By Olivia DeWan 
Paul Walsh brings over 20 years of experience in delivering complex, large-scale transformation programmes across a diverse range of industries. Having spent over a decade working in Expleo, Walsh has played a key role in shaping and evolving the organisation’s transformation capabilities. He specialises in designing and implementing end-to-end transformation solutions that align technology, processes, and people to achieve strategic objectives.
What was your first job? My very first job was working in a Ticketmaster call centre when I was just sixteen years old. It really taught me how to deal with all sorts of people from different walks of life. What are your main priorities and goals in your current role? My ultimate goal is to help drive business development for Expleo. A big part of that is working with clients across both the public and private sectors to design and deliver digital transformation programmes. I’m also really focused on building strong teams that can bring those programmes to life. What pushed you to pursue a career in this field? My first job out of college was on a really high-impact programme in telecommunications, and that’s where I realised project work was what I wanted to focus on. There’s something really rewarding about teams coming together to work towards a common goal and actually seeing the impact as you hit each milestone. How do you motivate yourself and your team? To motivate myself, I set clearly defined goals. There is no greater feeling than hitting them – particularly when they’ve been challenging. For my team, I try to do the same. However, each team member is different, and so how I motivate them will vary depending on what their own priorities are. In one sentence, how would you define success? Very simply: Objective set, objectives met and tackle every challenge head-on along the way. How do you relax? Mainly golf, which has actually played a big part in my role at Expleo! The charity golf event that I have organised over the last eight years has gone on to raise over €100k for various children’s charities. Combining my love of golf with Expleo’s commitment to making a difference has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my work. What is your favourite (non-business) book? I would say Busy and Wrecked by Dermot Whelan. Not only does it offer great tools and techniques for managing a hectic life, but it also provides plenty of laughs along the way – I would highly recommend it. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? To stop caring what people think. The only person you can truly be is yourself – what will be, will be. How do you handle adversity? I accept that adversity is a part of everyday life. The key is to face challenges head-on, address them, fix them, and then move on to the next one. You have to keep moving forward. What are the aspirations for the future of the business? At Expleo, our core focus is to deliver on the Transformation Strategy that we set out in 2025. Our goals are ambitious from both a growth and change perspective, and it will be a challenge to achieve them. However, the reward will make all the effort worthwhile.
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