Julie Godin has been tapped to replace her father Serge Godin as CEO of CGI.Boris Thebia/The Globe and Mail
CGI Group Inc. GIB-A-T named Julie Godin its new executive chairperson as the Canadian IT and management consulting giant eyes doing more business with the American government at a highly sensitive time for Canada-U.S. relations.
Ms. Godin takes over from her father, CGI founder Serge Godin, who will stay on the board as co-chair and focus on large-scale acquisitions and engagements with customers, the Montreal-based multinational said in a statement. The leadership change took effect Wednesday after CGI’s annual shareholders meeting.
CGI appoints Julie Godin as executive chairperson.Boris R. Thebia
The succession was expected as Mr. Godin, CGI’s controlling shareholder, sought to build on the family’s leadership. Julie Godin started at CGI in July, 2009, as vice-president of human resources and organizational development, taking on increasingly senior responsibilities over the years. Her most recent role was executive vice-president of strategic planning and corporate development.
“It took years” for Julie to master the business because it is complex and serves a wide variety of customers in different sectors, Mr. Godin, 75, said in an interview. He said he has no plans to retire and would continue working for the company as long as he feels he can contribute.
The father-daughter team will forge ahead with a merger and acquisition strategy that has completed more than 100 takeovers since going public in 1986. In 2021, the company unveiled a goal to double in size over five to seven years, saying it was eyeing takeovers in the United States, Germany and Britain in a bid to boost revenue.
On the heels of a deal to take over U.S. artificial intelligence specialist Daugherty Business Solutions last month, CGI said Wednesday it struck an agreement to buy BJSS, a British-based technology and engineering consultancy. No financial details were disclosed but CGI said more than 2,400 BJSS employees will join its current work force of about 91,000.
CGI chief executive officer François Boulanger said the company has “a lot of space” for further acquisitions, adding there’s an “alignment of stars” for more deal-making. Market pressure in the systems integration consulting business is leading some target companies to consider selling while competition from private equity firms for assets has cooled, he told analysts on a call.
CGI is eyeing possible contracts from U.S. President Donald Trump’s new cost-cutting agency, known as the Department of Government Efficiency. Its head, billionaire Elon Musk, has said he wants to cut US$2-trillion in spending while acknowledging that might not be a realistic number.
“If they want to achieve their targets and priorities, they will need IT,” Mr. Boulanger said on the call. “They will need to bring automation, AI, and new systems to be capable of reducing some of these costs. So we’re seeing this as opportunity to grow and helping them to achieve their objectives.”
The U.S. government is a big client for CGI, delivering top-line revenue of $566-million in its latest quarter. The company says on its website that it does business with “nearly every cabinet-level federal agency, military branch, and other federal entities.”
Last September, CGI closed the acquisition of digital transformation company Aeyon, saying the deal would help it expand its relationships with critical U.S. national security clients, such as the Office of the Secretary of Defence and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Asked how CGI reconciles doing business with the U.S. government with the fact Mr. Trump has been aggressive against Canada with threats of tariffs, Ms. Godin said the company is apolitical and fully decentralized, with employees based in the United States serving U.S. clients.
“We’re trying to focus really on the long term,” she said. Added Mr. Godin: “Our business is to bring productivity. We don’t do politics.”
Desjardins Capital Markets analyst Jerome Dubreuil said the BJSS deal is CGI’s largest takeover since mid-2022. He estimates it will contribute about 3 per cent to revenue.
“After the recent introduction of the dividend, the acceleration of M&A addresses another key pushback from investors,” Mr. Dubreuil said in a research note. “We are encouraged by this trend given CGI’s strong balance sheet position and potential for accelerated growth.”
The news developments came as CGI reported first-quarter earnings of $439-million or $1.92 per share, an increase of 15 per cent year-over-year. Revenue climbed to $3.8-billion, up 5.1 per cent compared with the same period the year before. CGI booked $4.2-billion worth of new business during the quarter.