DXC Picks Former Accenture Executive As New CEO As Mike Lawrie Retires

Mike Salvino retired from Accenture in 2016 as group chief executive of Accenture Operations after 22 years at the company.

DXC Technology on Wednesday said CEO Mike Lawrie stepped down immediately as CEO and president of the company, while announcing his replacement, former Accenture executive, Mike Salvino.

“I just want to thank the global DXC team for all their support and all we have accomplished,” he said. “Over these past seven years, it’s been my privilege to serve as chairman of CSC and DXC.”

Lawrie said he will stay on as chairman of the board until the end of the calendar year, helping Salvino get up to speed. He said a part of his decision was due to the “accelerated shift” he has seen in the market as well as the importance of DXC “transitioning to growth.”

“We need to move faster in helping clients accelerate the adoption of digital solutions to better serve their customers and better serve their employees,” he said. “Over the past year, the board and I have been working on a succession planning process,” Lawrie said. “We engaged in a real methodical serach for my successor including internal and external candidates. We focused on executives with demonstrated growth in large-scale service businesses. As part of that process.”

Salvino – who was previously a group chief executive for Accenture’s 100,000 employee Accenture Operations Division before retiring in 2016 – joined the DXC board of directors in May.

“Mike is a terrific executive,” Lawrie said. “I look forward to working with him closely to ensure a smooth orderly transition that is as seamless as possible for our employees, our clients and our partners as well as our shareholders … Mike is a proven business leader with a strong track record leading companies to innovate and grow. This makes him very well suited to lead DXC on its transition to growth.”

Salvino also worked for private equity firm Carrick Capital as a managing director, where his portfolio company focus was on technology enable services, including BPO, security and machine learning, DXC said in a statement. On a call with investors Wednesday evening, Salvino said he will take his “operational playbook” apply those lessons to his new job.

“I’m very excited to take on the role and lead the company into the growth phase,” Salvino said. “Over the last 30 years I’ve developed an operational playbook that drives sustainable growth. This playbook covers three main areas. We need to grow our people. We need to grow our clients. We need to grow our business.”

Salvino said in terms of people, he is focused on bringing the best talent to serve clients and a focus on career progression, and personal development. He vowed to create an environment that acknowledges and rewards its people. He said they will grow clients by leading the through their digital transformation, as well as helping them to run their operations in an “effective and silent manner.”

“We have an enviable client base,” Salvino said. “Industry leading partnership and all the capabilities we need to help our clients rationalize and modernize their IT infrastructure and portfolios. We can then use our advanced data analytics and machine learning to give our clients greater insights into their operations and drive better business outcomes.”

DXC stock was down nearly 5 percent on Wednesday in after-hours trading after the stock closed at $36.49.