Our work
We focus on supporting management to deliver strategic initiatives. This is often a complex task, involving many teams of people and new processes, systems and controls. We work with the management team, taking the time to listen, to understand the company culture and to ensure that our skills and experience are shared in an appropriate and honest way.
KSIB is constantly learning and evolving to understand the latest market trends, opportunities and risks. We do this by collaborating with each other and with our clients. We are constantly curious about connecting the dots and understanding how the big themes are impacting our market. We have developed our key focus areas with this in mind:
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The opportunities afforded by AI powered technologies have been described as being similar to the disruptive influence of electricity when it was first implemented in the Industrial Revolution. The technology is pervasive which means that business models and new revenue streams need to be considered, as well as cost and productivity opportunities. Australian corporates need to embrace the opportunities but are naturally reticent to “bet the farm”. There are legacy scars all over the market from difficult or failed technology implementations and it is difficult to understand how to implement safeguards and controls around AI. KSIB has brought together experienced technology, data and controls experts to consider this question and to develop a methodology to facilitate the safe implementation of AI solutions.
Safety in a technology context means many things, including ensuring the right controls and checks and balances are in place, along with appropriate cyber security. Remaining vigilant and understanding how to prepare for a cyber incident, and how to manage one when it arrives, is more complex than many executives outside the technology area expect. It is often the non-technology executives who need to take charge of the holistic management of a cyber breach, and there are many areas to consider. In our experience, for large organisations, approximately a dozen key areas of the organisation will need to be involved in the preparation for, and management of, a breach. KSIB has prepared a detailed checklist to minimise the impact of a cyber attack. The checklist covers planning and preparation through to incident management and covers all relevant organisational disciplines, not just technology.
Key KSIB team members contributing to AI unleashed — safely optimising technology:
Kristin Stubbins, KSIB CEO and Founder
Jeff Smartt, KSIB Associate, Former Chief Information Officer, ASX 20 Multi-national
Steve Brown, KSIB Associate, Former Chief Information Security Officer, ASX 20 Multi-national
Chris Topple, KSIB Associate, Data strategy and governance specialist, former Principal at a large professional services firm
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It feels like the pace of change is unstoppable and sometimes overwhelming. It can be difficult for executives to take bold decisions given the number and variety of ordinary decisions that need to be made on any given day. KSIB aims to help you cut through complexity to make, and execute, the important decisions that will help your organisation achieve its goals. Focusing on and embracing sustainability is one thematic where businesses can cut through, differentiate, and thrive.
Embracing sustainability initiatives meaningfully can drive outsized returns and help attract and retain talent. This means that the sustainability issues that matter most to you as an organisation are embedded in the way you do things. You focus on the things that matter, and you report authentically on them. This becomes increasingly important as mandatory reporting requirements, and greenwashing scepticism, become prevalent. Companies which develop and implement meaningful metrics that are regularly measured and used internally and externally, and which report authentically on what they are doing and how they are faring, will prevail.
Key KSIB team members contributing to Sustainable businesses are successful businesses:
Siobhan Toohill, KSIB Associate, Former Chief Sustainability Officer, ASX 10 Financial Services Organisation
Sharon Broekhuizen, KSIB Managing Director, Former large professional services firm Partner
Sarah Kruger, KSIB Associate, Former Senior Partner and Chief People Officer at a large professional services firm
Chantalle Meijer, KSIB Managing Director Growth, Former Chief Marketing Officer at a large listed company
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We consider the relative maturity of your business (start up, scale up or mature business) and help you build or transform your brand. The critical elements of a successful, modern brand strategy include:
Focusing on creating an emotional connection
Ensuring that the brand is aligned to the true purpose of the company and that authenticity underpins everything
These elements are easy to write down but are difficult to execute as they involve embracing innovative, new technologies but also looking deep into what the organisation stands for and ensuring that your people are aligned with this purpose. Our team has thought deeply about these complexities and will help you cut through by working with you to understand your business and the opportunities that lie ahead. Combining over 20 years of experience in transformational brand building with modern technology expertise, we guide the executive team and the brand/marketing teams through the bespoke issues that will either make or break your brand strategy and its execution.
