Dutchman Tom Loozen leads EY's global Telecom practice

The global Telecom practice of accounting and consulting giant EY has a new leader at its helm. From the firm’s base in Amsterdam, the Dutchman Tom Loozen leads the firm’s telecommunications teams across more than 150 countries. 

Loozen joined the professional services firm at the start of this year following a nine months sabbatical, which he took after spending nearly 19 years with Accenture in Amsterdam and London. At the firm, he held a range of leadership roles, latterly serving as a Senior Managing Director in Accenture's global Technology, Communications & Entertainment practice and as head of the same practice in the Netherlands. Prior to working for Accenture, Loozen spent seven years with Netherlands headquartered telecom provider KPN.

Commenting on Loozen’s appointment, Greg Cudahy, EY’s global Technology, Communications & Entertainment leader said, “Tom’s extensive experience and innovative approach will help our clients navigate a fast-changing environment and unlock growth by embracing a strategic, forward-looking business model and fully leveraging the power that digital has to offer.”

With over 25 years of experience, Loozen brings a wealth of knowledge to the position of Global Telecommunications leader. “He has a proven track record of helping industry leaders shape and apply digital solutions to drive high-performance, and top- and bottom-line growth,” said Cudahy, who also has a background at Accenture and is based in EY’s Atlanta office in the US. Loozen specialises particularly in strategy, value creation, and in applying the latest technologies to drive performance improvement.

He has been tasked with growing EY’s market share, standing and propositions in the Telecom industry, across all four business lines the firm is active in – assurance, advisory, tax, and transactions advisory. 

Commenting on his new role, Loozen said; “Today, telecommunications is integral to both consumers and enterprises, and with the introduction of 5G, it will only become more pervasive. At the same time, telecoms companies are now faced with a range of challenges, including ownership of the customer data, competition from alternative providers of connectivity and more traditional telecoms services, increasing regulatory demand around data privacy and transparency, and the imperative to innovate. Highly capital-intensive network upgrades and build-outs are also putting pressure on returns on investment.” 

While telecom companies have been facing headwinds in recent years, with margins under pressure from services such as Whatsapp and Voice-over-IP, Loozen believes the future remains bright for telcos that manage to embrace change for the better. Demand for telecom services is higher than ever before, and the criticality of such services is at a peak, he said. At the same time, few companies face the luxury of sitting on such heaps of potentially mega-valuable data, granting providers unprecedented big data opportunities. “The opportunity is there: first, for insight to drive superlative customer service, second to create and deliver a whole range of new, very tailored (potentially 3rd party) services, and finally to create insights that are of value to others, who may want to partner or purchase,” he stated. 

Loozen holds a master in Applied Physics from the Delft University of Technology, and earned an MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands.