Forterro appoints Alice Taylor Chief of Staff to drive AI growth

Forterro has named Alice Taylor as its new Chief of Staff to support its European growth and digital transformation strategy.

The appointment is aimed at strengthening Forterro's senior leadership team as it expands its operations across Europe and enhances its drive towards cloud transformation and artificial intelligence (AI) integration.

Alice Taylor brings extensive experience in cloud services, AI, and digital transformation to her new role. She has advised organisations on growth strategies and modernisation, notably during her tenure at PwC, where she led a go-to-market initiative in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Her career also includes work at AWS itself, focusing on customer engagement and cloud solutions.

Growth and transformation

Taylor's role as Chief of Staff will involve working directly with Forterro's Chief Executive Officer, Dean Forbes, as well as the board, to ensure strategic alignment, efficient decision-making, and execution of the company's priorities. The post is expected to play an essential role in translating high-level strategy into actionable plans as the business increases its continental reach.

"The clarity of purpose and pace of change at Forterro were immediately compelling to me. It's a company with a bold growth strategy and a leadership team deeply committed to executing on that. I'm excited to help build momentum, embed routines that drive accountability, and contribute to Forterro's story at such a critical phase of its growth. There's a huge opportunity for the industrial midmarket to embrace AI, and I want to ensure our strategy puts Forterro at the forefront of that shift," said Alice Taylor, Chief of Staff, Forterro. 

Taylor first qualified as a Chartered Accountant before deciding to specialise in technology strategy. Her new remit at Forterro will see her supporting the CEO and the wider senior leadership to maintain focus on strategic objectives and bring her specific expertise on digital transformation to the company's broader ambitions.

Leadership perspective

Dean Forbes, Chief Executive Officer of Forterro, said of the appointment:

"Alice combines strategic insight with operational discipline, and she has a rare ability to support leaders in high-pressure, fast-moving environments. Her background in cloud and digital transformation at both PwC and AWS will help us sharpen our execution and deliver even greater impact for our industrial midmarket customers."

Forterro states that the appointment underlines its intent to expand its leadership capacity to help thousands of industrial midmarket firms upgrade and modernise their enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems for the digital era.

The company, which has a workforce of more than 2,500 employees across over 40 office locations, serves more than 25,000 industrial businesses throughout Europe and further afield. Its current strategy focuses on ensuring its software products remain closely tied to the specific demands of local markets, while enabling industrial customers to adapt to changing technological and competitive conditions.

Taylor's arrival is positioned as part of Forterro's efforts to further develop and implement its cloud and AI strategies as it continues to grow its presence in production economies throughout Europe.