Experienced consultant Charles Bokman leads Synechron in Asia Pacific

International consulting and technology services firm Synechron has hired Charles Bokman to lead its Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Bokman joins from Accenture, where he was a Managing Director in the firm’s Financial Services arm.

With over 8,000 professionals operating in 18 countries across the world, Synechron is one of the globe’s larger global financial services consulting and technology services providers. Asia is a key market for the company – the Singapore and Hong Kong offices serve two of Asia’s most important financial centres, while the operations in Sydney and Tokyo serve the two most mature markets in the region; Australia and Japan. Synechron’s Asia Pacific footprint further consists of offices in Manila, Philippines, and five in India. 

New at the head of the APAC operation is Charles (“Chuck”) Bokman, who started in the role per the 1st of December. The past years he worked for Accenture and Capco. At Accenture, he was the ASEAN Head of the Management Consulting service line within the Financial Services division, while also having responsibility for the Wealth Management Consulting segment in the firm’s Capital Markets group. At Capco, which was founded in 1998 in Belgium and recently returned to independence, Bokman was the pioneer of its Singapore office, which launched in May 2015, its third Asian office at the time. Under his direction, the office grew to a profitable business of 30+ consultants, helping a diverse set of clients across among others banking, insurance and wealth management.

Bokman however spent most of his consulting career with PwC, together with Strategy& the globe’s largest consulting firm. He joined the Big Four firm in 1992, ascending the ranks to Director by 2002. When IBM in 2002 acquired PwC’s consulting business for $3.5 billion, in the slipstream of Enron’s collapse in the US, Bokman transitioned to IBM to work within its Global Business Services (GBS) division. In 2008 he returned to PwC and was appointed a partner in 2011.

Further growth in APAC region

In his new role, Bokman has been tasked with leveraging his experience in business development, practice-building and creating high-performing teams to support the growth plans for Synechron in the APAC region. “As Synechron continues to grow, we look forward to welcoming new clients to our businesses supported by Chuck’s’ outstanding skills and experience,” said Faisal Husain, co-founder and CEO of Synechron.

He will also be tasked with the expansion of Synechron’s business consulting team. Synechron has been active in Singapore since 2011, when Double Effect, a consultancy it acquired in April 2013, launched an office in the region. Four years after launching, the consulting team had grown to a size of 25 consultants, and today, following a wave of investments and growth by parent Synechron, the Singapore based team is significantly larger and broader, also providing services in digital, technology and innovation.

To help its clients embrace the power of digital and disruptive tech-driven trends, Synechron recently launched an accelerator programme for InsurTech solutions, months after it unveiled similar accelerator initiatives for Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence.

Bokman will also play a role in realising Synechron’s global growth agenda for its business consulting arm, which according to Bas Heijnen, Managing Director of Synechron’s consulting outfit, is on track for reaching 300 consultants by 2018. 

The new APAC leader, who will report directly to CEO Husain, brings over 20 years of project management, systems integration and outsourcing advisory experience in the financial services sector to the firm. “Financial services continues to be a key growing sector within the APAC region, and Synechron is perfectly placed to take advantage of that. Technology and disruption are driving the development of the sector in Asia, and Synechron is a natural partner for financial services businesses that are looking to evolve their operations to embrace these opportunities. I’m looking forward to driving Synechron’s plans for growth in the market.” 

Related: Interview with Faisal Husain, CEO and Co-Founder of Synechron (on Consultancy.uk).