Regan, Assurance Partner, and Darrelle Dolan, Partner, Asset and Wealth Management, as a testament to the recent opportunities that have arisen for PwC employees in Cork.
“As PwC works on a pressing national agenda with its clients across the country and internationally, there is a significant opportunity for PwC in Cork and the wider region as well. We have seven offices across the Republic of Ireland, with Cork being the largest outside of Dublin with in excess of 300 people, and a phenomenal base for us to serve our clients in that area.”
The market for technology services continues to mature and PwC clients are constantly looking to become more efficient, according to Will O’Brien, PwC Director of Cybersecurity. “Increasingly we are seeing demand for large tech enabled transformation programmes, and we believe that there is ample ‘white space’ opportunity for our Technology offerings nationally, which can be propelled by our Cork office expansion.”
PwC has a strong offering in the technology space, primarily focusing on the key areas of technology consulting, data analytics and cyber security.
“Through our alliances with Microsoft, SAP and Salesforce, we are able to provide the ‘best of breed’ for our clients, and to help with their technology and cybersecurity solutions.”
In the recent PwC Digital Trust survey, over half of Irish respondents expect Generative AI to lead to catastrophic cyber attacks in the next 12 months, followed by third-party breaches and ransomware.
Additionally, the PwC Risk survey revealed that Irish organisations lag behind global peers on using technology to manage risks, with just 27% believing their organisation uses technology and analytics to be better prepared for potential risks, and only 5% using advanced and predictive analytics to refine and innovate risk-management.
“Having strong alliances with a range of technology vendors enhances our ability to deliver technology-enabled business transformation projects, and which will also benefit our clients in Cork,” O’Brien explains. “PwC's alliance partners provide technology solutions that support our clients with transformation projects in areas such as finance, human resources, customer and cloud transformation, ESG and cybersecurity. We are helping clients maximise that opportunity, while minimising the risk.”
The firm recently launched a strategic AI collaboration involving the launch of the PwC GenAI Business Centre, enabled by Microsoft: “We work with clients and technology alliance partners to unlock value with GenAI, from delivering productivity gains to powering business model transformations. Our human-led, tech-powered strategy means that we are matching investments in technology skills and capability with an understanding of what it takes to unlock value for organisations and society in a responsible, sustainable way. This will also enable us to help our clients in Cork boost GenAI adoption, driving the necessary investment returns in a safe and secure way.”
Having graduated from University College Cork in 2003 with a degree in computer science, O’Brien’s interest in the cyber security sphere grew during the financial crash of 2008, as the importance that information and data played in the operations and survival of many businesses became apparent: “As cybersecurity threats grew dramatically from this period on, I could see the business risks evolving.”
He has since led work streams in a number of large and small scale cyber investigations throughout Ireland and Europe, in addition to providing computer evidence and expert testimony in the Irish courts.
“PwC in Cork has an advantageous position, well-equipped to embrace and excel, boosted by Alliances’ delivery,” he says. “With a strong PwC management presence, a robust talent pool and suitably dedicated office space, PwC in Cork is well placed to support our national strategy.”
To put this into further context, he points to Cork’s inherent benefit of having two of the largest universities in Ireland — UCC & MTU — to draw upon. “With really strong technology and cybersecurity graduates on our doorstep, Cork has access to a population of over 37,000 students and future graduates we can tap into, all of which has the potential to propel our national growth. For graduates joining PwC from these third level institutions, there are clearly significant and rewarding career opportunities available to them.”
We also have great opportunities for professionally qualified people, including in AI, data analytics, cybersecurity, tech transformation, sustainability and climate reporting. Cork is seen as an attractive city for national and international talent, with many looking to pursue long term careers in the city and region. “All of these factors combined mean PwC in Cork will support our national strategy to develop and maintain technology talent for our national team, and most importantly bring significant efficiencies and value to our clients right here in Cork.”
Learn more at www.pwc.ie/transformation
