Kyriakos Kasapidis is the VP Finance – Supply Chain CFO at Hero Group. In this interview, we explore his passion for the field, the latest trends shaping its future, and its critical role in business success.

Kyriakos also reflects on his transition from global giants Unilever and J&J to a smaller FMCG organization, discussing the unique advantages and challenges of this shift. He also shares insights on the impact of ESG reporting and key lessons learned throughout his career.

For more than ten years, your career has focused on Supply Chain Finance.  What excites you the most about working in this area?

Over the last 20-plus years, I’ve been lucky to rotate in several positions within Finance. Finance as a function is quite wide, offering the opportunity to learn, explore, and be involved in several diverse business topics. Rotating and learning new things are always quite challenging, but also quite rewarding.

What I like about Supply Chain Finance is it touches on several aspects of the business. You see the direct impact of your decisions, even in the short to medium term. Supply Chain Finance is not only about reducing costs, but also supporting growth, co-shaping portfolio decisions, serving demand, and improving end-to-end processes, as well as driving transformational projects.

For me, the direct correlation between a decision or a project and the impact on the business is very motivating.

Over the last few years, I had the opportunity to lead several transformational projects where someone can clearly see the outcome and the concrete business impact they delivered.

In summary, this connectivity between decision and impact is very motivating and an exciting element of the job.

With the Supply Chain landscape constantly evolving, what new trends or developments are you most enthusiastic about and why?

I would say there are three indicative elements in the new landscape. One is all about integration with the overall business. The silo mentality, between Supply Chain and Commercial or even within Supply Chain functions, is gone. A few years ago, you may have seen it in some businesses. But now, people are really moving away from this and adopting a fully integrated approach.

As mentioned above, Supply Chain has a wide and critical business role to play. Optimizing your cost structure to service a volatile demand is one element. SC is involved and contributes in co-shaping the innovation agenda, drives decision making process in terms of leveraging and exploring existing capabilities, investing in new capabilities or capacity, as well as building a strong third-party manufacturing network. Enhancing end-to-end processes across the entire organization, like S&OP , is also a key enabler and success factor, which SC is a key stakeholder.  

Another point I would call out is linked to the balance between short-term delivery and long-term strategy. Whatever business and investment decisions you make today, they need to be aligned with the business' overall roadmap, having to navigate at the same time in a volatile and unpredictable environment.

Just a short example from my personal experience. When I moved to Switzerland for my Supply Chain Finance role at Unilever, I was responsible for the financial performance of 24 plants in Europe. As SC, we were driving a very demanding and challenging in-year result delivery (short term). At the same time, we were shaping the future manufacturing footprint, which was very exciting. During that period, we made decisions about transferring production lines, taking out lines, and selling factories. So, the right balance between short and long term is part of the daily business in Supply Chain.

Linked to all the above, I would emphasize the role of digitalization and AI tools. How do you leverage technology, how do you engage and prepare the organization to benefit from digitalization?  It's a very big topic, also for Hero as a medium-size company.

It is critical to be mindful how we approach it in the sense of having clear priorities based on the funds and resources we have to make it right and fit business needs. Get clarity where we want to invest our efforts and make a step change in the ways of working as an organization overall.

What motivated your move from global giants like Unilever and J&J to a smaller FMCG business? What key factors influenced your decision?

At some point, you need to make some key career decisions about your next steps. Having more than 20 years in big multi-national companies, I felt it was the right time to make a call.

Working for Unilever, at the beginning of my career, was an amazing ‘university’ and learning experience for me. The company is quite advanced in several aspects. In general, I would say that by joining big players in the market and rotating in different positions, you build a strong foundation.

For me, it was a very conscious decision to leverage my experience and apply it to a smaller, medium-size organization. Of course, there are tradeoffs involved in such decisions.

The key driver for me was maximizing the impact someone can have in business. In a smaller organization, your role becomes much more visible and impactful. Personally, I have frequent direct connectivity with the executive board and discuss topics as they appear.

In many cases, you can be part of the decision-making process; it's not that the decision is being cascaded to you, but you are part of the process, which makes quite a difference.

What’s also exciting is that you have much more autonomy to change things. What I have experienced - and what I liked about moving to Hero - is the fact that there’s a nice, diverse mixture of people bringing a lot of multi-national experience from other big players in the market. The ask is to make a change, bring good practices, and improve the business. So, you have a lot of space to recommend, improve existing practices, and implement new ones. That means leveraging the knowledge gained from the big players and applying it to another medium-size company in practice. I find it rewarding.

What are the biggest challenges someone should expect when making a similar transition, and how can they best prepare?

You need to be cautious about your decision. I was cautious in knowing that, in a medium-size company, the resources are much less. No matter how senior you are, you’ll need to be much more hands-on, which I like, as you zoom in and out according to the needs.

In some cases, you directly face, manage, and resolve complexity while being much more operational. That is something people need to expect when moving to a smaller company.

As mentioned before, when people move from other big companies, they want to implement immediate change, as they come with many ideas. What is the right approach? Is it the right fit and timing for the business? Does it have the resources and capabilities to implement and maintain a new process? There is, as we used to say, “good and bad complexity”, and we need to provide clarity on what and how we want to introduce in a smaller organization.  

In many cases, you can suggest things that big players are implementing, but that may not be the right fit for a medium-size company. This is a challenge when coming onboard with very new ideas; you see areas for opportunities, but you need to make some clear priorities on what makes sense and adds value. You shift more into an owner’s mentality.

In my previous roles, I managed big teams. Now, the team is much smaller and hands-on, but the connectivity within the organization is a lot higher.

Do you think it’s harder to transition from a smaller company to a big multi-national or the other way?

If you initially join a big company, you can shape yourself as a professional. Big companies, usually being more advanced, can offer much more training, insights into best practices, and structure.

On the other hand, in a smaller company, usually the roles are less segmented and more E2E. This provides the opportunity to take on wider responsibility and be directly involved in more business topics. Training usually happens on the job, based on previous practices.  

My advice would be for someone to explore opportunities for frequent rotation within a big multi-national. As a next step, transition to a smaller company, being flexible to adapt to a more dynamic and entrepreneur environment, applying best practices in a meaningful business way.

With ongoing volatility and inflation in Supply Chain, how have you adapted your financial processes and strategies to maintain stability and ensure cost-effectiveness?

As mentioned before, Supply Chain is not only about cost reduction; it's much bigger than that. In addition, whether we like it or not, volatility is part of our daily life. Flexibility and connectivity across the organization are a must-have in today’s environment.  

Within my first months of joining Hero Group, we were faced with very significant inflation across the board (as almost all industries faced over the last years), which could also have been threatening for the Group as such.

