Growthops’ Salesforce Einstein practice steps out as Lightfold

Scott Tanner and Clint Cooper (GrowthOps)

IT consulting supergroup Growthops has spun-off its Salesforce Einstein practice as a standalone independent business entity after a year of incubation. 

The move comes roughly 16 months after Growthops, a publicly-listed consulting firm formed by the mega-merger of at least eight separate companies, reportedly snagged Accenture Australia’s entire Salesforce Einstein team, comprising four local experts in the vendor’s artificial intelligence (AI) solution.

According to Growthops, the new business, named Lightfold, arrives after a year of incubation within Growthops. However, while it is stepping into a new life as an independent business, it will continue to operate in close partnership with Growthops and service the consulting firm’s clients, as it has done for the duration of its incubation period. 

Regardless, Lightfold’s new independence is expected to see it gain the flexibility to expand its services to the entire Salesforce user ecosystem as an independent entity. 

For Growthops CEO Clint Cooper, the spinoff, which is headed up by former Accenture Einstein global lead John Cosgrove, as a win-win for the consulting firm and its clients.

“Growthops has been at the forefront of emerging thinking around how AI can be harnessed to change the shape of customer and brand experience for some of Australia's biggest brands,” Cooper said. “Our clients will continue to benefit from this thought leadership, both from a Salesforce implementation perspective, as well as from an advisory and strategy perspective. 

“We’re proud of the work we have done together over the last 12 months and remain committed to continuing to offer this valuable capability to our clients. We’re excited to see what’s now possible for the team as it moves to this next phase,” he said. 

According to Cosgrove, who is CEO of the new entity, the time embedded with Growthops provided the Einstein team with a valuable opportunity to work with thought leaders across the full spectrum of customer, employee and brand experience.

“Being part of a culture that truly embraces entrepreneurship and innovation gave us the space and flexibility to deepen and expand our capabilities, deliver great work for our clients, and to change the conversation from deploying an app to adopting a platform,” Cosgrove said.

The spinoff comes just a few months after Growthops ushered in a new management team, with Growthops CEO Paul Mansfield, along with independent non-executive chairman Dominique Fisher and non-executive director Melissa Field, all retiring from their roles, with Cooper taking up the new managing director and CEO position.

Along with Cooper, Scott Tanner took over the position of independent non-executive chairman, while Phillip Dalidakis, Jessica Hart and Craig McMenamin were appointed non-executive directors, while Trisecops co-founder Craig Davies was appointed executive director for technology and cybersecurity.