Former Group CIO · Interim, Fractional & Board Advisory · Singapore / Global

Senior technology leadership, without the permanent hire.

For 25 years I ran global technology — the last stretch as Group CIO of Robert Walters. Now I sit on your side of the table: independent judgement on technology, cyber risk and AI, for boards and executive teams that need it.

Engagements from a 30-day governance review, to a fractional CIO at 1–3 days a week, to full interim cover.

Book an introductory call Connect on LinkedIn

Former Group CIO, Robert Walters · CISSP · MSc Cybersecurity with AI (in progress) · Singapore PR

When to call me

The situations I’m built for

Interim and fractional leadership is bought when something is happening. If one of these is on your desk, we should talk.

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You have a CIO gap

A departure, transition or stalled transformation that needs a steady, senior hand now — not in six months.

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Your board needs assurance on cyber or AI

Independent governance the board can actually understand and act on, before a regulator or an incident forces the question.

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Technology cost and service quality need grip

Executive control of spend, vendors and service performance — turning a drifting estate into a managed one.

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You need senior leadership, not a permanent hire

Senior technology leadership without adding a permanent executive seat — well suited to scale-ups and PE-backed businesses.

Services

What I do

Independent technology leadership for boards, executive teams, founders and PE-backed companies — Singapore-based, engaged globally, with no software, MSP or vendor agenda, just independent judgement.

The core offer is simple: interim or fractional CIO cover, and board-level technology governance. Everything below is how that lands.

01

Fractional & Interim CIO

Senior technology leadership at 1–3 days a week, or full interim cover, to hold direction and service quality through a gap or transformation.

02

Board & Strategic Advisory

Independent, board-level counsel on technology strategy, cyber risk and AI — complexity turned into decisions you can act on.

03

AI Governance

Responsible, production-grade AI adoption: inventory, controls, human-in-the-loop and assurance. Built in a live global business, not theory.

04

Cybersecurity Governance

ISO/IEC 27001, board-level cyber accountability and third-party risk — security as an operating strength, not a compliance tick.

05

Service Excellence & ESM

ITIL- and SDI-grounded service management, extended beyond IT as enterprise service management — with experience-based metrics (SLA → XLA) that measure service by how it feels to use, not just how it reports.

06

Operating Model & Transformation

Global shared services, vendor consolidation and hybrid cloud (AWS / Azure) — operating models that scale, cut cost and support sustainability goals.

07

Technology Due Diligence

An independent read for investors, boards or acquirers on a target’s technology, security and AI posture — risks, gaps and the real cost to put right.

25+
Years of global technology leadership
6
Industries — nuclear research to financial services
£3M+
Annualised savings delivered
150+
Global technology organisation led

Savings and scale delivered at Robert Walters — 14 countries, 23 offices — over a 16-year rise to Group CIO.

Selected outcomes

What this looks like in practice

Four examples from a 25-year executive career — the same disciplines I bring to every engagement.

Operating model

A blueprint the whole group adopted

Designed and led a global shared-services operating model across 14 countries and 23 offices — subsequently adopted as the group’s Business Services blueprint, well beyond technology.

Outcome: one scalable model for the entire group.

Cost & vendors

Grip on spend, without degrading service

Consolidated the global vendor estate by ~40%, renegotiated key contracts and put technology spend under genuine executive control — while service performance improved, not slipped.

Outcome: £3M+ in annualised savings.

Governance & AI

Security and AI made board-ready

Took ISO/IEC 27001 across every jurisdiction, established board-level cyber accountability, and brought AI into production with human-in-the-loop controls — not pilots that never ship.

Outcome: governance as an operating strength.

Service excellence

Service quality the business could feel

Transformed a distributed global service organisation — experience-level agreements (XLAs) implemented alongside SLAs, so service was measured by the experience people actually had, not just process compliance.

Outcome: SDI accreditation, with XLAs in production.

In their words

What the people I’ve worked with say

“

An outstanding technology executive with the rare combination of strategic vision, operational excellence, and inspirational leadership… he has consistently delivered results — from transforming our global IT operating model to strengthening security and driving innovation — all while building a strong team culture founded on trust, accountability and growth.

Dominic DowChief Technology & Product Officer, Robert Walters Group — Michael’s direct manager
“

A visionary CIO with a strong commercial mindset and a clear ability to align technology with business outcomes. He consistently blends strategic thinking with practical delivery and sound judgement.

Chris AllenServices Director, Robert Walters
“

He has a rare ability to cut through complexity, focus on what truly matters, and consistently deliver value for the business… Any organisation would be fortunate to have Michael leading their technology function.