Key KSIB team members contributing to Powerful brands: a foundational element underpinning business success:
Chantalle Meijer, KSIB Managing Director Growth, Former Chief Marketing Officer at a large listed company
Jeff Smartt, KSIB Associate, Former Chief Information Officer, ASX 20 multi-national
Chris Topple, KSIB Associate, Data strategy and governance specialist, former Principal at a large professional services firm
Steve Brown, KSIB Associate, Former Chief Information Security Officer, ASX 20 Multi-national
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The KSIB team of consultants and associates meets regularly to discuss market trends. Opportunities, risks and challenges all present themselves, but even though we spend a lot of time working on how technology can solve problems and drive opportunities, the common denominator driving successful outcomes is people.
We believe there are a number of substantive opportunities for Australian corporates to increase the value of their most important asset: people. Key areas of opportunity include:
Getting the basics right – ensuring payroll integrity
Understanding the truth of the culture you have today
Ensuring your people are emotionally connected with your purpose and your brand
Creating a work environment that supports and reinforces what you stand for
Executing on these opportunities is not straightforward. Our KSIB team, combining deep consulting and executive experience, works with executive teams to cut through to identify truly meaningful people initiatives that you can implement. This has to be done through the focus of business leadership, including line managers, not just through the lens of the human resources department.
Key KSIB team members contributing to People — your greatest asset:
Sarah Kruger, KSIB Associate, Former Senior Partner and Chief People Officer at a large professional services firm
Sharon Broekhuizen, KSIB Managing Director, Former Partner at a large professional services firm
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The AI revolution is here and its impact has been compared to transformational inventions such as the internet or electricity. We agree. It is important to consider how best to safely navigate operational transformations considering the stakes involved. We have written a guidance on taking the first step and developed a methodology to assist with this. It is also important to consider the lessons learned from the many transformations that have been conducted in large organisations over the past 20 years. Most executives can regale us with long stories about complex IT implementations gone wrong, for example.
Learning the strategic lessons of the past is the key to unlocking the strategic opportunities of the AI age as it relates to operational transformations. Some of these lessons include:
Understanding the context and the global landscape in which we operate
Being brutally honest about the current situation
Considering the cultural change that is necessary to implement truly transformational change
Persistence and repetition are your friend when implementing change
The KSIB team has worked on or led hundreds of transformations and brings that depth of experience along with modern thinking and technological understanding.
Key KSIB team members contributing to Transforming operations in a time of technological disruption:
Kristin Stubbins, CEO and Founder of KSIB
Sarah Kruger, KSIB Associate, Former Senior Partner and Chief People Officer at a large professional services firm
Sharon Broekhuizen, KSIB Managing Director, Former large professional services firm Partner
Siobhan Toohill, KSIB Associate, Former Chief Sustainability Officer, ASX 10 Financial Services Organisation
Ann Smith, KSIB Associate, Former Executive large superannuation fund
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The modern home kitchen is generally a hive of activity where everyone in the home feels comfortable and can access fuel (food and water) to tackle their day. It is also the place where informal collaboration feels natural. The modern finance function is also a central place that should facilitate collaboration, simplify access to information, and provide analysis and insights that fuel growth and innovation. This is where planning, budgeting, resource stewardship and therefore strategic enablement happens. Just as the kitchens of today look vastly different to those constructed 20 years ago, finance functions need to make sure they are embracing new technologies, ways of working and meeting the needs of the front line to drive growth and to manage risk.
Some key opportunities that can be considered by modern CFOs include:
How are new technologies (including AI) helping the organisation drive growth in a safe way?
How is the organisation encouraging innovation and then quickly assessing and managing risk?
When is the last time you sat down with your executive peers to ask how finance can help them achieve growth?
Is the finance function organised in a way that facilitates growth, innovation, risk management and collaboration?
Is reporting and market communication more broadly an authentic representation of the business, its strategy and its opportunity?
KSIB welcomes these challenges and its executive team and associates have worked with hundreds of finance functions in a range of capacities.
Key KSIB team members contributing to The modern finance function is the kitchen of the organisation:
Kristin Stubbins, CEO and Founder of KSIB
Sharon Broekhuizen, KSIB Managing Director, Former large professional services firm Partner
Sarah Kruger, KSIB Associate, Former Senior Partner and Chief People Officer at a large professional services firm
Siobhan Toohill, KSIB Associate, Former Chief Sustainability Officer, ASX 10 Financial Services Organisation
Jeff Smartt, KSIB Associate, Former Chief Information Officer, ASX 20 Multi-national
Steve Brown, KSIB Associate, Former Chief Information Security Officer, ASX 20 Multi-national
Chris Topple, KSIB Associate, Data strategy and governance specialist, former Principal at a large professional services firm