After 35 years at the helm, Kathryn Tremblay is taking a step back from the top role at Altis Recruitment & Technology to bring in a new CEO.
Tremblay, whose new role will be co-founder and owner, said she felt it was the right time to make a change and bring in a new leader to guide the company to the next level.
“It was a full 18 months of reflection; it wasn’t an overnight decision,” said Tremblay, OBJ’s CEO of the Year in 2021. “The business was ready for a new visionary who’s ready for that new path to growth. I’ve given it, for 35 years, full-on everything that I have. As we focus on growth, I can participate in that, but in a different way.”
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Zaahra Mehsen was three years into a biology degree at a local university when she realized she wanted to take a different path. “I realized that it’s not my thing,”
The company announced Monday that Andie Andreou, who has 20 years of experience in finance, tech and business across both the public and private sectors, will take over as CEO.
Andreou joined Altis in September 2023 as a consultant on the company’s growth strategy. Prior to coming on, she served as CFO of SkipTheDishes, helping to pilot the food delivery app through a surge in demand during the pandemic. It’s a role that won her a Report on Business best executive award in March 2023, which showcases Canada’s top 50 non-CEO leaders.
“I decided to leave Skip because I wanted to do something broader,” Andreou told OBJ. “I’ve been a CFO a number of times and I have great respect for the position, but it started to dawn on me that I have this strategic gift and I’m eager to apply it.”
Her 20-year career also includes multiple other senior roles, including CFO and vice-president of corporate affairs at the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, executive director and corporate controller at CBC, and partner at Deloitte.
Since joining Altis last year, she said she’s familiarized herself with the industry and the business, as well as its key stakeholders and main industry verticals. She said she’ll be using her previous experience in executive roles to guide Altis through its next stage of growth.
“When I looked at this organization, I thought, what is it that I can really do to help after 35 years?” said Andreou. “We need to solidify the foundation in order to make sure we are ahead of the competition in the future. We have to be nimble. We have to adopt AI and other technology. We have to be data curious. And, as with any other company, we have to be obsessed with great service, and that’s both to clients and to candidates.”
In addition to finding new ways to modernize and adapt to a rapidly changing industry, one of her goals is to expand into new markets and introduce a new integrated go-to-market strategy.
“The first step is to take a look at the foundation. Any company requires a very solid foundation upon which to just grow. That’s similar to what I did with Skip when I joined. It was very much a situation where we had to do that,” she said. “As you’re doing that, changing the wheels of the bus as you’re going, it’s also about entering markets in a very strategic way. Which markets, which services, how are we going to do? That’s something I’d love to bring to this organization to start growing.”
Andreou added that she’s excited to continue collaborating with Tremblay as they find ways to bring the company to new heights.
“Kathryn and the executive team have done a tremendous job; this is a great company,” said Andreou. “It’s time for a bit of a pivot. Technology is disrupting all industries, the labour market is shifting, the economy is uncertain. This is a wonderful time to bring everything together and come up with a great strategy.”
Tremblay co-founded Altis along with partner Toni Guimarães in 1989. When Guimarães died in 2016, Tremblay found herself a single mother of four running a $100-million business.
With the new change at the top, Tremblay said she will remain fully involved in the company and that her new role will allow her to prioritize the parts of the business that bring her the most fulfillment.
“The pace of change is increasing so fast and there’s definitely a need to modernize our technology and processes,” said Tremblay. “It made sense to go with a full CEO and it allows me to get inspired doing the things that I’m really good at. I was spending a lot of time on areas that were not my strength but are definitely Andie’s strength.”
In her new role, Tremblay said she’ll be focusing on employee engagement, research writing, leadership, mentoring and leadership development, as well as ESG and DEI initiatives.
She added that with too few women in C-suite roles across Canada, she’s eager to see Andreou take up the mantle at a business that has been led by women since the beginning.
“We were looking for a lot. We really needed that growth and innovation mindset. Andie brings all of those pieces,” said Tremblay. “She has a more full view of this. I think it’s really time for the executive team to be propelled forward and Andie is definitely the right person to do that.”
