That Great Business Show

Episode 68 That Great Business Show - Harry Goddard Special - CEO Deloitte Ireland on the future of consultancy


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Farmer turned robotics experts, Harry Goddard, who doubles up as Deloitte Ireland CEO, talks to That Great Business Show about not being an accountant. How working with a small software company introduced him to sales, to understand what their clients wanted and needed, and a consultant was born!


As CEO (he explains why not Managing Partner) of Deloitte Ireland he's now in 3,000 people (and another 600 if the can find them) - worldwide Deloitte employs 330,000 people. There a hundred partners running the Irish firm (27 of them female), so how long does a partners' meeting take so everyone has their say?

He explains the Deloitte model for pitching for business and if or whether Deloitte will split up in different parts, leaving audit behind?


Harry is passionate about the use of robotics to remove the mundane from everyday work. Deloitte has advised Garda vetting on the use of robotics and has double decimated the time taken to vet someone, using a robot called 'Bertie' (really!)

An 'extraordinary' change in business, Harry says, is the transition to 'cloud'. He explains what the future of that will bring.


If you haven't heard of 'cognitive intelligence' in business, you will. You may have already come across it in the Terminator movie, and for Harry the future of this tech could be a little worrying. The Deloitte workforce is also on the move. 35% of them have moved in the last two years, the vast majority outside of Dublin.


Kaiser Permanente

Deloitte has put a lot of work into getting gender balance in their business. Today it's at 51:49, but as Harry says, that takes a lot of work and he details how it was achieved and some of the continuing hurdles, particularly around their 'experienced hires' where he says men are more mobile, women less so. They have also developed a very interesting idea called the 'inclusion passport', which could be applied across other organisations.


As head of one of the country's largest employers he gives his views on how to fix the 'interlinked' problems of infrastructure and housing.

He talks about how 'newbies' into Deloitte no longer see themselves competing for their jobs with friends and neighbours within the island of Ireland. They are now competing with others around the world.


His 'hire in a heartbeat'? Mark Zuckerberg. But NOT Richard Branson, but do we find out why??


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That Great Business ShowBy Conall Ó'Móráin