Robert CrossTechnology Leader, CISSP

Typical engagements

Clear shapes, clear outcomes

Most engagements start small and scale with trust. Common ways to begin:

Fixed scope

30-day Review

A fast, independent assessment of technology, cyber and AI — with prioritised, costed recommendations.

1–3 days/wk

90-day Fractional start

Embed, stabilise and set direction as your part-time CIO, with a clear plan by day 90.

Defined term

Interim CIO

Full executive cover for a fixed period — through a gap, a transition or a transformation.

Retainer

Board Advisory

Ongoing, board-level counsel on technology, cyber and AI — a trusted independent voice.

About

A global CIO, now independent

Michael Kennedy, founder of Kennedy Advisory

Credentials

  • —Former Group CIO, Robert Walters
  • —25+ years, global technology leadership
  • —CISSP, (ISC)²
  • —MSc Cybersecurity with AI (in progress)
  • —CTO Programme, National University of Singapore
  • —ITIL Expert · PRINCE2 · MBCS
  • —Singapore Permanent Resident
Download CV (PDF)

I take complex, global technology and turn it into measurable business outcomes — making it safe to scale through the right operating model, service excellence and governance.

Across 25+ years I’ve done this in demanding environments — from mission-critical systems and regulated financial services to high-availability online platforms — and across the UK, Europe and Asia. That foundation carried through a 16-year rise to Group CIO at Robert Walters, where I led a 150+ person organisation across 14 countries — supporting ~5,000 people and a ~£20M technology portfolio — built the operating model adopted as the firm’s Group Business Services blueprint, and delivered £3M+ in annualised savings.

Throughout, I’ve made governance a strength — ISO/IEC 27001 across all jurisdictions, board-level cyber accountability, and AI taken safely into production. I’m Singapore-based with a global remit.

The arc

2024–26Group CIO, Robert Walters — Singapore, global remit
2017–24Director of Technology Operations, Robert Walters — built the global shared-services model
2010–17IT Director & APAC leadership roles, Robert Walters — built the region’s technology capability
2009IT Operations Manager, F&C Asset Management — regulated financial platforms, Edinburgh
2006–08Infrastructure & Systems Manager, Mansion Group — 24/7 online gaming platforms, Gibraltar / Singapore
2004–06Technical Services Manager, Savcor — infrastructure and end-user services, Scotland
1997–2004Server Manager, UK Atomic Energy Authority — mission-critical systems in a high-security nuclear research environment
1996–97Omnes (Schlumberger) — enterprise messaging across UK / US oil & gas operations

Resources

Practical tools from the field

Guides, checklists and runbooks drawn from 25+ years running global technology. Built to be genuinely useful on their own — no strings attached.

Board checklist

10 Questions Your Board Should Ask About AI

A board-ready checklist: why each question matters, what a good answer sounds like, and the red flags that warrant a deeper look.

Download the checklist
Runbook

The CIO Gap Runbook

A 90-day playbook for holding technology steady through a CIO departure, transition or transformation — for CEOs, CFOs and boards.

Download the runbook
Investor checklist

Technology Due Diligence Checklist

What investors and acquirers should examine in a target’s technology, security and AI posture — and where the cost surprises usually hide.

Download the checklist
Toolkit

The AI Ethics Review

The questions that catch what the outcomes test misses — the asymmetry test, five review disciplines, and the frameworks map from Singapore’s Model Framework to the EU AI Act. Companion to The Duty of Care.

Download the toolkit
Board guide

The Real Economics of Green IT

Why sustainable technology is a cost, compliance and capacity question — where IT sits in SGX climate reporting, the AI energy question, and six levers that cut cost and carbon together.

Download the guide
Service guide

From SLA to XLA

Why every metric can be green while your users are miserable — and how to measure experience instead. From watermelon dashboards to XLAs, and from ITSM to enterprise service management.

Download the guide

New tools are added regularly. To receive them as they’re released, join the mailing list.

Insights

Writing & perspective

Essays on the questions technology leadership is actually wrestling with — AI, ethics, sustainability and governance.

The Duty of Care · Part 1

The Duty of Care: Are We Treating People Merely as Means?

Most AI governance starts — and too often ends — with an outcomes test: will it work, and do the benefits outweigh the harms? The harder question sits underneath: who, in this design, is being treated merely as a means? On turning Kant’s principle into working design disciplines — asymmetry as an alarm signal, ethics leading the legal floor, and one personal test: authorise only the architectures you’d be willing to live inside.

Read on LinkedIn

Part 2 is coming — what duty of care looks like when the resource is the planet, not the person: the real economics of Green IT. Follow on LinkedIn to catch it first.

Get in touch

Discuss an engagement

Interim cover, a fractional CIO, board advisory, or an independent view on AI and cyber governance — tell me what’s on your desk and let’s find the right shape.

Book an introductory call michael@kennedyadvisory.co