Crowe Global has created a new executive leadership position aimed at accelerating growth across its international network of accounting and consulting firms. The organization has appointed Josh Cole as Global Growth Leader, effective August 1, signaling a broader strategic focus on expanding consulting capabilities, strengthening technology alliances, and scaling AI-enabled services for member firms and enterprise clients.

Crowe Global is strengthening its global growth strategy with the appointment of Josh Cole as its first Global Growth Leader, a newly established executive position designed to coordinate business development, technology initiatives, and cross-network collaboration across its international member firms.

Cole, who assumes the role on August 1, will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Kamel Abouchacra and join the Crowe Global Management Committee. The appointment reflects a growing trend among global professional services organizations to centralize growth strategies while expanding investments in artificial intelligence, consulting services, cybersecurity, and digital transformation.

The newly created position is intended to help Crowe Global align commercial priorities across its independent member firms, enabling greater collaboration while preserving the local expertise that has traditionally defined professional services networks.

According to the company, Cole will oversee an enterprise growth agenda focused on strategic initiatives, commercial programs, and cross-border collaboration designed to support profitable and sustainable expansion throughout the network.

The move comes as enterprise clients increasingly seek advisory partners capable of combining global expertise with localized market knowledge. Organizations navigating digital transformation, regulatory complexity, cybersecurity risks, and AI adoption often require multidisciplinary consulting teams operating across multiple regions.

CEO Kamel Abouchacra said the appointment reflects the organization’s ambition to strengthen collaboration among member firms while helping clients address increasingly complex business challenges through integrated consulting capabilities.

Leadership Experience Spans Consulting, Technology, and Strategic Alliances

Cole brings more than three decades of experience from Crowe LLP in the United States, where he most recently served as Managing Partner of Strategic Alliances.

During that period, he led the firm’s technology alliance strategy, expanding relationships across enterprise technology ecosystems while supporting broader adoption of AI-enabled consulting services. His work also included strengthening partnerships that enhanced the firm’s ability to deliver technology-driven business transformation initiatives.

Earlier in his career, Cole led Crowe US Consulting for nearly a decade, overseeing the integration of Risk Consulting and Performance Consulting into a unified consulting organization. Under his leadership, the firm expanded its technology consulting portfolio while building practices focused on digital transformation, enterprise risk, operational performance, and emerging technologies.

His experience developing technology-enabled consulting services reflects a broader shift occurring across the professional services industry, where traditional accounting firms are expanding into AI advisory, cybersecurity consulting, cloud transformation, and enterprise technology implementation.

Professional Services Firms Continue Expanding AI Capabilities

Crowe Global’s leadership appointment comes as consulting organizations increasingly compete on technology expertise alongside traditional audit, tax, and advisory services.

Major professional services firms including Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG, Accenture, and IBM Consulting continue investing heavily in generative AI, automation platforms, cybersecurity services, cloud transformation, and industry-specific consulting capabilities. Strategic partnerships with technology providers such as Microsoft, Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Salesforce, Oracle, and SAP have become central to helping enterprise clients modernize operations while accelerating AI adoption.

For international consulting networks like Crowe Global, coordinated growth strategies are becoming increasingly important as multinational organizations seek advisory firms capable of delivering consistent expertise across regions while maintaining local regulatory and market knowledge.

Cole indicated that his priorities will include strengthening collaboration among member firms while expanding capabilities across consulting, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and other high-growth advisory disciplines.

Growth Strategy Reflects Broader Industry Transformation

The appointment also highlights how professional services organizations are restructuring leadership to support enterprise growth beyond traditional service lines.

Rather than focusing solely on geographic expansion, firms are increasingly building integrated capabilities around digital transformation, AI governance, cloud modernization, data analytics, risk management, and operational consulting. These services are becoming critical as enterprises navigate evolving regulatory environments, workforce transformation, and rapid advances in AI technologies.

According to Gartner, worldwide spending on IT services continues to rise as organizations prioritize AI implementation, cloud adoption, and business transformation initiatives. IDC similarly projects sustained growth in digital transformation investments as enterprises accelerate modernization efforts across core business functions.

For consulting firms, this shift requires stronger collaboration across technology alliances, industry expertise, and global delivery models. Leadership roles dedicated to enterprise growth can help coordinate these efforts while identifying opportunities to develop scalable consulting platforms across international markets.

What It Means for Enterprise Clients

For enterprise organizations, Crowe Global’s new leadership structure reflects increasing demand for advisory partners that combine global scale with specialized technology expertise.

As businesses continue investing in AI, cybersecurity, risk management, and digital transformation, consulting providers are expected to compete less on traditional service offerings and more on their ability to integrate technology, industry knowledge, and cross-border capabilities into cohesive business solutions.

Cole’s appointment suggests Crowe Global intends to strengthen that position by expanding collaboration across its member firms while aligning growth around emerging technology priorities that increasingly shape enterprise consulting engagements.

Market Landscape

Global consulting firms are undergoing significant transformation as enterprise demand shifts toward AI-enabled advisory services, cybersecurity, cloud modernization, and digital business transformation. Professional services organizations are investing in strategic alliances with major technology providers while expanding multidisciplinary consulting capabilities. Leadership roles focused on enterprise growth are becoming increasingly common as firms seek to coordinate global expertise, strengthen innovation, and deliver integrated solutions across international markets.

Top Insights

• Crowe Global has created a new Global Growth Leader position, appointing Josh Cole to coordinate strategic growth initiatives across its international network of member firms.
• Cole brings more than 30 years of consulting, technology alliance, and practice development experience, including leadership in AI-enabled consulting services.
• The appointment reflects broader industry investment in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and digital transformation as professional services firms diversify beyond traditional accounting services.
• Global consulting organizations are strengthening collaboration across member firms to deliver integrated expertise while preserving localized client relationships.
• Enterprise clients increasingly expect advisory partners capable of combining global reach, technology innovation, and industry-specific consulting capabilities.

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