People in May 2023

HPI bids farewell to long-time director Christoph Meinel

On March 31, an era came to an end at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam: With Professor Christoph Meinel HPI bids farewell to its long-time managing director and one of Germany's leading computer scientists. Since 2004, he has shaped the privately funded institution's development into one of the most respected digital labs. "Under Christoph Meinel's leadership, HPI has developed outstandingly. Today, it is one of the best addresses in Germany for studying computer science. I am very grateful to him and his team for that. Education has always been his mission and I am proud of what he has achieved," said HPI's benefactor and founder, Professor Hasso Plattner. The co-founder of the software company SAP endowed the institute in Potsdam in 1998 with the aim of training internationally competitive young IT professionals there. Since then, HPI has grown strongly.

"Thanks to Hasso Plattner's trust, I was able to expand a still young university institute starting in 2004," says Professor Christoph Meinel.

"Thanks to the trust of Hasso Plattner and his foundation, starting in 2004 I was able to help massively expand a university institute that was still young at the time, and help it train top young talent. That was a great, fulfilling time for me," says Meinel, who was also head of the Internet Technologies and Systems department. The private funding from the founder has always motivated him not to be satisfied with what he has achieved and to break new ground: "We have the ambition here to be the best in our field, to have the best students, and to implement impulses for the future.

Celonis appoints Remy Lazarovici as Managing Director DACH

Remy Lazarovici started as Celonis' first full-time employee in 2012 and has since helped shape the company's growth in various leadership roles. In his previous role as senior vice president for EMEA, the mathematics graduate was instrumental in driving Celonis' go-to-market strategy and European expansion. Celonis, a pioneer and a market leader in process mining with headquarters in Munich and New York, announced the appointment of Remy Lazarovici as Managing Director for Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH). The new leadership position was created to reflect Celonis' continued growth, the increasing demand for the software company's technologies, and the prominent importance of the DACH market.

"Companies face enormous challenges in managing ever new crisis situations," explains Remy Lazarovici.

Remy Lazarovici will also assume far-reaching responsibility for the strategic and operational development of the Munich site. Lazarovici has set himself ambitious goals for his new role as Managing Director for the DACH region: "Companies are facing enormous challenges to cope with ever new crisis situations, to become more profitable and at the same time more sustainable. I am convinced that process mining and execution management are the key technologies to master these tasks. The potential for Celonis, as a market leader and technology pioneer, to help companies on this journey is immense."
celonis.com

Jan Molsen is Chief Revenue Officer at Natuvion

Natuvion has Jan Molsen, formerly senior manager of data management governance and compliance at Natuvion, has been appointed chief revenue officer (CRO). In his new position, Molsen is responsible for the revenue generation processes as well as the optimal integration between revenue-related business units such as marketing, sales and support. The former professional handball player has been active in leading positions for Natuvion for more than five years. After joining in 2018 as SAP Senior Consultant Data Management and Compliance, he became Principal Consultant Data Management and Compliance before advancing to Senior Manager Data Management Governance and Compliance in 2022.

Molsen brings many years of experience in SAP, data protection, business development, organizational development and process optimization. In addition, his analytical skills as well as his expertise in change management are an excellent basis for the tasks of the CRO. Patric Dahse, founder and CEO of Natuvion: "With Jan Molsen as CRO, we are focusing even more intensively on revenue management."

Alexandra Hiendlmeier is Managing Director of NTT Data

Since April 1, 2023 Alexandra Hiendlmeier Member of the Management Board of NTT Data. The management of NTT Data in Germany, Austria and Switzerland now consists of Stefan Hansen, Ralf Malter and Alexandra Hiendlmeier. She has worked for NTT Data for 16 years in various positions. She originally came from a management consulting firm and initially helped establish and lead the Finance Transformation business unit at NTT Data. She then worked in business development and marketing.

In 2017, she moved back to Finance, first as Head of Controlling, then in 2021 as CFO for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Stefan Hansen, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of NTT Data, explains: "We have valued Alexandra for years as a highly competent CFO and an attractive consultant. The appointment to the management board is an organic further development of our already close working relationship. We look forward to creative and strategic support from within our own ranks and to using her expertise and leadership to better shape the future of the company together." As the new Managing Director, she continues in the CFO role.

B-4run staffs supervisory board with SAP experts

B-4run is setting itself up stably for further growth. After the specialist for SAP HXM consulting and implementation services was able to fill the seat next to Thomas Rockstroh on the management board with Mike Muhl at the beginning of the year, a top-class supervisory board has been advising the two since this month. In addition to the chairman Prof. Dr. Markus Pflügl, the board consists of Dirk Hakenes (r.), Head of ERP Cloud Solutions at SAP Switzerland, and Dr. Jochen Wiechen (l.), formerly CEO of Intershop Communications AG. "This means that B-4run is now ideally positioned to tap into new customer groups with innovative services related to the integration of SAP applications in human resources," says Thomas Rockstroh, who took over the management of B-4run in October last year.

Rockstroh had previously worked for SAP for over ten years, including for SuccessFactors and as a partner manager. Against the backdrop of a tight labor market, B-4run anticipates increasing demand for consulting.

Deskcenter, a software manufacturer based in Leipzig, Germany, brought in April 1, 2023 Martin Schaletzky to the Board of Management. He succeeds Christopher Harvey who is leaving the company at his own request. Together with Markus gardener Schaletzky wants to drive the company forward with a great deal of agility.

Cohesity, a provider of data management solutions, has Kit Beall has been appointed chief revenue officer. He brings more than 30 years of experience in software, cloud, security, artificial intelligence (AI) and managed services. Beall has previously served as an executive at VMware and Cisco.

Natuvion fetches Anton Gartner on board as an additional Managing Director for Natuvion Austria. He is an experienced SAP specialist and launched the first S/4 project at Austrian utilities. Before starting at Natuvion, Gartner was Head of IT at Burgenland Energie AG and Managing Director of the data center.

Johannes Klutz is the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at SER, a provider of intelligent content automation solutions. He joins SER to drive growth and profitability. Before joining SER, Johannes Klutz was CFO at PTV Group, a provider of B2B software solutions.

Dirk Schawag is the new Commercial Managing Director at Syntax. The global IT service provider and managed cloud provider Syntax has a new commercial managing director: Schawag comes from within the company and was most recently Vice President Legal and Strategy at Syntax Europe.

Bernd Hotze is the new sales manager at Viastore Systems. Since April 1, he has been in charge of sales at the Stuttgart-based intralogistics specialist Viastore. The fact that the 58-year-old likes to travel certainly benefits him at the globally active company.