My priority was to connect with Procurement and provide visibility to the business and leadership. In a very short period, all the leaders were locked in one room reviewing portfolio simplification, as well as pricing and cost savings initiatives. Based on this face-to-face connectivity, we decided to take specific actions with regular follow-ups. So, there is an element of immediate reaction, as well as stepping up and creating visibility in relation to market outlook as part of standard process.

Having said that, and given the high volatility we face, we also focus on how to set up and bring to life an E2E S&OP process in order to have sufficient volume visibility well in advance. We are investing in improving our Procurement processes to shorten the price forecast cycle, while leveraging better volume projected information. Above are process-related examples, which are key enablers and highly impactful for the business  

Planning ahead is key, but you also need to plan/prepare for the unknown, balancing the short, medium and long-term strategic direction. Supply Chain needs to be agile enough to flex up and down and at the same time, structurally address the cost base.

As a concrete example, recently I was assigned to lead a plant closing project in Switzerland, driven mainly by excess capacity. We managed to optimize our cost structure by better leveraging our plants capacity, and now we see significant benefits for the business going forward. We have also delivered other similar cases of manufacturing footprint optimization, which took place recently within Hero.

How has integrating ESG reporting into your remit impacted your approach to Supply Chain Finance, and what synergies have you identified between the two areas?

This was an additional big challenge on top of my current responsibilities. Across the industry, ESG and Non Financial Reporting (NFR) is quite a new topic, and for me was a brand-new experience. I spent quite some time trying to educate myself and, at the same time, setting up a process across the organization in view of the 2024 Sustainability Statement. To keep it short, I’ll focus on two aspects.

The first is all about compliance. We need to ensure we are compliant with the requirements. Given the complexity of the topic, as well as the very large scope, many people across the organization have to be actively involved. My big concern is that high complexity could lead to a missed opportunity to drive engagement. People across different functions, on top of their busy daily job, are faced with complex, detailed, new requirements, where they cannot see the immediate benefit for the business. It is often seen as a tick the box exercise. That's why my immediate priority in the short term was to address the compliance topic while, at the same time, making a link to the core business. To do that, our key approach was to follow CSRD as the main framework in terms of point of reference and then try to adjust, fine tune, attach any other regulation to this.

The second point is that, as you deep dive into this topic and start focusing on the core of the business, you start identifying synergies you can get out of this process. That can expand quite a lot. Now that I'm reviewing the report that we have to publish in the coming months, it provides insights into looking at the business from a more holistic point of view. You review the full value chain: where you source, how you source, how you assess your suppliers, the ways of working, how you optimize your manufacturing process in terms of emissions, the hot spots that can make a difference so as to prioritize your actions, how you design your product, how you shape your portfolio, how you can develop a pragmatic approach in relation to due diligence, etc. All of these have a direct impact on sustainability and can be a win-win situation going forward.

Linked to the above is how you measure, manage, and track the performance of the business, because then you can identify your hot spots and align on key priorities. Based on this, you can integrate, as part of your budget process, a funding allocation mechanism that matches your ESG priorities.

So, bringing this into a business meaningful approach, people can become more engaged to drive this forward, which is a big plus for the organization.

To make it more specific, a couple of concrete examples. At Hero, one step that we took is that, for business cases to be approved, sustainability and respective CO2 impact are part of the drivers that people need to call out.

Recently, I was actively involved in a capacity expansion project for healthy snacks, a fast-growing category for us, and one of the biggest investments for the group. We had to decide where we were going to install the new production line. One of the key deciding factors for the location was related to CO2 and water consumption.

So, you can see how ESG has a key role to play in influencing the business, which is quite motivating. Still, as mentioned, there is a balancing act, being compliant and up to date with regulations and, at the same time, creating the space and the link to move closer to the core of the business.

Compliance is important, as you mentioned, but to truly engage people in the business, it needs to feel like more than just an added burden. It should be seen as something that actively contributes to the company’s strategy and overall way of operating.

We run the risk in general of a missed opportunity. You currently see many governments trying to challenge that; maybe it's too complex or it's too costly for the businesses to manage, and they start to realize that we need to really simplify.

Yes, it's a must-do - no one is challenging that, but you need to figure out how, in a more pragmatic way, for the business. This is my main concern, not to become a missed opportunity for people to be really engaged in this topic.

Throughout your career, you've had a few tips and learnings that you try to apply as your guiding principles. Can you give us a few values that you share?

Very briefly, I would like to mention a few, always keeping in mind that people are the key assets for an organization:

• As I evolve professionally and rotate to several positions in different companies, I try to identify people as role models whom I try to learn from. What becomes evident is that we all can have our ‘leadership moments’ despite seniority. A true leader is not the one who has formal authority in an organization, but the one who inspires the people around him/her. The one that people will follow regardless of hierarchy.
• As a Finance professional, I am cautious in trying to avoid talking in isolation within the Finance function. Finance should be fully integrated and engaged in unified business discussions with our partners.
• Always try to focus on what truly adds value. We are often faced with several non-value adding requests (usually in big complex companies). Keep on challenging. An owner's mentality drives real change and maximizes the benefit for the business.
•  Treat people with respect. People may forget what you said to them but will never forget how you treated them.
• I would also like to emphasize the significance of work culture in people’s performance. I have experienced both extremes. First, an example of a hugely challenging and high-pressure role. Still, I was part of a high-performing team with open communication, challenging each other, pushing the agenda to the limit, with a very inspiring leader. The results were amazing. I have also experienced a toxic working environment, where, although you had very good and knowledgeable people in the team, people just played not to lose - they didn’t play to win. What a missed opportunity for the organization.

And do not forget to have some fun in the workplace. Humor opens a lot of doors and brings a lot of positive energy to the team…

Thank you Kyriakos for speaking to our Finance & Accountancy recruitment team in Switzerland.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Emiel Jongerius is the Group Controller at AkzoNobel, with over 20 years of diverse international experience and broad functional expertise.

Speaking to Hannah Mallia, Emiel shares the challenges and successful outcomes of leading a major global Finance transformation, the growing importance of becoming a true business partner, and his approach to building high-performing Finance teams.

As Group Controller, how do you balance the strategic and operational aspects of Finance leadership to ensure both long-term growth and day-to-day efficiency?

I believe the role of a Group Controller is increasingly about being a strategic business partner, whose mandate is Finance but is focused on value creation. The ask is becoming broader and broader.

Foremost, I think the key approach as a Group Controller is to support and work with the business to identify growth opportunities, such as margin expansion, exploring new markets, potential mergers and acquisitions, developing innovative financing solutions, and defining together how to get there. That is now the key driver and ask of a Group Controller as a strategic business partner.

I emphasize the importance of having the right capabilities to collaborate closely with the business, understand market dynamics, and speak the language of customers to help teams become successful. To enable this strategic focus, I rely on having a strong Finance team that can manage day-to-day operations, which frees me to concentrate on strategic initiatives. That requires a clear vision for the Finance function, to rally your troops behind your thoughts and place that dot on the horizon of where you want to go.

