Let’s Speculate About Who Will Be the Next CEO of Deloitte

With Joe U. going global, there will soon be a vacancy in the office of the CEO at Deloitte. Fortunately for the Green Dot, it has enough people waiting in the wings who have the bona fides to fill that seat. Let’s take a look at a few of the top contenders who could be nominated during the firm’s next formal leadership election as the next Deloitte CEO, as well as some honorable mentions:

Lara Abrash

Based on recent trends, Lara Abrash would have to be the frontrunner for the CEO seat. The last two Deloitte CEOs—Joe Ucuzoglu and Cathy Engelbert, who is now commissioner of the WNBA—were the chair and CEO of the firm’s audit and assurance practice, Deloitte & Touche, before they were promoted. Abrash has held that role at D&T since 2019.

She previously served as deputy CEO of Deloitte & Touche, national managing partner of audit innovation and client service delivery, and as chief operating officer of U.S. audit and assurance. Abrash has been a partner at Deloitte since 2005.

Her client service roles have included serving as the global lead client service partner on a variety of large multinational clients across multiple industries, including financial services, consumer products, technology, and hospitality.

Dan Helfrich

There has been precedent for Deloitte promoting the leader of its consulting practice to a high-ranking role. Outgoing Deloitte Global CEO and cricket enthusiast Punit Renjen was the chair and CEO of Deloitte Consulting when he was chosen to replace Sharon Allen as Deloitte US chairman of the board in 2011. He would go on to serve two four-year terms as Deloitte’s global CEO, starting in 2015 and finishing on Dec. 31, 2022, when he will retire and be succeeded by Joe U.

That is why Dan Helfrich, current chair and CEO of Deloitte Consulting, is on this list.

Helfrich took over as head of Deloitte Consulting on the same day in 2019 that Abrash took over as head of D&T. He succeeded Janet Foutty, who was elected chairman of the board and continues in that role.

Helfrich, who has been with Deloitte since 1998 and is a principal with the firm, previously led the firm’s Government & Public Services practice. He has led large customer-centric transformations for both public- and private-sector clients, and also was Deloitte’s chief strategy officer for human capital and the civilian government sector. In addition, he writes and speaks regularly on topics such as purpose-driven leadership, elevating citizen and customer experience, and the future of work.

He also is the play-by-play voice of the Georgetown Hoyas men’s soccer team.

I’ve called about 800 (!) goals over last 20 years at Shaw Field. While this won’t hit the top ten in terms of game drama, it is absolutely near the very top in pure finishing quality. Bravo @MurrellJacob https://t.co/SO37JLtglf

— Dan Helfrich (@dhelfrich21) October 19, 2022

John Peirson

John Peirson was also part of the Abrash/Helfrich promotion class in June 2019 when he was named chairman and CEO of Deloitte Risk and Financial Advisory. Peirson is probably a long-shot to take over as Deloitte CEO, as Big 4 firms lately haven’t put people from their advisory and tax practices in their esteemed CEO seats. But we’re just speculating, right? So that makes Peirson a viable candidate.

He previously served as the COO for risk and financial advisory and deputy CFO of Deloitte US. Peirson joined Deloitte in 2002 after spending the preceding 14 years at Arthur Andersen.

He has spent his career helping clients in such areas as external and internal audit, controls optimization, operational risk transformation, accounting and reporting, and governance-related services.

Roger Arrieux Jr.

Roger Arrieux Jr. is a longer long-shot than Peirson to take over as Deloitte CEO, but we’ve never heard anything bad uttered about the managing partner of Deloitte’s New York City office (its largest in the U.S.), and that’s something because we’ve heard bad things uttered about nearly everyone in public accounting in the last 13 years.

“Roger is a natural leader,” said Steve Gallucci, who preceded Arrieux as MP of the NYC office and is currently national managing partner for the Global and U.S. CFO Program at Deloitte. “He understands the needs of our people, clients, and communities and knows how to produce effective solutions to our most critical business, financial, and regulatory challenges.”

Arrieux succeeded Gallucci as NYC OMP in 2020. He has been credited for driving business growth, facilitating a multidisciplinary approach toward serving clients, leading corporate citizenship strategy, and creating and modeling a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture, Deloitte said.

Arrieux, who joined Deloitte in 1993, specializes in providing professional services to alternative investment vehicles across a diverse client base. He teams across service lines to provide solutions and assists in understanding regulatory, structural, and operational frameworks, according to the firm.

Honorable mentions

• This ambitious Deloitte intern from 2014;
• This desperate Redditor;
• This lady;
• A polar bear;
• Deloitte’s service dog; and
• The Green Men.

We want to hear your best guesses as to who the favorite(s), spoilers, and dark horses are in the race to replace Joe Ucuzoglu as Deloitte CEO. And if you have any definitive knowledge about what’s going on behind closed doors, email us.

Related article:

Joe Ucuzoglu Ascends the Throne of Deloitte Global, Maybe Someone Will Care This Time