The 2022 Top Consultants: Nigel Vaz

Nigel Vaz is the CEO of Publicis Sapient, the digital business transformation company, focused on helping companies to thrive in a world that is increasingly digital. With expertise spanning strategy, product, experience, engineering and data, Publicis Sapient helps businesses sustain relevance by adapting to change and capturing value through digital.

In more than two decades with the company, Nigel has acted as a strategic advisor on complex transformation initiatives with clients across geographies and a range of industries including financial services, automotive, retail, consumer products and telecommunications, media & technology.

Nigel advises some of the world's largest businesses on their transformation initiatives. Publicis Sapient clients include Carrefour, Goldman Sachs, Marriott, McDonald's, Nationwide, Nissan and Unilever. Before Sapient, he was a successful entrepreneur – co-founding a public company with interests in internet consulting and connectivity solutions. In addition, Nigel is a member of the Executive Committee of Publicis Groupe and is Global Lead of Digital Business Transformation for the communication, media, data and technology group.

An inductee of the BIMA Digital Hall of Fame, Nigel has also served as President of the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) and board director of The Marketing Society.

He is a regular commentator in broadcast and print media including the BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal, and author of numerous articles on business transformation, technology, brand experience and culture.

Nigel is author of the bestselling business title 'Digital Business Transformation – How Established Companies Sustain Competitive Advantage from Now to Next', based on years of partnering with clients to harness the power of digital.

What do you consider your greatest personal or professional achievement?

When I joined Publicis Sapient over 20 years ago, what drew me to the company was the deep sense of purpose that emanated from the people in every interaction I had. There was always a commitment to culture and the vital role it played in producing meaningful outcomes for clients and for our teams. As a result, the company and people in it truly became something I love, much more so than just a place I work.

The leaders who shaped the company, including the founders and CEOs that preceded me, are people I admire who created a legacy of impact that we continue to take forward. Carrying forward that legacy while shaping the future of Publicis Sapient and the impact we can have through digital business transformation has been the greatest and most humbling professional achievements of my life. It's been incredible to see the impact our teams are creating as we shape the future of the company together every day.

What advice would you give a professional just beginning a career in consulting?

I would tell them that what you know is not as important as your ability to learn. The world is constantly changing and the needs of clients are changing along with it. Digital has only accelerated the pace of that change. Which means whatever skills you've built are just a foundation and 5 years from now you may find yourself (and the world) in a very different place. So, the best thing you can do as a professional, and certainly as a consultant, is to constantly learn and evolve to produce better outcomes.

What have you loved most about your consulting career?

There are two aspects of consulting that have loved: the ability to create meaningful impact across a number of clients and industries and the opportunity to do that with incredibly smart, talented people. As consultants, every day we face the challenge and opportunity to work with leaders of some of the greatest companies in the world and partner with them to figure out their next. Publicis Sapient has been a digital pioneer throughout our history: from creating the first system that allowed airline passengers to pick their own seats to standing up the first entirely digital trade finance bank.

The work we do can shape the possibilities for customers and industries. When I started my consulting career over 20 years ago, clients were figuring out how to exist in the internet age. Today, they are shaping how they will be digital at the core, but also how they do that in a world that looks to them to have impact in even more areas like society and the environment. I've always believed in the power of technology to create a better future and as a consultant, I've relished the opportunity to do that while learning from incredibly smart teammates who are constantly connecting the dots to create new products, services, and experiences for us all. That combination of culture and impact is something that can't be beaten.

What's the best advice—personal or professional—you've ever received

Prioritize your personal commitments at the same level as your professional ones. This is one that I think it's easy to lose sight of when you're faced with the demands of consulting, but I think one positive we've seen come out of the pandemic if the focus on mental health and flexibility that employees are looking for in their lives. As individuals, we never want to look back with regret and building the muscle to make those personal commitments that matter is so incredibly important. As leaders of businesses, and especially as the leader of a digital business transformation company, I think we are in one of the most powerful times in history to rethink what the future of work will look like and I'm excited to work with our teams at Publicis Sapient to shape what that will be in the years to come.

What does being honored as a Top Consultant mean to you?

The Top Consultant honor has always had a connection to the ability to drive impact and serve as a trusted advisor to clients as they move toward the future. Those are ideas that have always been core to why I am in consulting. Being given the Top Consultant recognition alongside some tremendous peers is both humbling and an incredible motivator to keep partnering with clients to create a brighter future through digital.