In this digital era, I talk about the digital agenda. I actively communicate about digital possibilities in Finance, discussing how we can leverage data, artificial intelligence, and robotic process automation. By sharing this vision, I aim to engage teams, gain feedback, create enthusiasm, and attract talent interested in driving the digital agenda. People need to know where you want to go; invite them to think with you and be part of that journey.

At the end of the day, that will help you balance your long-term strategic vision and the day-to-day operations as a Group Controller.

How do you see the Finance function and the role of the Finance Business Partner evolving in the future?

I see the Finance function expanding far beyond traditional financial responsibilities. Finance professionals are now being asked to take on broader accountabilities, including supporting strategic leadership, technology integrations, and collaborating with key stakeholders both internally and externally.

We must also keep a keen eye on global politics and understand how these dynamics influence risk management within our organizations. This means dynamically incorporating external factors into financial planning and understanding the ultimate impact on the company's financial health. Becoming a true business partner and having that connection with the business is becoming increasingly important, focusing on understanding organizational dynamics and finding ways to help teams become successful.

Drawing from personal experience, I learned the importance of this approach while working in a smaller Sales organization in Automotive Lighting North America . In that entrepreneurial environment, I simultaneously managed Finance, Customer Service, Logistics, and Procurement. That experience opened my eyes so much and taught me to make fast decisions, always think with the customer in mind, and focus on value creation for the business. I can only recommend such experiences in an entrepreneurial environment to others.

What is your approach to building high-performing Finance teams and fostering a culture of empowerment?

You can have a good vision or a good view, but without people you cannot make it happen.

People spend more time at work than with their family daily, so we need to create an engaging environment where people would like to work.

My approach centers on building teams with a strategic mix of experienced professionals (those who know what good looks like, and where they want to go), and younger talent (those in the early phases of their career, who can really grow and develop), which enables knowledge transfer and unlocks creativity. At AkzoNobel, we have also established an early career program, to support fresh graduates in learning various Finance aspects.

From an empowerment point of view, it’s important to agree as a team on our deliverables and where my leaders want to be in two to three years. I then provide them with freedom and accountability to define how they want to achieve those objectives. With that space, they can bring people together to look at best-in-class examples. I can also support them, challenge them, and coach them, but to realize the outcomes is up to the people.

To help people grow, I believe the fastest way is pushing people out of their comfort zone and giving them new opportunities and challenges. When I approach people with new roles and they doubt their capabilities, that’s the time to tell them you believe in them. By surprising them with unexpected roles, that’s when you see an acceleration in their personal and professional development. Witnessing their growth and seeing them achieve things they thought impossible gives me a kick and fulfilment as a leader.

I often put people in roles they hadn't initially considered, such as moving someone from Accounting to Treasury or into a leadership position they hadn't anticipated or experienced before. Later, these individuals come back and express that it was a good decision. They appreciate how the unexpected role made them think differently and expanded their scope of learning and professional experience.

Can you provide an example of a Finance transformation that you have led, what challenges you faced, and how you overcame them? 

I led a major global Finance transformation at AkzoNobel that impacted the entire Finance community on a global scale. The transformation involved two key strategic moves: first, transitioning from decentralized processes locally organized in countries to a centralized Finance organization run through five shared service centers globally.

Second, transforming the Finance organization from a backward-looking function to a forward-looking one that delivers more value to the business through insights and analytics.

The transformation presented several significant challenges. Stakeholder alignment and change management were key. I focused on engaging with people, listening to their concerns and taking them into account, keeping them informed, and creating buy-in from those teams through various communication methods like attending management meetings, creating newsletters, and making presentations.

Communication is key; be clear about what you want to achieve, how and why, and be open to feedback from the organization. You can only achieve a successful transformation together. Taking into account different perspectives can lead to different outcomes that work better for everyone.

Another major challenge was process standardization. Moving from local ways of working to a global approach required a clear vision and strong project management. When transitioning into shared service centers, everyone was completing processes in their own way, but we needed to move to global processes.

To do that, we implemented Central Finance, the latest SAP S/4HANA technologies, as a standard platform, which enabled us to further centralize global activities into shared service centers. This included creating global teams for specific functions, like product costing and fixed asset accounting, which ultimately improved financial quality and drove efficiency.

Can you share an example of where you’ve used advanced analytics to help identify key business opportunities?

I cannot overemphasize the importance of data and analytics in understanding business dynamics as a Finance professional. At AkzoNobel, we created a comprehensive financial information platform using Central Finance SAP S/4HANA, which captures 95% of our business transactional data in real-time.

If you really want to get into data analytics, you need that type of platform with reliable, almost real-time, data. From there, you can begin to ask questions and go into the details to understand how to support the business. That also requires specific team members with strong analytical skills and the ability to extract meaningful insights and draw conclusions.

By leveraging this real-time data, we achieved transparency on margins at customer and product levels, enabling us to collaborate with Pricing and Sales managers to identify opportunities for margin enhancement through strategic pricing or product adjustments. That’s very powerful.

In operational Finance and Credit Management, we gained global visibility into customer payment and invoicing behaviors. This allowed us to compare and analyze patterns across regions, customers, and channels, ultimately identifying process improvements that made it easier for customers to conduct business with AkzoNobel.

Another example, which is close to my heart, is we centralized management reporting by creating a single source of truth. Previously, different business units generated their own reports with varying truth definitions. Our new approach standardized reporting based on real-time data, reducing time spent on report creation and allowing focus on value-driving topics and discussions.

What is your favorite motto or quote and why?

It’s not a motto as such, but I tell my team to focus on making one small improvement per day, as that will create a big step over time, and I am a firm believer in continuous improvement. Making those small steps every day helps improve processes, ways of working, and collaboration within the business.

I see teams struggling with this, as they view change as a large mountain ahead of them. My message is to break it down into small, manageable steps. By dedicating just half an hour or an hour daily to improvements, you see significant progress over time. After a week, that's five hours of improvement, and after a month, it becomes 20 hours. I find this method particularly effective for me and it works for the team. By encouraging teams to make small daily changes, they can really make a change.

Thank you to Emiel for speaking to Hannah Mallia, Netherlands Country Director at EMEA Recruitment.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Kevin Springer is a Finance Director at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, a leading biopharmaceutical company and the pioneer in RNAi therapeutics.

Kevin details Alnylam’s groundbreaking technology and medical breakthroughs, his relocation from the USA to the Netherlands, and his opinion of AI’s impact on Finance teams.

Alnylam is known for its groundbreaking treatments in the biopharmaceutical space. Could you tell us about some of Alnylam’s unique products and how they’ve impacted the lives of patients who rely on them?

As part of the Finance team, my medical background is limited, but I am proud to work for a company responsible for transformational treatments.

