Andersen Alumni Association has begun an ongoing series “Alumni Reflections” highlights members’ reflections. We would like to thank Alumnus Brendan Giuseppe for sharing his reflections in this issue of our newsletter. Today Brendan serves as the CEO of BGS Consulting, BGS Consulting is a management consulting firm specializing in providing flexible, tailor-made solutions around Finance, Technology and Talent, to address the unique challenges of its clients. It’s led by former Andersen partners who carry on the values and commitment to Client Service every day. The BGS team has a blend of public accounting and operational experience across numerous industries which allows the collaboration, design and delivery of solutions to its clients.
How did your career at Arthur Andersen begin, and what initially attracted you to the firm?
I joined Arthur Andersen's Washington, D.C., office in 1990 and remained there until the firm's final days in May 2002. At the time, Andersen was the gold standard of the profession. It was "Big Blue", the firm everyone admired and aspired to join. For me, accepting the offer was an easy decision.
What I couldn't have appreciated as a 22-year-old was just how special the firm truly was. Looking back, Andersen wasn't simply a great accounting firm; it was a remarkable collection of talented people united by a common set of values. The culture, the camaraderie, and the commitment to excellence were unlike anything I've experienced before or since, despite spending years at several other global firms.
One phrase that has stayed with me throughout my career is "Think straight, talk straight." It wasn't a slogan, it was an expectation. Integrity wasn't something we talked about during training; it was woven into every client interaction and every business decision.
Perhaps Andersen's greatest lesson was teaching me what it really means to build trusted client relationships. Outstanding technical work was simply the starting point. We were expected to understand our clients' businesses, make their challenges our own, and build personal relationships based on trust that extended well beyond the boardroom. That philosophy has shaped every stage of my career.
Looking back, which experiences or assignments at Andersen had the greatest impact on your professional development?
One of Andersen's greatest strengths was its commitment to developing people. Experienced professionals didn't simply supervise, they invested in you. My mentors challenged me, expected more than I thought I was capable of, and encouraged me to ask questions without hesitation. That commitment to developing young professionals is something I've tried to carry into my own leadership style.
Responsibility came early. By my second year, I was already leading audit engagements as a senior. Looking back, it seems almost unbelievable, but Andersen believed that if talented people were given responsibility and properly supported, they would rise to the occasion.
Another lesson I never forgot was that everyone "pulled the tarp." Titles mattered far less than commitment to the client. Partners certainly had partner responsibilities, but when the client needed something, everyone rolled up their sleeves. Andersen's partners led from the front. They weren't managing from behind spreadsheets (or 14 column paper, as it was back then); they were in the marketplace, beside their teams, serving clients. That leadership by example created enormous loyalty.
One assignment changed my confidence forever. One of our financial services clients had begun originating HELOC loans in Illinois and needed standalone financial statements with complete footnote disclosures to satisfy state regulatory requirements. I was only in my third year when the engagement partner sent me to the client's Delaware headquarters for four weeks to deliver the project on my own.
I remember wondering whether the client expected someone to be far more experienced. But the partner believed I was ready. With guidance available whenever I needed it, I delivered a successful engagement.
The experience taught me something far more valuable than technical accounting. It taught me to trust myself when others had already demonstrated they trusted me. That confidence to step into unfamiliar situations with preparation, humility, and a willingness to learn has served me throughout my career.
Arthur Andersen was known for its culture, commitment to client service, and investment in its people. Which elements of that culture have you intentionally carried into BGS Consulting?
From day 1 when we founded BGS, our goal wasn't simply to build another consulting firm, it was to carry forward many of the principles that made Andersen extraordinary and to carry on its legacy.
That begins with putting the client's interests first. Our philosophy is straightforward: deliver exactly what we promise, deliver it on time, and deliver it within the agreed fee. Those simple commitments build trust.
It's also why several former Andersen leaders have joined BGS. My managing partner, Frank Mencini, was actually my first audit senior back in 1991. He was a second-year senior, and I was just starting my career. More than thirty years later, we're still building together. Relationships like that don't happen by accident; they're the product of shared values, mutual respect, and years of working through difficult challenges together (and as a first-year auditor, I certainly provided many challenges for Frank)!
One lesson from Andersen has stayed with me more than any other. A partner once told me that not everyone you help will become a paying client, but everyone you help should be treated like one. We didn't define client relationships solely by engagement letters. We looked for opportunities to help people, professionally and personally, in ways they never expected.
I still remember Andersen's "Ways You Never Imagined" campaign narrated by George Clooney. The message was bigger than the marketing. It reflected a mindset that if you genuinely help people, business success follows. That's still how I lead today.
