Ari Sargent Deep Thinker & Strategy Consultant
Known for my ability to think deeply, I was once described by a colleague as a “Brainbox wearing sneakers and shorts”. This description exemplifies the intelligent disobedience I like to apply problem solving and innovation.
I am a 30 year veteran of the energy industry. As a senior executive in a corporate I have lead strategy development. As founder and Chief Executive of a new entrant retailer I have lead the creation of Powershop, one of New Zealand’s most loved consumer energy brands, and established the world’s first multinational energy franchise to take Powershop to the world. Then as founder and Chief Executive of Flux Federation, a global software product business, I lead the establishment and operation of one of New Zealand’s preeminent Agile software development shops.
In 2019, I created Deep Thought as a boutique consultancy with a focus on advising businesses on strategy and innovation. To me Deep Thought represents thinking critically about problems, thinking laterally about solutions and thinking independently about actions.
Powershop
In an industry I described as “built by engineers, bastardised by economists and muddled by marketers” I was adamant that there must be a better way.
With the backing of Meridian Energy we started breaking our own windows and lead the inevitable technology disruption that would hit energy retailing. In 2009 we launched Powershop, the world’s first online energy retailer. We were on a mission to give power to the people and create a power company that customers love.
Almost immediately we achieved unprecedented levels of customer satisfaction and quickly started filling the pool room with trophies and accolades, including for energy innovation, marketing, customer satisfaction, the fastest growing winner ever in the NZ Deloitte Fast 50 awards and the Best Challenger Brand at the Global Energy Brand Awards in Reykjavik.
Powershop is now available to customers in New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain.
Flux Federation
Following the successful expansion of Powershop into Australia and particularly the United Kingdom, it became obvious that another vehicle would be required to unlock the massive growth opportunities available for the Powershop energy retailing platform.
In 2017 I championed a split of Powershop into two seperate businesses and chose to lead the formation of Flux Federation - the intellectual property arm of Powershop, incorporating the energy retailing platform, brand assets and the enormous know-how embodied in the humans of Flux.
Unshackling the technology from Powershop allowed us to quickly diversify the Flux product suite and quickly secure new customers including parent company Meridian Energy.
Flux Federation is now poised to Boldly Go and grow the Federation globally.
Contact Me
If you would like some advice on developing a growth strategy or driving an innovation initiative in your business, please get in touch!
Website Credits
Some images provided courtesy of Powershop NZ and Flux Federation
Photo Credit "Boldy Go" sign: Kristina D.C. Hoeppner under CC BY-SA 2.0