The RNA interference platform pioneered by Alnylam works by ‘silencing’ disease at the source, by stopping the production of proteins that cause or contribute to disease at the genetic level. Using this approach, we have developed five commercial treatments, treating four separate diseases. We also have many promising new therapies in the development stage and I am personally excited about the possibilities for our technology to be successful in more common disease areas in the future.

At Alnylam, patients living with rare or complex conditions are at the centre of what we do, regardless of the function that we work in; recently, I was moved to hear from an individual whose child is living with an extremely rare condition that can impact infants from birth. At the time of hearing this story, my daughter was about the same age as the child whose mother was sharing her family’s experience. It is stories like these, understanding the child’s journey to diagnosis and day-to-day experience that inspire me every day, in the hope that Alnylam can bring hope for debilitating diseases like these.

What excites you the most about working for Alnylam? And how does the company’s mission align with your personal values and career goals?

To summarize in two words: hope and possibilities. We all have personal experiences with family and friends who have suffered from a condition for which treatment options were limited.

Alnylam’s RNAi platform has already been proven, which provides hope for future medicine. While hope drives us to dedicate our efforts to the company, our demonstrated success in making new medicines available to patients supports the actual possibilities of future treatments. Both the hope and possibilities of new medications drive me to do my best at Alnylam.

As part of the Finance team, one of our company’s strategic goals is to achieve profitability, the progress towards which is shared during quarterly investor calls as well as internally. We have a responsibility to spend smart and prioritise the funding that is available so we can continue to develop our pipeline. This aligns with my personal values and supports my career goals.

For me, it’s important to feel trust in our senior leadership team, to share the same overall goals and beliefs. Within Alnylam, there truly is a belief that if we invest in new medications and get them to eligible patients, this in turn will drive the success of our business.  This belief is clearly held by the Executive Leadership Team and reinforced to everyone working in our business. We are all working on the same team, with the same goal, which is to transform more patients’ lives.

You relocated from the USA to the Netherlands in 2016. What was that transition like for you? What advice would you offer to someone considering a similar move?

I moved to the Netherlands for what was supposed to be a two-year rotation assignment with a Big 4 accounting firm. I never imagined staying longer and, eventually, deciding to make the Netherlands my home.

My experience has been positive, but it wasn’t always easy. The best advice I can provide someone considering a similar move is firstly, to pay attention to new professional and societal / cultural differences. Secondly, understand that, while there are differences, everyone has positive intentions and will work hard towards a common goal (although, holidays and out-of-work commitments also need to be considered and appropriately planned).

Over the past 15 years, I’ve had the privilege to work with teams and companies in many countries within Europe, Asia, and North/South America. I think the US might be one of the most demanding work environments; a lot is expected from employees and there is often less security if a job does not work out compared to other markets.

My work ethic and motivations are still US-orientated, as I was raised and began my career in that environment. However, when working with non-US teams, I’ve learned to adapt to local norms. For example, before moving to the Netherlands, a three-week holiday seemed like something that you would only be able to do once you retired. In the Netherlands, employees take multiple-week holidays each year.  Additionally, my team members do not check emails when on leave. Initially, this was a big shock for me, and I had to learn to adapt; now I’ve learnt that, if we plan appropriately, a multiple-week holiday benefits the overall team, as this helps increase happiness and, in turn, team productivity.

Adapting to a different culture did take me a bit of time, and I think it’s the biggest challenge for most US expats moving to Europe. I was fortunate that my (now) wife significantly contributed to my personal cultural development. She is Dutch and is very direct when she needs to remind me that I’m being too American. I think my professional career has also benefited from her, as she has really helped me integrate into Dutch culture.

Throughout your career, what has been the most unexpected lesson you’ve learned, and how has it shaped the way you approach your work today?

I’ve been in a professional job (post-master’s degree) for approximately 15 years now. Thinking back to when I first started my career, I planned to be a partner with the Big 4 firm that I started with in the same city. I never expected that I would be living and working outside the US.

The biggest unexpected career lesson I’ve learned is you can never perfectly predict where you will end up, but as long as you work hard, continue to learn and are able to identify new professional opportunities, you will ultimately end up in a great position - although the actual job might be different from what you had initially envisioned.

One of the hardest career decisions I’ve had to make was whether I would move back to the US or stay in the Netherlands. As mentioned, my wife is Dutch, and this decision was very personal, as our life and our daughter’s life would be very different depending on the outcome.

Ultimately, we decided that life in the Netherlands, for now, is better for our family.  This decision has had a direct impact on my career, as my career development varied depending on the outcome, and as I’ve always been very career driven (hence my US mentality). This was a bit scary.

After working hard and ultimately finding the right opportunity with a great company, I realised that I could both benefit from our personal decision and continue to achieve my long-term career goals. I am very grateful and truly feel lucky to be working for Alnylam.

With the growing advancements in AI and automation, how do you see the role of Finance teams evolving, particularly in a fast-paced industry like pharmaceuticals?

AI is a current buzz word in business, but, in reality, AI is nothing new. As technology improves, the speed of processing large data quantity also improves.

When I first started my professional career, we prepared manual paper audit files. We printed out workpapers and filed these in large boxes at a physical location. Once we moved to electronic workpapers, the process improved, but the system itself took ages to load. Over the years, this improved, especially as fibreoptic internet was rolled out globally and processing speeds increased.

With the combination of high-speed internet and continuously increasing computing speeds, we can process large data quantities much faster. This is really what AI is all about - setting certain algorithms that can process data and, in turn, enable us to make certain decisions based on this data.

As the data and speed increases, the decisions become smarter and smarter and more applicable and usable. For years, we have been able to type in a few sentences in Google search and find exactly what we are looking for. This is AI, which didn’t exist 20-plus years ago. As we advance, there will be more benefits from AI.

How does this impact Finance? We need to be thinking about the type of data that we are capturing in our systems. For example, when a transaction is processed, do we capture all the right data elements that are needed to use this data for other purposes?

Let’s say that we want our system to identify when inventory levels are low, and when restocking needs to take place. We would need to make sure that all relevant data elements are included, including the vendor detail that would need to be notified and the stock requirements for a restocking to automatically be triggered and executed.

While we might not implement such automated processes, we need to start thinking about the necessary data required now to have the possibility to implement these future state solutions.

Reflecting on your own career, what was the best or worst interview experience you've had, and what did you take away from it?

My worst interview experience is easy. When I was a sophomore at university, I was interviewing for a summer leadership program at a Big 4 firm. Academically, I was quite successful and was actively involved in our College of Business and other university programmes. My professors identified me as a great candidate for this leadership programme.

Going into the interview, I was totally unprepared and gave terrible responses to many questions. I thought my academic achievements were enough; I was quickly proven wrong. This helped me identify certain areas that I needed to work on and improve. While I was not offered the summer leadership programme, I learned the importance of preparation and identifying my individual strengths and weaknesses.

