A few months into his position with the firm, we sat down with Dennis Papilion, Ausenco’s new Executive President of Global Consulting to talk industry trends, challenges and his thoughts on what’s next.

What are some current challenges that advisory & sustainability, earth & environment and infrastructure engineering consultancy firms face?

Our clients are evolving—they are looking beyond just the project, new territory for many. With expectations from different stakeholder groups rising – particularly around ESG issues – they recognize that building trust, articulating value, resilience and innovation are critical to stay profitable and relevant in their industry. As consultants, we need to evolve our business and services alongside our clients, collaborate and share information, and become facilitators in building stakeholder relationships in adjacent markets to help our clients capitalize on opportunities.

For example, our clients are revisiting how their assets are being used, such as exploring renewable energy options and diversifying into different products, like hydrogen. They are looking for innovative ideas to diversify and reduce risks in project development and operation.

Another example is the changing sustainability conversation, as more emphasis is placed on planning and mitigating impacts beyond the project site. Things like downstream impact – water availability and quality, agricultural production and effects on surrounding communities. Our clients are now looking at these short and long-term effects to plan and mitigate impacts early to maximize project viability and their ability to secure financing.

The bottom line is that we need to be in lock-step with our clients now more than ever, bringing market intelligence from a broader industry perspective to help shape how our clients look at their long-term priorities. We need to help transform their approach from project-based solutions to comprehensive business solutions.

What is your vision for the consultancy practice at Ausenco?

Ausenco is known for producing innovative solutions for our clients and building strong relationships in the mining industry. It is less well known that we also have a strong consultancy practice, exactly the services needed to work in partnership with our clients to evolve their business. Our team excels at thinking beyond the day-to-day routine of projects and invests time understanding our clients’ business and aligning ourselves with their way of thinking.

I’ll share a couple examples.

Our team helped the world’s largest copper operation conduct a technical-scientific study to evaluate extreme scenarios due to climate change. Our study considered both current and projected development of operations and infrastructure on the coastline of the South Pacific Ocean and assessed both future potential climate hazards and the exposure and vulnerability of the infrastructure. The assessment considered port infrastructure, desalination plant, power plant, and the algae bloom, marine biology and social-economic impacts in the area. Taking the time to understand the client’s business priorities, future plans and critical infrastructure allowed our team to propose practical adaptation strategies, deliver criteria design and estimate implementation costs.

Recently, our team explored using mined land and decommissioned brownfield sites for renewable energy development, and our operational readiness team helped our clients to better plan for their workforce needs to weather anticipated resource shortages and mitigate their impacts.

We always look at the needs of our clients, transforming and refining our team’s skillsets, expertise and focus to better support them. Our goal is to help businesses make informed decisions and support their evolution in a changing market.

What is your vision and approach plan for the coming years?

I’m excited to help Ausenco prepare for their next evolution of consulting services. We’re known for our credibility and quality, and that’s what we’ll continue to deliver with expanded services. There are new challenges in the market, but hard things don’t scare us. We’re excited to see the market evolve and to play a part in helping our clients adjust and thrive in these new conditions.