Anya Cummins still remembers the impact her first deal ever had on her. The Dubliner was brand new to corporate finance. Across the table from them was the owner of a family business, talking through the possibility of selling the company he had built from scratch. The team had discussed the numbers, mapped out scenarios and weighed up all the options to present. But it was something else that made it unforgettable.
“It was the human side of it,” she says. “It was the realisation that this may have been a business decision that he was making, but it was also about family, employees, identity and ultimately their long-term future. Helping someone through a decision like that is a huge responsibility. It was the first time I really understood the weight of advising a founder who was making a choice that would affect everything they’d built over decades. You don’t forget that.”
That formative moment has stayed with her. Years later, now in her role as head of advisory at Deloitte Ireland, it still shapes how Cummins approaches her work.
We meet for our interview just after lunch. Cummins arrives, shaking off the rain, having come straight from a seeing a former client. She first worked with the client years ago on a transaction and they’re now chief executive of a different company, one Deloitte is advising. “This happens all the time,” Cummins laughs. “People move and businesses change but in Ireland especially, it’s a small market and building relationships really matters.”
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Cummins’s profile has been built steadily over time, across leaders and companies. Direct and energetic, she’s known for her ability to see beyond the economic horizon. “Our team have our fingers on the pulse across a lot of businesses, a lot of sectors and a lot of conversations. Because we are so close to what’s happening in the market, that perspective lets us spot patterns early and helps us advise leaders to see what’s coming and how to go faster.”
Cummins didn’t grow up around boardrooms. One of three children in a hardworking household from Rathfarnham, her parents were taxi drivers and shopkeepers, working six days a week for most of her childhood. “You were up, you were doing things, you were getting part-time jobs, you were always on the go,” she says. “Sleeping in just wasn’t really an option!” That environment instilled a work ethic but also built an early understanding of how fragile businesses can be. “When you grow up seeing how hard people work to keep something going, you know how high the stakes can be.”
‘What I’m seeing right now is a convergence, a collision across regulation, strategy, geopolitics, technology, capital and resilience. Leaders are being asked to make calls that touch all parts of the business at once’
That fascination with how businesses function drew her to study business and languages at Dublin City University. Cummins joined Deloitte straight out of college, intending to rotate through different areas. She started in M&A on day one and never left.
She moved to London early in her career, into a faster deal environment. “London taught me how to operate in that incredibly fast slipstream of business where you see every version of what makes and breaks deals. I built a huge network there too, which I still have today. It reinforced my view of what makes a good adviser: technical excellence is assumed but what differentiates is perspective and the confidence to challenge.” When Cummins was asked to return to Deloitte Ireland, private equity and sophisticated M&A were only beginning to reshape the indigenous market, and Irish owner-managed businesses were being asked to think differently about growth and risk.
Today Cummins’s remit is far wider. As head of advisory at Deloitte Ireland, she leads a team of 250 people, spanning strategy, transactions advisory, deal execution and transformation, capital raising, infrastructure, risk and regulation, as well as forensics and financial crime advisory. “What businesses are looking for increasingly right now is sector insight, subject matter expertise and a real understanding of what’s happening beyond Ireland and applied locally.”
Renewables is one example she uses. “Deloitte’s work in this area draws on expertise from partners like Deloitte’s Marie Lucey, former global co-head of M&A in a very large renewables developer, which brings a unique capability to the Irish market. Camilla MacKenzie, who leads our financial crime practice, brings deep knowledge from North America, the Nordics, South America and Asia. That international perspective means our clients are benefiting from lessons learned elsewhere, often before the same risk fully crystallise here.”
“Irish businesses have evolved beyond generic advice,” Cummins says. “They want to know exactly what’s coming down the line and how to move faster because of it. Boards are engaging earlier, asking harder questions and looking for partners who can connect decisions across the whole business, with a relentless focus on value creation and value protection. Advisory used to be something you called in to test once a decision had effectively been made. Now advisory brings a new type of value creation. It sits right at the heart of the hardest decisions, much earlier than people expect.”
‘Incrementalism is no longer enough ... hesitation carries its own risk. Holding fire while deciding on a next step is no longer a neutral position’
From that 360-vantage point, Cummins has a clear view of the patterns emerging across Irish business. “What stands out most now is the nature of the choices leaders are grappling with. What I’m seeing right now is a convergence, a collision across regulation, strategy, geopolitics, technology, capital and resilience. Leaders are being asked to make calls that touch all parts of the business at once. A second mind, a collaborative partner that has this kind of deep expertise to help make better decisions quicker is a no-brainer. Especially when the stakes are this high.”
Any trends that have surprised her recently?
“I’m pleasantly surprised by the willingness of boards to rethink fundamentals and how fast they are prepared to move. Ten years ago, those conversations were rare. Now conversations are about transforming the business, from top to toe; about operating models, supply chain, capital structures, about becoming AI-first.”
Another shift, though not surprising, Cummins says, is a recognition that incrementalism is no longer enough. “There’s an understanding now among successful leaders that hesitation carries its own risk. Holding fire while deciding on a next step is no longer a neutral position”. She’s unequivocal that Deloitte is applying that same lens to itself. “We are moving faster, investing where we believe future value is going to be. We are making decisions that keep us one step ahead because you can’t advise businesses to be bold and agile if you are not prepared to do it yourself.”
Outside of work, Cummins unwinds through travel, fitting balance around a demanding role and family life with her two children. But her true purpose always circles back to Irish business. “I care deeply about Irish business and the future of our domestic economy,” she says. “I care about their ability to compete globally. I feel a sense of responsibility to nurture that and it’s something I share with the teams I work with. Because if you don’t care about the value you are creating, you are in the wrong job.”
“We hear a lot about risk at the moment, but the clients we work with are using this period to accelerate. They are making brave choices early. Other companies,” she adds, “are hesitating. And we are really seeing that gap between those two paths start to widen.”
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