About six months after this experience, I had an internship interview at another Big 4. They scheduled me to fly to their office for the two day interview. I spent quite some time preparing for this interview and utilized all the career development services that our university offered. We practiced a couple of mock interviews and watched the playbacks to identify areas for improvement, while also working on responses to various questions. This helped and the next interview went much better, and I was offered the job. This jump-started my career and gave me an invaluable experience that has helped me throughout my professional life.

My biggest takeaway and advice is to be prepared. If you want the job, understand the position, learn about the company, know yourself, and be prepared to sell yourself, while being open and honest about your personal achievements and capabilities.

If you could go back and give your younger self some career or life advice, what would it be?

If I could go back in time, I would tell my 20 or 30-year-old self that your career is a journey - be patient and continue to learn and gain more knowledge and experiences.

I was very eager in my 20s and wanted to grow my career as quickly as possible. I know this has helped me get to where I am today, but, at the same time, I was not always patient for the next opportunity. I think this advice would help me appreciate my current role more, rather than always focusing on the next step.

As a new father, my priorities have changed as I have real responsibility at home as well. Now, I’m trying to learn to appreciate my current successes, while still thinking about the future, and enjoying my responsibilities outside of work.

Thank you to Kevin for speaking to Tom Hodgett, Associate Director in our Finance & Accountancy recruitment team in the Netherlands. 

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Philip O’Connor is the Head of Finance, NL at Specsavers. He has been with the business since November 2024, having started his Finance career at Marriott International in 1997.

In this interview, Philip explains how he ensures an efficient and effective recruitment process, how his leadership style has evolved during his career, and the importance of vision and values across an organization.

How have you overcome the difficulty of attracting top-level professionals in a candidate-led market?

It’s important for companies to appreciate that candidates are regularly in parallel processes. Given talented candidates have a choice, building a strong employer brand can be a key differentiator in attracting quality candidates. Embedding this in your organization's day-to-day workings provides development and training, pathways for high-potential employees, work-life balance options, and generally makes your company a great place to work and more easily retains talent.

I always try and ensure candidates have a good experience during the interview process, so they are more likely to form a positive bias when making a choice.

Make sure your organization has an efficient recruiting process. Communication should be fast. Have a solid candidate evaluation process, and always ensure candidates and internal stakeholders know what’s going on at every step.

Most mid-large companies invest in an ATS . We use a very simple framework - Growth Wheel - to help understand people’s performance and potential, based on agility  (the ability to learn and adapt), behaviors (how we work, interact with others, and achieve goals), and  capability (what skills, knowledge, and expertise is needed to be successful in a role).

Specsavers truly encourages managers to focus on supporting, engaging, and developing all colleagues, not just those currently identified as having further upwards potential.

Lastly, have fun as a team, enjoy what you do, and make sure to celebrate every success together.  

How would you say your managerial leadership style has evolved over the years?

Earlier in my career - and this is probably a common tendency - I was biased towards results first, with the process and people somewhere in the mix, but not a priority. I realized over time that if you identify and hire the right people, empower, and trust them to work in the right way within solid processes and clear goals, you will realize optimal outcomes.

My leadership style now is more purpose-led, finding real meaning in what I do. This means putting people and the team first. In practice, I employ a simple framework to ensure the team are tracking well and making progress. This way of working is based on trust and accountability, giving the team freedom to take ownership, experiment, and offer different points of view, while encouraging leadership within the team itself.

I still have a strong opinion; however, it now tends to be counterbalanced by seeking feedback and input from others.

How do you keep yourself positive on the tough days?

I look to practise a sense of positivity and resilience and make a habit of it. As leaders, we should be very conscious that those around us will pick up on how we project ourselves. I find that focusing on common team goals helps anchor behavior and, if approached in a positive manner, can create an environment that will get you through the tough days. And remember to celebrate the success and progress of the team!

What attracted you to the globally renowned brand that is Specsavers?

Initially, it was a combination of business sector familiarity, brand reputation, and the broad scope of the role itself. Having spent a number of years working with a direct competitor, GrandVision, I recognized the high regard Specsavers holds within the industry, especially for their efforts in making high-quality clinical eye and hearing care accessible and affordable for everyone.

It also resonates with me that a large, international, family-owned business continues to grow with a very people-centric culture.

Regarding the role itself, the position offered a broad scope of responsibility, encompassing not only the usual Business Control, Accounting, and Tax responsibilities, but also serving as a crucial commercial partner within the management team to ensure alignment with our strategic goals.

It’s not without its challenges, as the optical retail sector in the Netherlands is extremely competitive, meaning Specsavers is constantly having to ensure customers understand and recognize the value we offer.

What are critical visions and values within an organization?

An organization’s vision should explicitly describe in the long term where the company is going and what it will look like when it gets there. It’s all about why the company exists and its purpose.

For example, at Specsavers, this is about changing lives through better sight and hearing by making expert care accessible and affordable for everyone, especially people who are disadvantaged. That’s a powerful vision – pun intended!

Values, on the other hands, are all about defining the behaviors you want within the organization to drive its long-term vision and purpose. Critical values are the ones that resonate with your employees day to day. At Specsavers, these are our 5 Cs: collaboration, curiosity, courage, compassion, and a commercial mindset.

Following on from what attracted me to Specsavers in the first place, its vision and values are what continues to give me energy on a daily basis.

Our Founder is a Business Ambassador of Operation Smile and it’s something that we’re really passionate about. So, what was the last thing that made you smile?

Seeing my wife and daughter first thing this morning. Similar to Operation Smile, these moments give perspective on what is truly important in life… people.

Thank you to Philip for speaking to Hannah Mallia, Netherlands Country Director at EMEA Recruitment.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Wopke Kooistra is the Chief Financial Officer at Technobis, a group of engineering companies developing and manufacturing high-tech instruments and modules for businesses worldwide.

Wopke discusses his journey to becoming a CFO without a set career plan, the most rewarding aspects of his role, and key lessons learned. He also shares an insight into Technobis, including the key drivers to success and challenges that await.

What excites you about working for Technobis?

What excites me is our mission for society. We make pharmaceutical equipment that helps pharma companies speed up their R&D processes for new medicines, ultimately bringing medicines to patients faster.

Within Technobis, we also help healthcare start-ups bring their product and ideas to the market. For example, a company made a specific medical tong with sensors to better operate on the patient, as it relays immediate feedback. We helped the company make a prototype, develop it further, and scale up production if needed.

Also, what excites me is that it is tangible products that we make. We have a pretty diverse and dynamic group of 60 people, working in Engineering, R&D, Production, Sales, Purchasing, Finance, etc., all together under one roof. The size also means you know everyone, which is nice; I have worked with larger companies before, but I really like smaller, entrepreneurial-focused ones.

Is the entrepreneurial side something you have consciously followed?

