ChileIT Appoints New CEO in Hopes of Scoring More US Outsourcing Business

The Chilean association of IT companies, ChileIT, has appointed Carlos Fernández as CEO, effective January 3rd. Fernández is former CEO of Coasin Global Services, an IT applications development firm. He has also been CEO of both Telmex Chile and AT&T Chile, and has served on the board of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) in Chile.Fernández takes over as CEO from Juan Carlos Munoz, who has led the association since its inception in 2009. Being fully bilingual and having previously lived and worked in New York, the ChileIT companies are betting that Fernández will be able to increase their exposure to the US market. Their current North American clients  include Delta Airlines, Equifax, Oracle, Shell and Yahoo.

Chile in recent years has become a niche services destination for IT outsourcing. However recurrent issues like low English proficiency and a small workforce continue to worry the government and investment promotion agency CORFO, and draw away market share to other IT destinations like Colombia. It remains to be seen whether Fernández as ChileIT CEO can drive improvements and increase the country’s outsourcing attraction to US investors.