BrazilRoland Berger elects two new partners in Middle East practice
Roland Berger’s mid-year international partnership meeting in Berlin has seen the addition of two new partners in the Middle East; Santiago Castillo and Gaurav Wadi. CEO Charles-Edouard Bouée has meanwhile announced his surprise departure.
Following the firm's bi-annual international partners meeting in its home nation’s capital, German-origin global management consultancy Roland Berger has admitted twelve new partners worldwide, including two in the Middle East: Santiago Castillo and Gaurav Wadi. Coming somewhat as a surprise however, after his reelection for a further four years in June of last year, was the announcement that CEO Charles-Edouard Bouée is due to step down.
Based in the firm’s Dubai office, Santiago Castillo has been with Roland Berger for the past five and a half years, focused primarily on providing strategy and transformation advisory to clients in the Automotive, Technology and Telecommunications fields, including government entities, car manufacturers, distributors and financing companies, technology firms and telcos. Like Middle East managing partner Rene Seyger, Castillo was raised in the Netherlands.
Shortly after completing his MBA (complementing an earlier MSc in Civil Engineering with Delft University), Castillo joined Capgemini in Utrecht, where he spent just over eight years – ultimately rising to principal consultant. From there, in 2012, he made the move to Dubai, serving as an engagement manager in Oliver Wyman’s Communications, Media & Technology practice for a year and a half before crossing to Roland Berger in 2014.
A more recent recruit, fellow new partner Gaurav Wadi joined Roland Berger in just April of last year, crossing from an advisory role with defence-focused strategic investment holding firm Tawazun of Abu Dhabi. Amassing extensive experience in the Aerospace & Defense (soon set to see further regional growth) and Government sectors, in the GCC as well as the US, Australia, China, Germany and India, Wadi first started out with Honeywell at the turn of the century.
Following his early career stint with the US aerospace firm, Wadi gained his MBA with Carnegie Mellon University – joining the Dallas office of Oliver Wyman on completion before transferring with the firm to Dubai. In 2008, he crossed to Boston Consulting Group’s freshly launched Dubai office (2007), as one of the initial members of the firm’s Middle East team, serving as a core member of its Industrial Goods and Operations practice for the next six years.
With a total of twelve new additions (including two each in Germany, the Netherlands and Asia, and a further four from across Europe), Roland Berger’s partnerships ranks now swell to above 230 in 52 office worldwide, including 2018 end-of-year additions Vatche Kourkejian in Lebanon and Andreas Buelow in Bahrain. One unexpected future absentee however is former CEO Charles-Edouard Bouée, who at the partner’s meeting announced his departure.
Charles-Edouard Bouée
Elected to the helm in 2014, Bouée said; “We have all witnessed how globalisation and digitalisation are turning the world on its head. These developments are also offering incredible opportunities that I’m thrilled to explore and seize. After 18 years in consultancy at Roland Berger and after having successfully led the company’s transformation as part of a strong team, I am ready to put this invaluable experience and expertise into entrepreneurial practice.”
According to his LinkedIn page, Bouée (who last year invested in Vietnamese online retailer Leflair) has now taken up a Global AI Council member role with the World Economic Forum based out of California. “We thank Charles-Edouard for his strong contributions to our firm over the past 18 years, and especially for the energising role he played in bringing our firm back on a growth track,” said Marcus Berret, Chairman of Roland Berger’s Supervisory Board.
