Horgen, Zurich, Switzerland
I have 15 years of experience in energy and mobility. I’ve worked in operational and strategic roles at McKinsey & Company, Alstom Power, GE Power, ABB, Hitachi Energy, and Axpo. I’ve built and restructured teams, managed consultants, and led projects like product launches, cost reductions, and organizational transformations. My work spans both regulated and unregulated markets, giving me a broad view of the energy sector. Mobility is my other passion. I am an alumnus of the Smart Mobility CAS at HSG, actively engage in the Swiss Transit Lab and push corporate mobility initiatives at Axpo. Also I am a keynote speaker, and engage in local politics. I invest in startups and private equity through Verve Ventures and Moonfare. Follow me for updates on energy (#EnergyEvenings), mobility (#MobilityMoments), and leadership (#LeadershipLessons). Connect if you’d like to discuss business opportunities, keynote presentations, or the industry in general.
After reorganizing the innovation activities at Axpo, I am concentrating on delivering value on transformative projects for the Axpo Group. Topics include the coordination of B2B sales activities across the Axpo Group in Switzerland as well as the analysis of our operations and optimization for flex assets across our European footprint.
As Head Group Innovation, I was responsible for orchestrating the innovation activities across all businesses in Switzerland's largest energy utility. Key achievements include: > Transformed the Group Innovation function with a clearer mandate and flexible resourcing, using trainees, interns and targeted consulting support to drive delivery. > Screened and prioritized new business opportunities in seven innovation fields and launched early business development, e.g., industrial heat electrification and digital‑twin services for utilities. > Created and permanently established visible, hands‑on innovation formats such as Axpo’s first InnoDays hackathon and built partnerships with academia (ETH Zurich) and industry for open innovation (Verbund).
Axpo is driven by a single purpose – to enable a sustainable future through innovative energy solutions. Axpo is Switzerland's largest producer of renewable energy and an international leader in energy trading and the marketing of solar and wind power. Axpo combines the experience and expertise of more than 8,000 employees who are driven by a passion for innovation, collaboration and impactful change. Using cutting-edge technologies, Axpo innovates to meet the evolving needs of its customers in over 30 countries across Europe, North America and Asia. My role in this: > Accountable as program lead for the group-wide Strategy Update (incl. presentations to Executive Board, Board of Directors as well as creating buy-in in the organization and defining the communications concept > Accountable for group-wide coordination of all "molecules"-related strategy initiatives (hydrogen, biomethane, etc.) > Accountable for group-wide coordination of all solar-related strategy initiatives (in Switzerland and abroad)
I have built and led the Portfolio Marketing function in our business line, where I was leading 5 colleagues directly and made best use of a million dollar budget to improve market insights (markets, customers, competitors), sharpen our value proposition, build thought leadership and ramp up our digital marketing efforts. Some achievements include: - Led the Product Launch of our e-mobility solutions in summer 2020 with 500+ attendees to online launch - Built internal knowledge sharing platform training 500+ sales people with latest marketing materials and regular webcasts - Released video format "Power Pioneers" with 200k+ impressions on LinkedIn/Youtube generating thought leadership for our offering and getting feature with my own contribution in a WEF article
Appointed as Product Portfolio Manager in the Grid Integration business unit and promoted to Assistant Vice President following the successful closing of the White Collar Productivity program at the end of 2017. The Grid Integration business unit is the global leader in power transmission and power quality technologies offering integrated solutions and products for various applications and segments including high-voltage DC transmission, integration of wind power and utility-scale solar, rail electrification and flash charging infrastructure for electric buses. My role as Product Portfolio Manager includes: - owning the product portfolio roadmap on business unit level - aligning investment priorities across product groups - ensuring consistency in overarching topics (Digitalization, Design-to-Value and Modularization) - leading the roll-out of technical product training to more than 1,000 sales employees - measuring financial performance of product lines - enabling the systematic competence development of the product management function In this global role, I am part of the BU Product Management and Marketing team and work closely with R&D, Sales, Communication and the PowerUp transformation program.
On top of my duties as Product Portfolio Manager for the business line, I was appointed to lead the project management office (PMO) for the implementation of the growth strategy in the Grid and Power Quality Solutions product group. Key achievements include the setup of a fully consistent strategic framework around three simple levers (people, growth, enablers), a significant reduction of reporting effort and a significant increase in transparency and collaboration. The successful implementation is manifested in the fact that the strategic framework has been adopted by the entire Business Line thereafter.
Project Manager in the Group PMO of ABB's company transformation program White Collar Productivity (WCP). The ambition is to build a a leaner, more agile and more customer-focused ABB while saving $1.3bn in annual cost until end 2017. Being at the center of this transformation, I am further honing my skills in communications and program management in large complex matrix organisations. I am focused on the transformation and act as key contact person on ABB Group level for the transformation in: - Power Grids Division across all functions - Engineering and R&D across all Divisions - Health, Safety, Environment and Sustainability Affairs - Legal & Integrity In addition, I own the central preparation for all WCP-related meetings at Corporate Executive level
Seamless continuation of my product cost-out work after the closing of the GE-Alstom alliance. I was immediately assigned as project manager on a global task force identifying quick levers for additional cost out opportunities after the GE-Alstom alliance. - Guiding prioritization efforts across functions and businesses - Reporting progress to senior management - Aligning approach with engineering, sourcing and additional resources - Identifying cost opportunities through expansion of supplier panel & should cost negotiations
Decided to leave the world of consulting and moved into an operational implementation role as Project Manager in the Cost Competitiveness department of the Gas Power Business. In my role, I was leading the project management office activities including: - Consolidating product cost reduction status across businesses - Ensuring the consistency of reported cost reduction and costing in customer projects - Updating factory price sheets and reconciliation with cost reduction progress - Providing guidance for ongoing cost reduction efforts - Creating and aligning management reports/presentations - Contributing to strategic planning