Meet Dan Ison

Equally comfortable on the side of a mountain, on a marathon course, or with a mic in his hand, Dan brings immense depth of experience to every TMT client. At the University of Cambridge, Dan studied—and became fluent in—Spanish and French, before pivoting to Management Studies. He understands the nuances of technology and digital and is adept at approaching challenges from different vantage points, with an open-mindedness that Deloitte clients truly appreciate.

When Dan joined Arthur Andersen Business Consulting 25 years ago, he could never have imagined his future journey at Deloitte. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Dan’s story actually starts at the age of seven, when he began an eight-year career as a professional child actor and singer in London, finding himself onstage most nights of the week. “I spent a lot of time around adults,” says Dan, “so I had to find a way to grow my self-confidence, build interpersonal skills, and learn how to connect with people. I developed a sense of empathy—by inhabiting another character, I had to stand in their shoes, which is also valuable when relating to clients.” It’s no surprise he was drawn to the media industry at Deloitte, and Dan’s creative streak continues to serve him and his TMT clients when it comes to finding solutions to problems.

Dan believes the convergence of sectors within TMT allows Deloitte to make the greatest impact. Whether serving Sony, Disney, Thomson Reuters, BBC, Universal, Adevinta, NewsCorp, Sky or others, Dan and his team always look for the “and”—or how the multiplier effect of Deloitte’s vast network of services might combine to benefit the client. According to Dan, Deloitte’s expertise, focus on teamwork, and bird’s eye view of industries allows it to provide trusted clients with insights that ultimately drive value.

Deloitte’s strong relationship with Adevinta, the largest global online classifieds group focusing on the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketplaces, is a great example of where the TMT group shines. “Here we have a mid-market business going through a major transaction—essentially doubling the size of their business—and we can be in that journey from start to finish,” says Dan. “We can advise them on how to drive the transaction, how to transform and add value. This is precisely the type of canvas where our multidisciplinary model shines. We provided consulting on everything from human resources, legal, M&A, tax, assurance and controls services, technology, and procurement through to delivering a cloud migration to AWS and implementing Workday and SAP across 17 different geographies, all while maintaining a close, trusted relationship with the C-suite.”

It’s rewarding relationships like this one that keep Dan excited and engaged at work; at home, it’s following the exploits of his two teenage sons—the younger of whom is following in his footsteps as a professional actor, most recently playing the titular role in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. For anyone looking to make an impact regardless of industry, Dan would like to remind them that a career is a marathon, not a sprint. And given that Dan races in a marathon every year, he knows a thing or two about that.