One on One with Steve Payne, EY's new Americas Vice Chair of Consulting

This summer, Steve Payne was appointed EY Americas Vice Chair—Consulting, a position that oversees more than 20,000 consultants focused on creating long-term value for clients through sustainable, inclusive growth. The role is also responsible for cultivating talent and building high-performing teams to deliver exceptional experiences for EY people. Payne previously served as the Global Leader for the EY-Parthenon strategy consultancy as well as the Transaction Strategy and Execution Global Leader. He succeeds Hank Prybylski, who was named EY Global Vice Chair—Transformation. "I thrive on helping people and businesses achieve their full potential, and I'm thrilled to lead this dynamic practice of talented consultants as they collaborate with our clients to reframe their future," says Payne. Payne has been advising top-tier institutions on operations management for more than 30 years. Drawing from extensive international experience in Europe and emerging markets in the Americas and Asia-Pacific, he has delivered working capital improvement programs for Fortune 100 clients. Prior to joining the firm in 2008, he was the CEO of a global boutique consulting firm that focused on helping companies improve cash flow from working capital via operational improvement. Consulting caught up with Payne a few weeks after his appointment to discuss his new role, the new normal for clients and a new outlook for the profession.

Consulting: So, first of all, congratulations on the new role! I'm sure this is not how you planned to take over Consulting. Why don't you talk a little bit about the transition from Hank to you, sort of where you are in that process and how the handoff took place?

Payne: So, the good news is, I'm not new to EY. Coming into the role, I was the Transaction Strategy and Execution Global Leader and one of the things about EY is even if you sit in different service lines, when you go to a client you go as EY. So, in the 12 years I've been at EY, I've engaged a lot with the consulting side of the business; we did a lot together. I knew a lot of the partners, especially around the engagements in the market side. And I also knew Hank. He and I are different people and will have different styles, but I feel fortunate taking this baton from Hank. He's been a great partner and friend going through this. I admire what both Hank and Bob Patton have been able to do bringing the Consulting business to where it is today—$6.5 billion in 10 years. It's a pretty amazing story. So, given the opportunity to take that on and take it to the next level has been great. And Hank has been tremendous in terms of giving me support, allowing me to sit in meetings as we go through the transition. He's been extraordinary generous with his time. That's been very helpful.