It was more something that came on my path. In college, I studied Tax Economics, and I started as a Tax Lawyer/Tax Economist at PwC. But, after two years, it wasn’t making me happy, and I questioned what I was doing. You are educated to become a specialized consultant on a small piece of legislation, and that was not for me.

My father started a horse gear/equipment company with some others and needed assistance to speed up the business online, so I helped out. Looking back, I don't know how those pieces fit together. From an outside point of view, you wouldn't think that the Tax Lawyer would be entrepreneurial, but they fit together somehow. It always makes me enthusiastic and energetic to build out a company and be curious about how it can evolve.

What is the most rewarding part of your role as CFO?

As CFO and part of the Finance team, we are not involved in the day-to-day building of the pharmaceutical equipment, engineering, or developing new ideas for our customers. But what we do and what I'm proud of is keeping the company financially safe.

When I joined, the focus was more on taking the product to market and keeping the customer happy. I have shifted this focus slightly, as it’s important not to forget your financial health.

For example, we introduced down payments for all our equipment. People said, “No, we cannot do that,” but we had to do it to make our cashflow healthy. That worked out fine.

Before, we also liked to have a lot of stock here to be able to service our customers directly. We try to manage that a bit more in balance with the demand from our customer base. So, as a Finance team, we make the business more financially sound and business savvy.

When I worked at bigger companies, you always had a more specialized role. Here, as the company is small, we do everything and that's what I love. Sometimes it's very operational, sometimes it's more strategic, but I like the mix.

What are the key drivers to success for the business?

Staying innovative is key, so we spend a lot of time and money on innovation. We have started co-developing a new pharmaceutical machine with Pfizer, which we started four years ago because they saw a gap in their drug development process. It took some sweat and tears!

As we have the crystallization equipment, we have had a long-standing relationship with Pfizer, but also with other companies. Due to our size, we are quite agile and quick, so they approached us with the idea, which we took into development.

What’s key here is the stable business that we are driving; we saw that declining this year because many pharmaceutical companies were reorganizing after the corona pandemic and the demand for crystallization products declining. So, this partnership came as a gift from heaven – now the product is in the market, and we already see it flying. Not only for Pfizer, but many pharmaceutical companies have already purchased one or multiple or have an interest to purchase, so that is really balancing out now.

For the pharmaceutical equipment, our sales pipeline is very seasonal. It’s very back-end loaded in the year. So, the last quarter is booming for us because as many pharmaceutical companies or research companies spent their budgets, so it's important to track the pipelines throughout the year to maintain our cashflow health.

What challenges await your business and how do you hope to overcome them?

Getting the new machine into the market is a key focus for us. We are now focusing on some big companies that are going to work with the machine, and in 2025 we hope to double our sales.

The hope for us is that the crystallization stabilizes a bit and then we can grow there, too.

What have you learned as a leader in the last 12 months?

What I learned is that you can read about it, but to see it is something else.

That co-development with a customer is so important to get success. We could never have done this on our own.

The feedback that we get from Pfizer after working with the machine is completely different from how we would approach it, as there are more chemist-savvy people at Pfizer and more mechanically-savvy people at Technobis. The combination is key. Without that, we wouldn’t have the machine ready to go or up to customer standards, leading to financial issues as the machine has helped us overcome the drop in our existing portfolio. True partnering.

Additionally, as a leader, what we did do - but I think we could have done better - is having people provide better market intel and insights. I say that because after experiencing the drop in sales, I think if you had the right network, we could have predicted it a bit earlier.

Now, when we talk to people in our network, we get good intel. Combining that with our sales analytics creates a good picture for us and helps serve our story to the banks, our shareholders, etc. So, having a network of people is something I learned.

How does that impact the culture here?

I think people at Technobis are flexible. The entrepreneurial spirit is here; we are very good at fixing problems, which can also be seen as a negative...

Sometimes that means, in the longer term, things are postponed slightly, so that's something we can work on as a company.

Of course, the decline in sales was a shock to us and we needed to get together as a team again to overcome this. Unfortunately, we had to let go of some people at that time.

From a leadership perspective, how have you managed to retain talent? Is there something that you've learnt or changed over the last 12 months?

What is key is the open communication from everyone. Every year we start slow, because of the seasonal pattern, but 2024 was extremely slow.

We got together as a company in March – we didn’t exactly know what was going on but saw many organizations reorganizing and thought it influenced our sales - so people could understand that something was going on.

When we had a clear plan together with our shareholders and the bank’s involvement, we communicated that immediately to the organization.

We needed to rebalance the organization, and I think people appreciated that. It's not a nice message to spread, but they saw the urgency. It was a one-time fix.

Also, the people we needed to let go of understand the decision; what’s special to me is they said, “Although it's not nice for me, I had a tremendously good time here, definitely learned a lot, and you were always fair and square.” That’s key.

What does sustainability look like for your industry or company? Is that something that's on your radar?

We're not a big user of resources here; our production flow is quite small and not energy intensive. However, we focus on the efficiency of our machines. For example, partly why our new machine, the ReactAll™, is so successful is because it uses only a tenth of the material that Laborant uses in analyzing the reactions between the fluids that they trial for their medicines.

Other equipment uses a tenfold of those expensive and sometimes environmentally hazardous materials.

What strategies do you use to develop innovative, diverse teams?

When I joined more than a year ago, the team was already diverse. There are only three of us - one lady and two men. The most important thing is setting clear focus areas and responsibilities. I like to give a lot of freedom, but with opportunities for openness to check in and ask for help.

That really helped form the team and the freedom to operate within their area fully. For example, one of my teammates solely focuses on implementing part of the new ERP system. She loves it because it gives her a full focus and she's responsible for the project. She sometimes checks in to verify something. I think that's the key to building a successful team.

When you joined, did you look at the processes and reorganize the structure of people’s responsibilities?

We mainly reorganized the areas that each person was responsible for. A simple example is when I joined, the communication between us and creditors was poor. That was because a team member was responsible for it, and it wasn’t his key strength. However, he was very good in other areas of Finance.

I don’t think he was very happy with his responsibility, and neither he nor the company benefited. Instead, we said, “I take that part, and you take that part.” At that point, you saw people breathe a sigh of relief again.

Sometimes, that also happens with tools. Forecasting our cashflow here is key because we are an SME, so we do it on our own. The tools that we previously used were not adequate, so we changed them. That takes people a bit of time to overcome, as they are not used to certain tools, but now the process works much better, and we have their buy-in.

What advice would you give to someone starting their career in Finance?

I didn’t have a typical Finance career, because I started as a Tax Lawyer/Tax Economist at PwC. However, what I am proud of is taking the chance to try different things and change, as things work out in the end. I never figured that I would be a company CFO.

My advice would be to try and change roles when you feel stuck. What helps with that is having a good sponsor or someone in your network who truly sees something in you – sometimes that can come down to luck – but I had that in ERIKS and worked for the board of directors for two-plus years. They saw something in me, so I received more responsibilities and that’s where you learn really fast.   

