Sugan D Palanee

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT SUGAN D PALANEE

I’m honored to step into the role of Chief Operating Officer for Clients & Industries at EY—a $50bn global professional services organisation with more than people and partners and principals across over 150 countries.This role is about more than operational excellence. It’s about enabling our global teams to deliver exceptional client service, drive commercial performance, and build ecosystems that create long-term value. It’s about translating strategy into execution—aligning our sector and account programmes, scaling what works, and removing friction so our people can focus on what matters most: delivering impact for clients.At EY, we’re navigating a world of increasing complexity—where clients expect industry depth, cross-border capabilities, and integrated solutions. As COO, I’ll be focused on helping our teams respond with agility and purpose. That means building scalable, data-driven processes across account management, marketing, alliances, and sales enablement. It means ensuring our go-to-market efforts are bold, focused, and future-ready.The role also sits at the intersection of trust and transformation. From digital enablement to ecosystem partnerships, from operational resilience to sustainability, the COO function is evolving to meet the moment. As EY research shows, today’s COOs are not just optimising operations—they’re helping organisations confront disruption, unlock innovation, and lead with confidence in a rapidly changing world