Publicis Sapient, the digital transformation hub of Publicis Groupe, is expanding its investment in industry vertical specialist talent; announcing the appointments of Daniel Abbas, industry lead, public sector and higher education, and Michael Joffe, industry lead for energy and utilities. 

Daniel Abbas is a highly experienced business leader and management consultant, bringing a breadth of knowledge gained from a career that has seen him apply his skills in innovation and the development of new business models for some of Australia’s leading companies and institutions.

His range of hands-on technical expertise is further complemented by his specialisation in social research, digital strategy, and his passion for building agile technical solutions.   

Previous roles have seen Abbas consult extensively for both the corporate and public sector, advising government on how to prepare and strategise for the social implications of digital transformation. 

His career experience also includes establishing a higher education start-up, leading the digital practice for Nous Group and holding the position of business architect for REA Group. 

 Recently Publicis Sapient’s work in the higher education industry has included the digital transformation of the University of Sydney, which involved the migration of 24 websites, improving the university’s ability to segment/derive insights from its data, while introducing agility into the institution.   

Michael Joffe, newly appointed to the role of industry lead for energy and utilities, is a technology commercialisation executive with broad entrepreneurial expertise across distributed energy, energy management, and the development of smart devices for smart homes. 

With a career that has seen him co-found Zen Ecosystems, an Internet-of-Things/energy management company, Joffee is focused on the cutting edge of emerging digital solutions, bringing to the role a deep knowledge of home automation, energy and renewables trends, and market evolution. 

His strong emphasis on market-driven solutions and design thinking principles have been developed through his extensive experience at all stages of enterprise development with prior roles held at Planet Innovation and Invetech. Michael is also a respected public speaker on energy, smart home and IoT.  

Publicis Spaient Australia managing director Sarah Adam-Gedge said: “Publicis Sapient is on a strong growth trajectory and as a business we are committed to continually evolving to serve our clients’ transformation needs during a time of unprecedented digital disruption.

“We’re acutely aware that the Public Sector, Higher Education and Energy industries are at the tipping point of disruption and offer significant growth opportunities for Publicis Sapient.

“Daniel and Michael’s exceptional specialist talent is sure to make a significant impact on our efforts to expand in these areas.”