When you know you want to move on, where have you found the next opportunity?

Gaining that opportunity at ERIKS was a key step in my career, because I wasn’t happy at PwC. After two years of experience, I went into the horse-riding equipment business with my father. I did that for another two years and then sold the company. That was really fun, but I had to think about what’s next.

A friend knew someone working at ERIKS was looking for a Business Controller for the head office. I originally didn't know the company, but I researched it and wrote an open letter.

While I was researching, I learned that ERIKS was a distributer of technical goods, owned by SHV, with a large office in the Netherlands.

After I started, ERIKS gave me endless opportunities.

That’s brilliant. Being open to seeing what the opportunities were and embracing them has led you on this great journey.

Yes, and learn while you're doing it. I never had a concreate plan and my journey was a bit weird.

If you knew with certainty you wanted to be a CFO, you’d probably take different career steps than I. Many CFOs start as an Accountant for a couple of years, then work in a company as a Business Controller or Financial Controller, and then maybe move to a CFO role.

My advice is if deep down in your heart, you know that you have to take a different turn, take it. I see too many people not make the change because of many reasons. Those may be valid, but if you don’t make the move, you won’t be happier, as you already feel and know the role is not for you.

What is a memorable moment from your career and why?

What comes to mind now is at my previous company, we made big machines that printed sustainable food packaging. We had a huge customer in US that was adopting our machines really fast, but we got too reliant on them.

That customer got into financial problems - they lied to us, actually, and stopped paying. That was a time where I learned a lot as a person, but also as a Finance professional; how people interact and sometimes think about their own interests first and not the company’s. It was a tough time.

How did you get through that?

For me, it’s always important to go into fixing mode with the people that really matter. The shareholder and the management team were important stakeholders. So, it was important to get a plan together to get it fixed. It wasn’t nice as we had to let go of many people to help the company survive. It was tough and I also left.

It was a big lesson to learn as a person.

Sometimes you can learn more when things don't go as expected.

What risks have you taken throughout your career and how did they help you to get to CFO?

As I said, I didn't plan my career, I just went from one role to the other. I like to try new things. For example, at ERIKS, I was responsible for all the web shops worldwide and the EDI connections between us and the customers. It was a completely new experience for me. Yes, I did some shop work in the horse-riding business, but that was much smaller.

I like to take the challenge. In my previous company, the ERP system needed to be renewed completely because it was so old, almost at the level of breakdown. We needed to get that fixed and I had never implemented an ERP, but I did it with my team. Of course, some things went wrong and some went right. In the end, with a lot of focus, dedication, and teamwork, we got it fixed.

But we also had a US entity, and their ERP parts were 25 years old. It was one server, and it could have broken down any moment.

We did our ERP in two months. It was crazy, but we got it right, but then the server broke down after one week of going live... I can laugh about it now!

What is your advice for aspiring leaders?

Be open to new projects. Do things that you maybe did not do before and do what's needed in the company. Take those risks because you learn a lot from them.

Later, I learned a lot by truly daring to rely on my team. That helps build team spirit.

What I like to do as a business leader is be very transparent, open, and give a lot of clarity, so people know what to expect and how they can contribute to the success of the company.

If you could change one thing in your career, what would it be?

I don't think I’d like to change a lot of things.

In a life, you can only do a little portion of what's available in a market. It’s a bit of a daydream, but I don't know if I would have been a good physician – I would like to, but it's almost impossible that you would be able to do different things in life.

Maybe in a couple of years, I would like to do something completely different, a governmental job or working in sustainability, helping people, for example.

Why did you choose Tax?

In high school, I liked Economics and Maths. My father was also a Lawyer, and I thought the mix was nice.

What would have been your second career choice?

Apart from becoming a football player, I don’t have any previous wishes.

Do you play football?

I did when I was young, and I also went to the US to play for college. But I'm not nearly as good as I needed to be. I liked it though.

Thank you to Wopke for speaking to Georgia Wright, Director in our Finance & Accountancy recruitment division in the Netherlands.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment. 

Armand Sohet is the Chief Sustainability, HR and Communications Officer at AkzoNobel in Amsterdam. He is an international HR leader and a true change agent with experience across diverse industries, including automotive, pharmaceuticals, software, defence, and energy.  

 Armand has successfully shaped HR organizations to support business strategy and enhance efficiency. His expertise extends to streamlining processes, leveraging big data, and developing unique KPIs for the function. 

You mentioned that your team or other colleagues might sometimes overcomplicate things in HR. It struck me that you might have a way of simplifying complex ideas and presenting them in a business-oriented manner. Could you share a bit of insight into that?

James Burnham, who inspired George Orwell, wrote The Managerial Revolution in 1941. Burnham describes how capitalism evolved in the 20^th century, shifting from ownership-based to management-based structures - a point that circles back to Max Weber’s ideas on bureaucracy in modern capitalism.

Burnham observed that, unlike in the past when businesses were led by their owners, the corporate landscape is now increasingly run by technocrats, bureaucrats, and managers. This transformation happened long ago, yet we didn’t fully notice its impact. Burnham’s concerns seem more relevant than ever, particularly with the rise of bureaucracy. This type of structure exists in government and industry alike, particularly in Europe and noticeably in France. It's often disconnected from real productivity or shareholder interests.

Take the case of my own HR function, though the same applies to all functions. I had 35 senior executives in a 700-person department - a high number for a streamlined operation. Instead of driving efficiency, this excess of top managers slowed down decision-making. It wasn’t the individuals who were at fault; all were high-quality professionals. Over the last 18 months, I undertook a drastic simplification of the organization, reducing top management by more than 40%. The result? Far from creating frustration, our employee satisfaction survey shows higher engagement, and the organization is now far more responsive to business needs.

The second key to success is the smart use of technology. While tech promises efficiency, it often has the opposite effect. Take ERP systems like SAP, which were supposed to streamline processes. Instead, they have added layers of complexity to functions like Finance and HR. The productivity gains we expected haven’t materialized - what the American economist Robert Solow called the "productivity paradox" of technology in business. Conversely, leveraging big data tools flexibly allows for quantum leaps in data-driven decision-making.

Put simply, technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.

Finally, driving productivity and simplicity requires careful selection of the people who remain in your organization. The shorter the structures, the more decisive the human factor becomes. In the end, as always, people make the difference.

Do you think that’s just a reflection of past technologies? Or do you believe future technologies might have a greater capability to impact productivity and achieve what earlier tech aimed to deliver?

Since I started working, I have observed five major technological revolutions: the personal computer, the internet, social media, big data, and now AI. The most significant was undoubtedly the PC, which could reduce tasks that once took hours to just minutes, almost overnight.

The internet followed, greatly enhancing personal productivity and work efficiency. Suddenly, you could instantly access critical information, such as exchange rates for drafting employment contracts worldwide - data that was previously complex and time-consuming to gather.

