Chief information officer Mike Ballanco retires as Hachette Book Group moves to new IT structure

Hachette Book Group (HBG) senior vice president and chief information officer Mike Ballanco will retire on 27th September 2024. Brendan Goss, Hachette UK’s (HUK) c.i.o., will take up the newly created role of group c.i.o., stepping up to lead the IT teams in the UK and US.

From 1st September, Goss will continue to report to Richard Kitson, deputy c.e.o. of Hachette UK and HBG, and will work closely with Ballanco to ensure a smooth transition to a new Group IT structure.

Ballanco joined HBG nine years ago, developing an IT relationship with the business and launching a strategic IT Transformation program, replacing 85% of HBG’s legacy applications with a new portfolio of integrated systems.

“I’ve only had the pleasure of working with Mike since January, but I want to personally thank him for all his hard work and commitment to Hachette Book Group’s IT development," Kitson said. "I’d also like to thank him for being so personally warm and welcoming to me and for getting me up to speed with everything that he and his team are working on. His leadership of our IT team has resulted in a fantastic portfolio of integrated systems that benefit our publishers and wider business."

Ballanco’s career includes 11 years in the music industry as c.i.o. for EMI Music North America and Warner Music Group. “It was a privilege to cap off my 43-year IT career at HBG," he said. "From my first assignment integrating the Perseus Book Group to the soon-to-be-launched Oracle Order-to-Cash system, I am immensely proud to have led the IT team into the centre of HBG’s business operations, improving data integrity across our IT systems.”

Meanwhile, Goss has been with Hachette UK since 2018, first as the project director for the commissioning of the Hely Hutchinson Centre. In 2019, he joined the IT division as the IT director for distribution and finance and has been the c.i.o. for Hachette in the UK since 2022.

"I am pleased to welcome Brendan into this new combined role, giving both the UK and the US the opportunity to benefit from his wide-ranging experience, his expertise in communicating complex IT issues, and determination to deliver outstanding and cost-effective IT support and systems”, Kitson added.

Goss commented: "Since joining Hachette UK I have been inspired by the desire and willingness to embrace continual and transformative change, driven by our mission to make it easy for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment and opportunity. Harnessing the amazing talent across both HBGUS and HUK will help us realise ever more ambitious goals.”

As a result of this new combined role, there are additional promotions in both the US and the UK, where IT director Rob Forster is stepping up to the role of c.i.o. for HUK. Meanwhile, in the US, HBG’s chief technology officer Puneet Kukkal, who currently oversees the entire HBG business systems portfolio, is stepping up to the role of s.v.p. and c.i.o. of HBG.