Silvia Rindone, UK and Ireland managing partner for strategy and transactions at EY, talks about how she is redefining the expertise needed to reshape the industry and meet the challenges facing advisory firms.
As leader of EY’s service line advising clients on what often should be positively transformational events, Silvia Rindone recognises that the advisory world itself is going through its own period of transformation. She does not fear the seemingly relentless march of technology. Rather, it’s something she relishes: “I believe that one day we’ll look back on this moment with pride, knowing we helped drive a transformation that reshaped our industry for the better.”
An Italian, brought up in Germany, Rindone has spent the last 23 years in the UK. She has worked across Europe in a variety of advisory roles, always with a sense of career progress (see International experience, below). She started her career in strategy consulting, working for boutique firms, larger strategy houses and the Big Four before moving to London in 2002, where she worked for Kurt Salmon, Deloitte and Capgemini. Early in her career she specialised in consumer and retail before extending her expertise from strategy into technology-enabled transformations. She joined EY’s strategy and transactions team in 2019, as head of retail.
What attracted her to EY? “What drew me was the ambition to build out strategy, transaction, and transformation services. My skills and experience meant I could contribute across all three of these pillars and the firm was also investing in the EY-Parthenon brand. I love building things – not only advising clients on business transformation but also helping drive transformation within our own firm. It was a phenomenal opportunity, and having the privilege to now lead the service line has been truly rewarding.”
International experience
Having been brought up in Germany, Silvia Rindone returned to Italy to take a masters degree in economics and business administration at Università Bocconi in Milan. She took her first step in business back in Germany with MC Marketing Corporation.
In Germany, as well as Dusseldorf, she lived and worked in Cologne and Frankfurt for a period, where she worked for Deloitte. Early in her career, Rindone’s clients included big global companies in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) space, and large automotive brands. “Advising large clients with a global presence across multiple regions and categories was an invaluable experience early in my career.”
In 2002 she crossed the channel, and started working for Kurt Salmon in London, on retail strategy and growth strategy. “I came to the UK to follow my then-partner, now husband. That was 23 years ago. We said, ‘Let’s just go to London for two or three years – it’ll be great.’ Now we have two grown-up children, and this is home.”
In 2008 she joined Deloitte in London as a director of strategy, and focused in on the retail sector, again advising FMCG businesses on strategy across the board, which began to include transformation and transactions. She spent six years at Deloitte, and after a spell at Capgemini, she joined EY in 2019, initially as head of retail.
Rindone is trilingual – fluent in Italian, English and German. She modestly says she speaks a little French. “Having experience of a range of cultures has been invaluable – I can lean into various different aspects of my background which has given me a better perspective of the business world.”
Perhaps it comes as no surprise, but she says she encourages junior members of her team to get international experience. “Anyone who has the opportunity to live and work abroad should take it – it’s a fantastic opportunity to expand your experience and network.”
Strong foundations
Rindone was promoted to managing partner for EY’s strategy and transactions service line in the UK and Ireland in July 2023.
The Big Four – Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC – have had many years growing their dominance and expanding services. But there have been challenges. In 2023, EY’s plan to split its audit and consulting business was shelved. Last year Janet Truncale took over as global chair of EY, and in the UK, which is EY’s second largest operation after the US, Anna Anthony, formerly head of EY’s financial services business, became the first woman to permanently lead a Big Four firm in the UK.
The Big Four now face more challenger firms. “As one of the leading players in the market, we are always mindful of the competitive landscape. We cannot be complacent – strategy and transactions is such a fast-paced area – so maintaining a clear view of the strategic playing field is second nature.”
Deals are changing. The questions aren’t
EY’s strategy and transactions team is wiring technology into projects by harnessing a wide range of AI-powered platforms. These include Capital Edge, which helps accelerate and de-risk activities across project and program lifecycles, from M&A to spin-outs and carve-outs and business model transformations.
The AI platforms are underpinned by advanced analytics to accelerate the work while keeping focus on what matters: asking the right questions and turning answers into outcomes.
“AI is simply the latest technology shift – another turn of the wheel after cloud and big data. The same questions apply but now with an AI lens. How might automation change unit economics? Which proprietary data strengthens the moat? Where are model, vendor or regulatory exposures? Can the organisation execute the change?
