Aurecon prioritises a systems approach, making sure the company has connected data and a common way of working with, talking about, and managing it. “The information in the data is where the value is–it’s what our clients pay us to produce,” he says. “We produce an information deliverable, be it a design or a report or whatever.”

The next step is implementing the latest technology to create new business models and new ways of working. Aurecon business leaders use status reports based on the maturity framework to make technology investment decisions that can unlock opportunities–for example, by introducing advanced automation both internally and in client solutions. “That’s how we get good buy-in from the business to accelerate change,” Mackenzie says.

Aurecon revises its organisational strategy every few years, growing more focused over the past year. “Our strategy this time is much narrower, and we’ve made a handful of real delivery decisions,” Mackenzie says, including one on delivery efficiency and another on automation. “We also made a strategic decision around generative AI and how we can introduce that technology into design automation.”

As the company evolves as a digitally mature practice, “It’s a confluence of technology,” Mackenzie says. “But more importantly, it’s a confluence of digital skills that work together. If we get this right, and we have a systemic solution around digital maturity, we should move up the maturity ladder to become a digitally competitive organisation.”

Aurecon’s digital transformation has also supported the company’s commitment to sustainability, which includes participation in the United Nations Global Compact. Among its environmental aims are reaching net zero in operations by 2025, electrifying its fleet of cars, minimising air travel, using financing arrangements with green loans and investing in green projects.

“We have a position in the market to help our clients get to net zero (US site), to help on the energy transition and climate transition,” Mackenzie says. “It’s choosing to lead rather than follow. Let’s lead on the initiatives that we develop. Let’s commit to targets and report on those and make sure we deliver on them.

“Climate change is going to impact all of us,” he continues. “The motivation for sustainability goes back to our purpose: bringing ideas to life, living a legacy and improving the communities that we live in. It has translated into business for us–we see the commercial value in it, as well.”

As Aurecon progresses in its digital transformation journey, “The greatest challenge is navigating the pace of change,” Mackenzie says. “We’re generally quite good at it, but seven years on the path, I see a bit more change fatigue in the business.”

His team focuses on making sure the organisation has enough agility to move with the change–to decide when to lean in and lead the market, when to follow, and how to manage the timing and risks around adopting new initiatives.

Another challenge of digital transformation is finding great talent. “There’s a stack of engineering work to be done and not enough engineers, especially ones with real domain expertise,” Mackenzie says. “How do we grow the talent pool and mentor people to develop into really great engineers?”

Outreach to the younger generation of workers is critical. “We’re at a unique moment in time where the problems that engineering firms are trying to solve–climate change and the energy transition–are highly aligned to the values of young people,” he says. “I think we need to really capitalise on that: If you want to solve these really challenging problems, then come and be an engineer.”

Business leaders are far more optimistic (US site) about their companies’ resilience and performance, according to the 2024 State of Design & Make report.

Aurecon shares this positive outlook. “We’ve been busy, and we’ve had a good year,” Mackenzie says. “We’ve been on this transformation journey for many years talking about restructuring our data. A lot of the ‘why’ around that has actually come to life over the past 12 months. That’s energised the business–it’s really a Trojan Horse for driving a stack of other change.

“We also see client digital maturity improving quite quickly in various markets for us,” he continues. “At a minimum, we have to meet the market; ideally, we’re 20% in front of the market. That’s the client value piece. Getting that right is a real enabler for driving transformation at scale.”

And in the past year, the company hit all of its key performance indicators. “There was a sentiment that we’ve made a tremendous amount of change, and now it is really about going into a continuous-improvement mindset,” Mackenzie says.