Exclusive: Avetta boosts APAC expansion with brand new Sydney office

Avetta has opened an outstanding new Sydney office, in a move that Vice President of Operations for APAC Luke Boyle admits "marks a major milestone" in the company's Asia-Pacific expansion.

"The opening of the office signifies our commitment to APAC," he said during a recent interview in the office. "You can just see the size of the team growing - and that's part of the reason for the move."

The company, which acquired Australian firm Pegasus in 2021, has seen consistent growth in the region.

"We're the biggest region outside of the USA for Avetta," Boyle explained. "And the good thing about Australia is that it's probably the most legislated country in the world. So having someone like us here - well, they can potentially learn from us as well."

The Pitt Street location of the new Sydney office offers proximity to transport, shopping and dining, which Boyle admits are "all important factors in today's hybrid working world."

"Part of that too is, when people came back from COVID, it was like a return-to-work strategy. You've got to make it a place people want to come to. You don't want to force people and say, 'Hey, these are your three days.' You've got to build engagement across the teams," he said.

The office embraces hot desking, breakout spaces and open-plan layouts, which Boyle described as intentional.

"It's to create environments where people like to turn up to. Even when you come into the kitchen, you can still disappear out there and have a private conversation or just get a bit of that water cooler chat."

"The reaction to the new space has been overwhelmingly positive," Boyle said.

"Everyone's excited about it. Being so close to everything is terrific - being able to get your lunch and have a plethora of options. People walk in and say, 'This place is beautiful. I actually want to work from here more often.'"

While Sydney offers a prime location for collaboration and client interaction, Boyle works out of Newcastle, where the company is preparing to open a new office later this year.

"That's our head office. It used to be Pegasus' head office, and it's now our main operational office. It houses most of our support teams," he said. "We've made it a Support Hub now too. We've brought our Connect and Workforce teams together."

The new Newcastle space will consolidate operations onto one floor. "Where we are now is a bit disjointed - across three different floors," Boyle said.

"This way, we get one floor. We've all got our little neighbourhoods, but we can bring the whole team together. We've even created customer areas to host large events. It's a beautiful place to see - got river views over the end of the harbour."

The local presence is also strategic, keeping Avetta close to key clients in industries like mining. "We've still maintained that connection with a lot of the companies who supported us along the way. Clients like Yancoal, Whitehaven, Peabody - they're close by. It's good we still honour that old part of the business."

Boyle sees the move as part of Avetta's transformation since the Pegasus acquisition.

"It's probably the final transition moment for us - from being part of an acquired company to just being Avetta. It symbolises that we're one company now."

That unity extends across product lines too. "We used to have a lot of separation - Connect in one office, Workforce in another. Now, we've got that collaboration and overlay of both products. The thing I'm most proud of is that one logo - which is Avetta."

He also pointed to a shift in global support operations with the company's rollout of a 24/7 'follow the sun' model.

"The idea is to make sure that when someone rings up, they can get the service they need," he said. "We've got the EMEA team, the US team, and now we're expanding in Asia. It's about spreading our capability across the world."

Recent growth has included a new operational hub in India. "We've just put on our first 17 hires there," he said. "It'll grow significantly. We're investing in back-office services and development. That's part of our commitment to our customers."

That growth is being matched by hiring in Australia as well.

"As we continue to grow, we continue to grow the numbers. We've got more salespeople, account managers, CSMs, IPMs - more than we've ever had," he said. "This year we introduced new roles in CSM and account management to make sure our customers are well supported."

Expansion is also opening doors in new regions. "We're assessing language capabilities now - supporting clients not only in English, but in their native language. That's a big part for us," Boyle said.

"It's exciting - we're getting into markets like Iceland, which I've never seen before in a business I've worked in."

Avetta's model sets it apart in the Australian market, he added. "It's the all-in-one solution. Some customers have a fragmented approach - an LMS here, workforce management there. Ours is all in one place. And because of our huge customer base, we've got a lot of data, which makes the connection process easier."

Technology, too, is playing a key role in Avetta's evolution.

"We're continually looking at ways we can introduce AI to make people's lives easier," Boyle said.

"Whether it's virtual agents in support or predictive safety tools, we want our technology to be more predictive rather than reactive."

The company's AI-Powered Risk Assistant, AskAva, helps clients get support in real time. "It just creates more availability for people to get answers quicker," he explained.

More than anything else, Boyle deeply believes in Avetta's purpose.

"Our main job in Australia is to make sure the individual who's going on-site is compliant and safe - and returns home to their family at the end of the day," he said. "It's putting the human part back in the importance of what we do."