Houston – Sept. 16, 2019 – Jim Claunch, a 35-year veteran of the energy sector, has joined Bain & Company’s Oil & Gas practice as a Senior Advisor, specializing in digital transformation. He is based in the firm’s Houston office.

Compared to other industries, the oil & gas sector is still in its infancy when it comes to digital transformation. Oil & gas executives typically utilize digital, data science, AI and machine learning only in narrowly defined areas of their business, rather than across the entire organization. As a result, they are much slower and further behind most industries in adopting and implementing digital tools and processes. They also fail to realize the benefits of a complete and holistic digital transformation.

“We know from our extensive work with oil & gas executives that digital is one of their top priorities, in large part because they see the value it creates in other industries,” said Luis Uriza, who heads Bain & Company’s Oil & Gas practice in the Americas. “The extensive expertise Jim brings to Bain will be critical to our consultants and clients as they work together to navigate the challenges and opportunities that digital presents for their businesses as well as the industry as a whole.”

Mr. Claunch is a transformational leader within organizational change and development, leadership, people development, and workforce planning. At Bain, he will work with the firm’s deep bench of oil & gas and digital experts to advise clients on the various facets of digital transformations, including technology implementation, data as an asset, organizational adjustment, change management, leadership capabilities, workforce of the future, and company culture.

“When it comes to digitalization, so much of the technology, the change management philosophy, leadership, and organizational culture are the same, regardless of industry. The challenge for the O&G sector lies in fully capturing the benefits of the digital transformation as other industries have done,” said Mr. Claunch. “I am so pleased to join the talented team of energy experts at Bain & Company to help clients successfully unlock significant value from the latest digital tools and methodologies.”

Mr. Claunch previously held a number of executive positions across multiple companies and industries. Most recently, he served as vice president of business efficiency at Equinor. There, he was responsible for integrating functions such as IT, data science, lean, data management, management systems and digital projects with engineers and other competencies in order to reduce safety risk and improve the bottom line.

He was also managing director of Growth Capital Partner’s Energy Group in the Merchant Bank’s Houston office and CFO and CIO of Power Well Services (PWS), a global oilfield services company controlled by First Reserve.

Earlier in his career he served as senior vice president of shared services and IT at Intercontinental Hotels Group and vice president of global shared services for Halliburton Energy group, where he had global responsibility for accounting, communications, finance, HR, procurement, quality and IT functions.

Editor's Note: To arrange an interview, contact Dan Pinkney at dan.pinkney@bain.com or +1 646 562 8102

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