GISI Consulting Group has appointed Alvaro Corena as its first Chief Information Officer (CIO), a milestone move that underscores the company’s focus on strengthening its technology foundation to support continued growth and integration.

“Given our global scale, ambitions, and robust growth to date, our business has matured to the point where we need additional expertise at the executive level,” says GISI Consulting Group CEO Derek Amidon. “I’m delighted to have such a top talent as Alvaro join us.”

Decades of Global Experience

Corena joins with decades of global experience leading complex technology organizations and driving enterprise-wide transformation. Most recently, he served at Pattern Energy, where he oversaw technology strategy and spearheaded major digital transformation initiatives across applications, data and analytics, infrastructure, and cybersecurity.

Earlier in his career, Corena held CIO and senior technology leadership roles at GE Renewable Energy, where he led global IT strategies and large-scale systems consolidations across multi-billion-dollar operations. He also brings significant integration experience from Oracle, where he helped unify their operating companies onto scalable technology platforms – experience closely aligned with GISI Consulting Group’s ongoing expansion and merger integration priorities.

“I’ve seen firsthand the power of well-executed digital transformation, and I’m excited to help unlock that value here,” says Corena. “The vision of elevating GISI Consulting Group’s platform of operating companies through standardization, automation, and AI investments that are employee-centered is very compelling.”

Corena is widely regarded as a collaborative, hands-on leader with a pragmatic approach to technology. In his new role, he will focus on aligning and integrating key IT initiatives across the organization, including large-scale systems implementations, as well as broader transformation efforts that are currently operating across multiple workstreams.

Allowing Employees to Focus on Delivering Expertise

A key priority will be enabling a more unified and scalable technology environment that supports internal efficiency and advances the services we provide to our clients. “The most important asset of this company is its people,” Corena explains. “I’m looking forward to overseeing investments that are truly transformative – capable of enabling automation in every activity, so our employees can focus on providing our clients with their expertise.”

Indeed, the company recently announced its intention to hire 1,000 project leaders while investing in supporting all 10,000+ employees with artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

“We’re a professional services business at the end of the day, so our focus is on our people,” Chief Growth Officer Brian Jordan recently told Construction Dive. “They have the relationships with our clients, they have the subject matter expertise, they have an understanding and knowledge to deliver these big projects. They help clients plan, help them figure out how to stay on budget, how to build effectively.”

“We want to pair that with new technologies and new investments that are out there with AI.”

Strengthening Collaboration Between Operating Companies

Working closely with leadership and IT teams across GISI Consulting Group, Corena will also help strengthen collaboration between operating companies. He sees significant opportunity in building on the organization’s existing capabilities. “Several of our operating companies have developed differentiated technology solutions for specific markets,” he notes. “Enhancing these with AI, standardizing approaches, and sharing them across the business can deliver exponential value.”

At the same time, Corena emphasizes the importance of balancing standardization with flexibility. Core business functions such as HR, finance, and legal can benefit from centralized, best-in-class systems that cost-effectively improve efficiency and enhance security. Meanwhile, operating companies will continue to develop and deploy specialized technologies that serve the needs of their clients, providing a “best of both worlds” approach.

A Connected, Future-Ready Enterprise

As GISI Consulting Group continues to grow, Corena’s appointment reflects a broader commitment to building a connected, future-ready enterprise. “These transformations take time,” he adds, “but the long-term impact—operationally and financially—can be significant. I’m excited to see the positive impact we can achieve together.”

CEO Derek Amidon agrees: “With Corena at the helm of our technology strategy, GISI Consulting Group is positioned to accelerate our digital evolution and create a more integrated, scalable platform for continued success.”