How did your experience at Andersen influence your decision to start BGS Consulting, and what did you want the firm to do differently?
When we founded BGS, we wanted to recreate many of the things we loved about Andersen: exceptional people, trusted client relationships, technical excellence, and an unwavering commitment to service.
At the same time, we saw an opportunity to combine those values with the agility of an independent advisory firm. We wanted to move faster, create measurable value more quickly, and bring experienced professionals to every engagement, people who could contribute immediately because they understood both the technology and the business context.
In many ways, building BGS was also personal. I missed what Andersen represented. I missed the culture, the collaboration, and the sense of purpose we shared. I often say that we're committed to doing things "the Andersen way," not because we're trying to recreate the past, but because those principles remain timeless.
Above all, we want every client to feel they have a trusted advisor sitting beside them, not simply another consulting firm delivering a report or “power point speak”.
You mentioned working for Frank Mencini at Arthur Andersen before later becoming business partners at BGS Consulting. How did that experience shape your relationship?
By the time we reunited at BGS, the trust already existed.
We had worked through demanding client engagements, long hours, tight deadlines, and the high expectations that defined Andersen. You learn a great deal about someone's character in those environments. I knew Frank's commitment to excellence, his integrity, and the way he treated both clients and colleagues.
When the opportunity came to build a firm together, it honestly wasn't a difficult decision. Our partnership had been tested for years before BGS even existed.
Looking back, it's one of the best decisions I've made professionally.
BGS has evolved significantly since its founding. What challenges are clients asking you to solve today?
Today’s clients are navigating constant change and more than ever, they're looking for trusted advisors who understand their business and the technology landscape. We are seeing more pause and more time spent in the decision-making process around technology, as there’s a lot to digest and concerns that software will get outdated or out paced by the next generation as technology is advancing at neck break speeds.
Clients want help making informed decisions in an increasingly complex environment, especially around technology, which continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Artificial Intelligence with Agenta AI is top of mind for many executives that we meet and serve. We are building Artificial Intelligence capabilities and successes that are repeatable and have speed to value, something I've mentioned before. As a nimble advisory firm, we aren’t trying to boil the ocean but rather, implement automation and Artificial Intelligence solutions that are practical; outputs are transparent/auditable; data, both inputs and outputs, have the right context and the right governance.
Speed matters, but so does judgment.
What do organizations that successfully navigate growth, transformation, or uncertainty tend to do particularly well?
The organizations that consistently succeed don't simply react, they prepare.
They invest in leadership, make decisions based on reliable information, communicate clearly, and embrace change without losing sight of their people.
Technology certainly enables transformation, but people ultimately determine whether transformation succeeds.
One phrase we've adopted at BGS is that technology should remain the co-pilot while people remain the pilot. AI is an extraordinary tool, but judgment, leadership, and accountability still belong to people.
What motivated BGS Consulting to become the corporate sponsor of the Arthur Andersen Alumni Association?
Arthur Andersen shaped my career in ways I continue to appreciate more each year.
Supporting the Alumni Association was never really a business decision, it was a personal one.
I've remained active within the Andersen community in the Washington area for years, and when Warren Turner approached me about supporting the organization nationally, it felt like a natural extension of everything Andersen gave me.
I'm convinced I would not be where I am today or have been able to provide the opportunities my family has enjoyed without those eleven years at Andersen during my formative professional years.
There are simply too many people to thank individually, although several deserve special mention, many of whom I remain close with today and still live here in Northern Virginia. From the partner who hired me, Bob Kovarik, to the partners who moved believed in me to transition me from audit to business development in 1998, CE Andrews and Carl Berquist, to my business development partner, Marc Andersen, to Rich Jeanneret who supported and encouraged my decision to make the move to business development, to Paul Feeko who sits on our BGS Advisory Board today. These partners and many others continue to influence my career to this day.
Their confidence changed my life.
Supporting the Alumni Association is simply one small way of giving something back to a community that gave me so much and that I could never repay.
What is your fondest memory from your time at Arthur Andersen?
Without question, it's the people.
Some of my closest friendships and many of my most trusted professional relationships began at Andersen and remain part of my life more than three decades later.
The firm challenged you every day, but it also surrounded you with people who genuinely wanted to see you succeed. That's a rare combination, and I don't take it for granted.
And, of course, in the spirit of one of Andersen’s mantras, "work hard, play hard,” I've got more than a few memorable late-night memories at Mike Baker's, but we’ll save those stories for another day.
Thank you for this opportunity to reflect and share what Arthur Andersen has meant to me and my family.