Tom Loozen, Chief Executive ANZ and Global Communications Industry Lead, NCS | The CEO Magazine

Tom Loozen knows what it’s like to have the resources of a global consulting giant at his disposal. After nearly two decades at Accenture and another six years at EY, he’s also familiar with the complexities that come with operating at that scale.

So when the opportunity arose take on the role of Chief Executive ANZ and Global Communications Industry Lead at NCS, a leading AI technology services company, its relatively modest size was part of the attraction.

Here was a business with 47 years of Australian heritage, access to the capabilities of a 15,000-strong Asia–Pacific technology group and the freedom to make decisions close to customers. Better still, it was a company Loozen could help shape.

“I didn’t necessarily want to run another giant,” he tells The CEO Magazine. “NCS ANZ has a rare combination of regional scale and global expertise, but here locally we’re more energetic and we’re hungrier because we still have something to prove.

“We have the potential to make big things happen – and that really appealed to me.”

The local advantage

In Loozen’s view, one of NCS ANZ’s greatest strengths lies in its ability to make decisions close to the customer. While the business can draw on NCS’ extensive capabilities across applications, infrastructure, engineering, cybersecurity, cloud, data and AI, its Australian operations retain the autonomy to determine how to best serve clients.

“We choose what we do and how we do it locally, allowing us to make decisions fast,” he explains.

This independence extends to everything from selecting project teams to choosing partners and responding when circumstances change. Rather than navigating layers of international approvals, NCS ANZ’s leadership can act quickly, supported by its own profit-and-loss accountability.

Crucially, the business isn’t starting from scratch either. Its 47-year strong Australian heritage gives it an up-close understanding of local industries, regulations, relationships and the nuances that influence how organizations in this region operate. Loozen believes this unique combination gives it its edge.

“We’re not going anywhere,” he insists. “We live here, we work here, we meet our clients in the office and we see them at the grocery store.”

It’s a level of accountability he considers especially important in Australia, where businesses increasingly expect technology partners to understand their operating environment rather than simply import solutions developed elsewhere.

“We hold ourselves accountable and are uncompromisingly strict in how we assemble our teams,” he explains.

“Everything comes back to making sure we serve our clients well, providing high-grade, enterprise-grade capability and then tuning it specifically to their needs and being very invested in the outcome that we deliver.”

And unlike larger competitors, where Australia may represent only one market among many, NCS has made the country a central priority.

“Australia and the clients we serve are our number one priority,” Loozen confirms.

People before technology

As an engineer by training and a transformation leader by trade, Loozen believes the best technology outcomes come from understanding people first.

“Leaders have to remember that they’re not just serving a company – they’re serving the individuals in that company,” he points out.

So instead of expecting everyone to conform to a particular leadership or working style, Loozen focuses on identifying individual strengths and creating opportunities for people to excel.

Some employees thrive on creative problem-solving while others bring exceptional technical expertise or the discipline needed to execute complex projects. Recognizing those differences, he believes, produces stronger teams and ultimately, better client outcomes.

It’s an approach he’s refined over 30 years in professional services, leading major international practices and working alongside some of the world’s largest telecommunications businesses.

Those experiences reinforced the importance of maintaining standards, particularly when relationships become challenging.

“When it comes to clients, never compromise. Always strive for the absolute highest quality,” Loozen reflects.

“It’s easier to navigate the more difficult phases knowing that you’ve always done the right thing, in the right way and without compromise. Then, even when disagreements arise, there’s always a way forward.”

Beyond the AI hype

Maintaining a customer-first philosophy is especially relevant as AI reshapes the technology services industry. Having witnessed plenty of technological revolutions throughout his career, Loozen considers AI fundamentally different in both its reach and potential.

“AI is by far the most powerful amplifier of what we humans can do that I’ve ever seen,” he says.

Unlike earlier technologies designed to improve specific functions, AI has applications across virtually every role and activity within an organization. From strategic planning and creative thinking to operational execution, its potential extends well beyond automating repetitive tasks.

“The future isn’t AI versus people,” Loozen says. “It’s AI enabling people to achieve 10 times more than was previously possible.”

NCS explores that potential further in its AI Playbook. Its framework focuses on three interconnected measures: return on customer, creating greater value and better experiences; return on employee, empowering people to innovate and work more effectively; and return on future, establishing the capabilities required for sustainable performance.

However, realizing those benefits requires more than deploying new tools. Loozen believes organizations must establish trust, invest in secure and flexible technology foundations and define measurable outcomes before scaling their AI initiatives.

“If it gets positioned and introduced in the company as the tool that takes away half of all jobs, then it’s going to be a difficult conversation,” he says.

Instead, he advocates presenting AI as an opportunity to strengthen human capability – freeing employees to contribute more creatively and strategically.

Importantly, Loozen cautions against pursuing innovation without a clear commercial purpose.

“Technology can show you the art of the possible. AI opens up a much broader range of potential use cases, creating many opportunities to do things differently,” he says.

“The challenge is deciding which opportunities to pursue, being clear about the returns you expect and having a technology environment that allows you to execute flexibly and securely. Those are the fundamentals of getting it right.”

Built to challenge

For all its regional scale and technical expertise, NCS ANZ doesn’t aspire to become yet another tech consultancy giant.

Instead, Loozen sees an opportunity between the big guys and the smaller specialist providers – being a business capable of delivering complex enterprise solutions without sacrificing agility, personal relationships or accountability.

That challenger mentality is less about disrupting competitors and more about challenging conventional approaches to solving customer problems.

“We don’t believe there is a certain solution that we should force upon our client,” Loozen says. “We very much sit on the other end of things where we’re looking to totally tune and be very specific to client needs, wants and ambitions.”

This flexibility, combined with NCS ANZ’s established local relationships and access to regional expertise, provides the foundation for Loozen’s growth ambitions. And as the business approaches its 50-year milestone, he has a clear idea of what success for the company should look like.

“Success for us is not to become another giant consulting firm,” he concludes. “Success is NCS ANZ being the first choice for our clients to help them address their specific problems.”