FTI Consulting appointed Ralph Geertsema senior managing director and co-leader of the firm’s office of the CFO Solutions (OCFO) practice for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) alongside senior managing director Christopher Ruell.
“Ralph’s considerable experience advising on complex finance projects and change programmes as both a consultant and a senior in-house executive makes him well-positioned to lead our OCFO Solutions practice in EMEA,” Diederick van der Plas, EMEA head of the corporate finance and restructuring segment at FTI Consulting, said. “His arrival also demonstrates our commitment to provide clients in the region with the expertise and strategic support that they need to maximize competitive advantage from their high-stakes finance projects.”
Geertsema, who is based in Amsterdam, joins the firm with more than 25 years of experience as a consultant and senior in-house operational leader on large and complex transformation projects. His expertise includes system change projects with a focus on business process, cost reduction, advanced digital products and leveraging artificial intelligence within finance. Prior to FTI Consulting, Geertsema was a partner and member of the leadership team in the finance and shared services transformation practice at Tata Consultancy Services. He previously served as digital delivery director at the leasing company LeasePlan and an executive director at Ernst & Young and held several senior finance roles at British Telecom.
In his role at FTI Consulting, Geertsema will lead colleagues across the practice in EMEA to support clients on finance strategy, finance transformation and change programs incorporating the use of finance technology and advanced digital analytics.
“Ralph’s leadership of our growing OCFO team in EMEA alongside Christopher Ruell, who is based in London, will provide greater coverage to our CFO and private equity clients in the region,” Gina Gutzeit, a senior managing director and global leader of the OCFO Solutions practice at FTI Consulting, said.
“This is a great opportunity to combine the skills that I gained working in industry and as a consultant to help CFOs unlock the potential of their teams, processes and projects,” Geertsema said. “With the advent of AI and advanced digital technologies, there are exciting developments ahead and, working with my new colleagues, I am committed to helping clients embrace them.”
