Simon Bittlestone was elected 91st CIMA president and 9th chair of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, representing AICPA & CIMA, on 11 June 2024. During his year in office, Simon will focus on empowering accounting and finance professionals to cultivate the mindset, skills, and knowledge they need to draw on the enormous possibilities presented by new technologies. In addition, he will put great emphasis on promoting the role of accounting and finance professionals as trusted advisors, who are equipped to support organisations to drive meaningful, long-lasting change and sustainable value creation. He will also work on fostering an inclusive profession, where anyone with the right aptitude and dedication has the opportunity join the profession, seize opportunities for growth, and build a fulfilling career.
Simon is a business leader with experience in both private and public companies and in the US, UK, and Asian markets, and currently holds a portfolio of advisory and non-executive roles for several technology businesses, investment funds, and charities. Simon’s business career includes working for 12 years in the financial analytics industry, a decade of which he spent as CEO of Metapraxis, a finance technology company based in London and New York with a global blue-chip customer base.