Social media has had an ambiguous impact on productivity. On one hand, it has been a major distraction. On the other, LinkedIn, for example, has dramatically lowered recruitment costs. This shift, particularly in corporate communications, validated Marshall McLuhan’s famous theory: The medium is the message.

However, a major, often overlooked reality is the gap between the grand promises of technology vendors and the actual business impact. Without high-quality data, there is no meaningful analysis or decision-making. Achieving quality data requires disciplined system architecture and harmonization - an arduous task few companies execute well.

Even with perfect data, transforming it into actionable insights remains a challenge. I often paraphrase Johan Cruyff, the legendary Dutch footballer: Playing HR is simple, but playing simple HR is the hardest thing there is.

Will the Gen Z professionals coming into HR naturally gravitate towards data and tech, and therefore make that transition?

I don’t believe categorizing individuals by their year of birth makes much sense historically. The debate between the “ancients” and the “moderns” has existed since ancient Greece. The reality is that perspectives change depending on whether you have your life ahead of you or behind you. Besides, I wonder what consultants will talk about after Generation Z - since we’ve run out of letters. Perhaps that’s why everyone is focusing on AI: a return to the start of the alphabet, ensuring endless discussion topics.

More seriously, my experiments with AI within my teams - including those under 30 - have not been particularly conclusive. For example, I had a young team member organizing AI awareness sessions who had never used ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or Meta AI. Likewise, when I asked our creative department to generate an artificial image representing "the future of paint," I expected rapid responses using DALL-E, ImageFX, Adobe Firefly, or similar tools. Instead, I was told they were “studying the request with the external communications agency.”

This highlights a striking gap between the rhetoric surrounding technology and its actual application in the workplace.

Maybe there's an assumption on my part that people are more digital or tech-savvy in that age group. I guess it's a sweeping statement.

It is, but it’s a common one. People assume younger generations are naturally more tech-savvy, but that’s not always the case. Digital fluency isn’t just about age - it’s about mindset and exposure. That’s why I actively seek out people who are willing to learn and apply technology effectively, regardless of their background.

When I was working at my last company, I also taught at Zurich University. I would always ask faculty to point me toward their best students. One of them was a Danish student, Philip. He had no particular interest in HR, but I convinced him to give it a try. He started as a trainee and later joined permanently.

He had no prior experience in Compensation & Benefits or HR, but within months, he single-handedly replaced an entire three-person team. Why? Because he understood numbers, systems, and mechanisms better than the so-called experts.

I hired him in November, and by March, he was responsible for delivering the company’s bonuses. He nailed it - so much so that he received a standing ovation. And remember, this was someone who didn’t know HR, hadn’t worked with SAP, and had never done this before. He simply had the right mindset.

If I were hiring today, I’d continue looking outside traditional HR circles - Finance, Accounting, R&D, Marketing. The best hires often come from unexpected places.

I’d love to hear more about what drives you and where your energy comes from.

Energy is everything. It’s what fuels the world - whether coal, oil, or electricity. Nations rise and fall depending on their access to energy. If you think about it, the history of economy can almost be divided into pre-oil and post-oil eras.

The same applies to individuals. Without energy, nothing moves. Nothing changes. As a leader, you need to generate energy and channel it effectively, absorb stress, and radiate energy.

A good friend of mine once said there are two types of people: energizers and vampires. Energizers lift people up, bring enthusiasm, and drive things forward. Vampires drain the room, suck the motivation out of a team, and slow everything down. In organizations, you need to remove the vampires - no matter how competent they might seem.

Sometimes, all it takes is someone telling you that something is possible. Once you believe it, you find a way.

That connects to your mission: Helping people push beyond their limits. Did anyone do that for you early in your career?

My mother. She wasn’t an easy person, but she believed in me. That’s something not everyone gets. There are many people - brilliant people - who never had someone believe in them. But she did, even when my teachers didn’t. Even when my father didn’t.

I love my father deeply, but belief is different from love. My mother instiled in me this constant drive to learn, to never settle, to always question things. She used to say, “The only thing you know is that you know nothing.” That mindset stuck with me.

Beyond her, I’ve had many people shape me - friends, mentors, colleagues. I could probably list 20 or 25 names, each playing a significant role in different ways.

One of my oldest friends, for example, is someone I admire immensely. He’s completely different from me - very intellectual, very reflective. Just being around him has shaped my thinking.

You mentioned reading Orwell recently. Any other books that have stood out to you?

One that struck me recently was The Spinoza Miracle by Frédéric Lenoir. I didn’t read Spinoza’s original work - it’s dense - but this book made it accessible.

Spinoza was a fascinating figure. A Portuguese-Jewish philosopher who settled in the Netherlands, his ideas influenced Einstein, Freud, Bergson - some of the greatest minds of the modern age.

What I found particularly interesting was his perspective on joy and optimism. Compared to Plato, for instance, who saw love as a desire for something we lack, Spinoza believed love was a source of power, something that grows when we nurture it.

That idea of positive energy resonated with me, and I couldn’t help but wonder: Has Dutch culture been shaped by Spinoza’s optimism? Living here, I see so much of that spirit - pragmatic, forward-thinking, and resilient.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

People often ask me about hiring and assessing talent. I once explained it to a Swiss-German audience using an analogy: people are like wine.

Imagine you buy a €3,000 bottle of Petrus. You’re excited, expecting an unforgettable experience. You pair it with camembert - because, well, it’s French, and it seems like a sophisticated match.

But when you taste them together, it’s awful. The lactic acid in the cheese clashes with the wine’s tannins, creating a metallic, unpleasant aftertaste.

Most people won’t admit it, though. They’ve already convinced themselves it must be good - after all, it’s an expensive bottle. But they would have been better off with a €7 bottle of cider or a nice ten-year-old champagne, both of which would actually complement the cheese.

This is exactly what happens with hiring. Companies often go for the “Petrus” candidate - the impressive, high-profile hire - without considering whether they actually fit.

The key to hiring isn’t finding the best person on paper; it’s finding the right match.

So, what cheese do you eat with red wine?

It depends on the wine. My top choices would be Cornish Blue or Stilton, paired with a strong, port-like red like Maury.

Le Comté, from my home region, is another favorite. With that, I’d go for a Vin Jaune, the golden Jura Wine.

If you’re pairing with goat cheese, I would choose a white Sancerre, but I wouldn't rule out a red wine that’s not too tannic - something from the Loire Valley, like a Chinon, works well.

Some cheeses, though, are nearly impossible to pair with red wine. That’s when you reach for cider or champagne. But that’s a whole other conversation - I could talk about this for hours.

Thank you to Armand for speaking to Katie Insley, Director in our Human Resources recruitment division in the Netherlands.

Views and opinions contained within our Executive Interviews are those of the interviewee and not views shared by EMEA Recruitment.