A client-driven approach

FROM an undergraduate engineering degree to a Masters of Business Administration, from consulting to industry and back again, Ernst & Young (EY) Asean regional managing partner Liew Nam Soon's curriculum vitae perhaps captures the current direction of professional services, with its increasing focus on the use of technology and industry experience.

"We're really responding to a business change whereby clients are expecting us to provide them with a broad suite of perspectives, insights, and services," he says. This is what clients are saying to professional services firms, he adds: "We really expect you to understand our business. We really expect you to put yourselves in our shoes."

EY has been making an effort to hire people with experience in both industry and professional services. Though Mr Liew pre-dates this shift, he would certainly fit the bill.