“We’re investing in the tools and in our people,” says Rindone. “Training has to evolve.” As AI handles more process-driven tasks, teams are equipped to use the tech well and spend more time on higher-value client work. The foundation remains the same: being a good adviser is about asking the right questions.”
That discipline applies to AI itself. “To get useful output from large language models, you must have the right prompts,” Rindone notes. “Curiosity, critical thinking and problem-solving are still the starting points. What’s driving this transaction? Why this investment or strategy shift? Why transform now? The better the question, the better the answer and the better the solution for clients.”
Value of specialisms
While artificial intelligence (AI) is a major driver in the transformation of the advisory industry, according to Rindone, having a combination of functional and sector expertise will remain key regardless of advances brought about by technology.
“Having individuals who can demonstrate both deep sector expertise and functional knowledge is critical for success; it allows us to provide more insightful recommendations to our clients and leverage the extensive sector knowledge available throughout our firm.
“Our clients value our people having a deep understanding of the industries in which they operate. It’s important we stay ahead of the curve and constantly strive to lead the way in shaping thinking across industries.”
Rindone is a willing staff mentor at EY. It is something she particularly enjoys. “I always encourage junior team members to explore different paths and discover the sector they’re truly passionate about. To succeed, they need to be proactive – investing time, learning and development, and understanding how changes in that industry impact our clients. When they choose a field they genuinely enjoy, they’re more likely to go the extra mile, excel in their work, and ultimately deliver a better service to our clients.”
The strategy and transactions umbrella at EY includes transaction diligence which covers financial, operational and commercial diligence, M&A lead advisory, infrastructure advisory, debt and capital market advisory and a newly launched macro strategy practice. There are also teams covering restructuring and insolvency, financial modelling, value creation, post-deal integration or separation work.
“We have a strong diversified portfolio of services which comprise all the adjacent services that sit around a capital moment. Our strategy and transactions leadership team looks after these different functional areas, and we also have industry leaders who focus on bringing market-leading industry expertise to our clients.”
The service line has around 2,000 employees in the UK and Ireland. Earlier this year, the service line was unified under EY-Parthenon – a single and distinct sub-brand with the aim of strengthening EY’s position in the global strategy and transactions market.
“Given the current turbulent macro and geopolitical environment, we know that client demand is evolving so we have designed our proposition and our team – which now sits under the EY-Parthenon brand – to meet these changing needs.
“On the transactions side of our business, we’re now seeing healthy levels of dealmaking after what has been a challenging 18 months across the market. As a result, our transaction diligence team is very busy, working hand in hand with our M&A advisory team to help clients make data-driven investment decisions and capitalise on new opportunities. At the same time, our private equity practice is seeing strong demand from clients seeking guidance on long-term value creation and portfolio transformation.”
On the horizon
While her background is in business strategy, Rindone is keen to share the merits of the ACA qualification as a strong foundation for young talent. “I’ve always believed that a chartered accountancy qualification is an incredible foundation. I encourage people to do it if they have the chance – it’s not only invaluable for their careers but also for understanding how businesses and society works.”
This is all the more important as skilled advisers need to get an understanding of the big picture and then must “get very granular very quickly”. She says: “Getting into the detail of the numbers we are advising on is key. And if you can do that in different industries and countries, that’s even more valuable and interesting in my experience.”
Trust is absolutely fundamental to advising on transactions, she says. “You must be consistent in the delivery of quality. You need to be able to empathise with clients, understand the decision-making process and guide them through that process so they can make the right decision. That is a real skill.”
New blood
Silvia Rindone says that across strategy and transactions, EY has been recruiting in a range of specialisms spanning a range of experience. “We have functional specialisms, for example, in strategy, M&A lead advisory, financial due diligence; in addition, we have sector specialists in areas including TMT, consumer and health, industrials and energy, government and infrastructure and private equity. At a senior level, having a sector specialisation is critical.”
When it comes to embracing new technology, because of a generational shift younger staff naturally have more know-how around technology. AI is transforming some of the strategy and transactions services provided by the Big Four, which is influencing the profile of new recruits. “Many of our new recruits are very tech savvy. However, while it’s beneficial to have new talent with strong data, analytics and AI skills, we also want logical thinkers who can problem solve.”
Clients have become far more diverse since the start of her career, says Rindone: “Globalisation has undoubtedly helped people’s careers and enabled individuals to gain different business culture experience. To effectively advise our diverse client base, our professionals must remain open-minded and be exposed to a wide range of perspectives.”
