Cloudwerx appoints Brendan Connolly to lead agentic AI division
Cloudwerx has appointed Brendan Connolly as Chief Operating Officer and head of its data and agentic AI division.
Connolly, who will be based in Sydney, assumes responsibility for scaling and productising the growth of Cloudwerx Agentic offerings and delivery methods across the company's activities in data, Salesforce, and other AI platforms. His remit includes advancing how agentic AI is integrated into Cloudwerx's suite of services, with a focus on enhancing the company's delivery methods and value for clients.
With over two decades of experience, Connolly previously served as Managing Director - Data and AI Go to Market Lead for Australia and New Zealand at Accenture. His career has also included consulting and services roles at organisations such as BearingPoint, Pactera, and Cloud Sherpas. This appointment brings him together with a number of former colleagues from Cloud Sherpas, including Cloudwerx's current CEO Toby Wilcock, Chief Growth Officer Alyssia Tennant, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer John Cosgrove, and Chief Technology Officer Chris Baldock.
Leadership perspectives
Toby Wilcock, Chief Executive Officer at Cloudwerx, welcomed Connolly's appointment, emphasising the significance of his joining the leadership team.
"We are thrilled to have Brendan join us. It's a real vote of confidence in the business we have built and the talent within the team. Brendan is a proven business builder and I have no doubt we will go from strength to strength with him onboard."
Connolly noted that his decision to join Cloudwerx was influenced by the company's approach to deploying artificial intelligence within service delivery models.
"Clients of every scale want delivery that is simpler and more predictable," Connolly said. "If AI speeds work, services should reflect that and Cloudwerx are market leading in the approach they are taking to redefine services delivery".
Strategic frameworks
Following the 2024 acquisition of data and AI consultancy Lightfold, Cloudwerx has expanded two proprietary frameworks supporting its agentic AI programs, including work around Salesforce Agentforce. The first framework, derived from methodologies in construction, engineering and manufacturing, offers a revised approach to pricing, packaging, and delivering services. Clients engage with Cloudwerx through a Success Plan for fixed-price "Delivery Units"-modular components redeemable for a range of features across data, AI, and Salesforce projects, delivered according to the client's readiness.
Cloudwerx reports it has completed the sale and delivery of over 1,000 Delivery Units across several cloud technologies, amounting to more than USD $150 million of customer value since the framework's introduction. John Cosgrove, previously Chief Executive Officer at Lightfold and now Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer at Cloudwerx, described the system's intent:
"[The approach] moves us beyond selling time to providing small, high-performance squads that operate like modern manufacturing cells, delivering repeatable outcomes where incentives align with speed and quality."
The second framework, Tesseract, is designed to standardise quality and enable faster, more predictable delivery amid the rise of agentic AI. It is a modular, productised design system that maintains a focus on human outcomes while adapting quickly to AI-driven changes. This framework is applied across Salesforce, cloud data, and AI implementations.
Client experiences
Allegis Group, a parent company to several recruitment brands including TEKsystems, Aerotek, and Aston Carter, has worked with Cloudwerx through Success Plans for over three years. Engagements with Allegis Group have involved Snowflake data platforms, Salesforce delivery across regions, and more recent agentic AI developments.
James Warwick, Chief Operating Officer at Allegis APAC, commented on the utility of Cloudwerx's delivery approach:
"It is hard to imagine going back. Delivery Units give us fixed cost with flexible scope, and we can scale up or down on demand. Tesseract standardises design, so quality holds even as needs vary by region. What's remarkable is how easy it makes budget planning and management - we've never needed a change request, we've had zero cost overruns and we combine sprint and backlog planning into basically the same instrument."
Future direction
Connolly observed shifts in the consulting sector and the drivers behind client demand for more adaptable and value-focused models.
"Consulting has been largely static for thirty years. Clients deserve better than partnering and solutioning models designed to solve the problems of yesterday. Cloudwerx's approach is refreshingly new and dynamic and is helping clients manage risk, unlock real value from agentic AI, backed by measurable outcomes."
