Our People

Our knowledgeable, passionate people are what set Optivia apart.

Optivia People

More than anything else, our success hinges on both the skills and personality of our people.

We are immensely proud of the amazing and diverse talent at Optivia, which we’ve attracted through a well-refined and selective hiring process.  What matters most is finding people who are passionate about data, have a hunger to learn and to grow, want to share their knowledge with others, and, hardest of all, possesses a rare ability to master three critical areas – business context, data and technology.

We know this means we’ll never be the biggest consultancy. However, we will be the consultancy deploying highly intelligent people that offer you speed, agility, value and knowledge. More importantly, with a focus on understanding what matters most to you, they will enable you and your teams to answer your most pressing business questions in the most efficient and effective way.

Optivia people possess a rare ability to master three critical areas – business context, data and technology

Leadership team

Phil Ball

Phil Ball

Director

Phil is passionate about unlocking the potential of data in organisations, so they can drive better decision making. Phil understands that this enables organisations to deliver an improved customer experience and ultimately more tangible value.

Phil believes that this is only possible through a genuine partnering mindset – that is, partnering with specialists who care as much about the customer and the outcome as the client does.

He is most excited when he sees younger team members given the opportunity to grow, and when customers achieve breakthrough results in less time and for less money thanks to Optivia’s people and approach.

Optivia's Lasith Abayawardana

Lasith Abayawardana

Director

A strong believer in Optivia’s core values, Lasith has a long history in the global professional services and data analytics industries. Over time he has developed an acute appreciation for the challenges involved in developing analytical frameworks.

Lasith’s primary focus is filling each project’s unique skill gap. He enjoys partnering with senior stakeholders to build and manage high-performing teams, then delivering to critical deadlines in high-pressure environments.

Lasith advocates for data-driven decision-making within organisations.

Mario Ermacora

Mario Ermacora

Director

At heart, Mario is an obsessive problem solver and loves a challenge. Throughout his 20 year career in Data Analytics he’s helped deliver innovative data and BI solutions for clients all over the world, across various industries.

Mario finds mentoring and developing the team at Optivia immensely rewarding, but still enjoys getting hands-on with the data, and turning this into valuable insights for Optivia’s clients.

Steve Bedford

Steve Bedford

Principal

Steve is a focused, proactive and adaptable data analyst and consultant with highly developed technology, commercial and project management skills. Steve is passionate about what he does and is driven to complete projects efficiently to a very high standard.

Steve’s broad experience in business consultation makes him a valuable asset to any organisation and his passion for life-long learning and value creation mean he has so much more to offer our clients.

Katrine Close

Head of Client Management

A real people person, Katrine thoroughly enjoys her work. She loves building and nurturing trusted relationships with customers and our consultants. By partnering well and delivering outstanding solutions, Katrine and the team continually share success after success with our customers.

Katrine is an experienced transformation manager and in collaboration with her customer stakeholders, support businesses to maximise potential of new technologies and implement or re-engineer operational practices driving continuous innovation, addressing missed opportunities and exceeding productivity and financial expectations.

Our employee values

Collaborate as a team

Share our experience and knowledge to achieve a shared goal.

Act with integrity

Behave honestly and ethically at all times.

Continue to grow

Ability to guide and influence other Optivians and maximise efforts of individuals.

Promote inclusivity

Value and welcome each other’s unique background, capabilities and contribution.

Strive for excellence

Perform to the best of our abilities and deliver to the highest standards.

Our network of like minded people

Optivia has a large pool of tried and tested specialist partners. This means, whatever your data issue – even if outside our core capability – we can bring in best-of-breed consultants to deliver the quality you know us for.

Clients benefit from accessing our proven specialist partners who have expertise in:

Optivia enables you to access the right data in the right way at the right time.
Get in touch today.