Alumni

Grégory Leproux

Senior Manager, Solution Engineering, at Salesforce, leading Salesforce’s pre-sales organisation in Switzerland

The studies at the iimt helped me get a broader understating of what it takes to manage a large company, the inter-dependency between different departments and understand the various frameworks that have been used to govern enterprises. It provided me with tools and skills that I could directly use in my job. The leadership and management course at the iimt gave me a good understanding of the concepts that are in use in most companies. This foundation was extremely helpful to allow me to analyse and embrace the evolution of new methodologies (lean enterprise, open leadership, etc.)

Compared to some other MBA programs available in the market, the iimt has a strong focus on leadership and management courses for technology companies. The use cases we had tightly related to the problems we faced and sometimes, if needed, we would also draw parallels with others industries to get the full picture (e.g. in Marketing).Studies at the iimt provided us with a great balance between theory and practical use. It was fun to interact with the team around the various challenges we had to solve together. It is great for people coming from technology companies. There was a family feeling as we spent 3 years together.If you want to get clarity of what is needed to manage and develop an enterprise then You should consider the iimt. The practical examples and the curation of the latest developments in leadership and management makes it really interesting. It is an accelerator to your own research on management. I was impressed how a three-year program really gave me the opportunity to apply and practice what I learned and to make it stick, which is much better than some other short-term programmes.

If you are considering joining the iimt make sure you define your long-term objectives and see how the iimt will help you achieve your goals, then you can get the best of the different modules. Finally, I’d like to thank the iimt’s staff for their flexibility, for listening to our feedback and for continuing developing the program.

Michael Lehmacher

HEAD OF GROUP MARKET INFRASTRUCTURE & DERIVATIVES / SENIOR VICE-PRESIDENT IN A LARGE PRIVATE BANK INTERNATIONALLY ACTIVE

Getting an EMBA at the iimt has opened many opportunities for me. Prior to my EMBA, I had a bachelor’s degree in engineering in Telecommunications. When I finished my studies at the iimt, I held a position as the Head of Business Development at a Telecommunications Carrier. My role at the time already has a strong footing in many commercial and financial aspects of the business (business plan, company valuation, M&A activities etc.). As many may remember the IT and telecom market suffered a very significant crash in the early 2000s. At the time it was very difficult, if not impossible, to find opportunities in the sector. Thanks to my new degree I was able to secure a position and join one of the Big Four (E&Y) as a Risk Management Consultant. I believe my degree at the iimt has helped me in getting this position, as it would not have been possible with only an engineering degree. It’s a practice-oriented diploma. I liked the work with other students in works groups and the going through practical case studies. Despite the IT orientation of the teaching, which is almost very similar as to every other MBA, what takes the iimt apart from the other similar degrees are the skills I got and that allowed me to see immediate value in my job as well as a consultant. Furthermore, it gave me a sound basis and all the necessary building blocks to embrace a new career in the field of finance. As an expert in a very technical area of finance in the field of derivatives and related regulations, I have ventured away from IT while still able to leverage my former engineering skills. The studies at iimt definitively helped me to transform my technical skills into business skills, which gives you a unique profile and a competitive advantage in many areas of the industry such as consultancy, business development, or like in my case new technologies applied to the future of financial market infrastructure like blockchain, big data analytics, etc.

Matthias Rieder

PROJEKTLEITER GESCHÄFTSENTWICKLUNG, DIE POST

For a few weeks now the Brot-Post delivery service has been a success with the population. Our CAS Lean Innovation alumnus, Matthias Rieder, was involved in the development of the project and wrote his Executive CAS thesis on “Prüfung eines flexiblen Angebots für die Brot-Post. Handlungsempfehlungen für zukünftige Innovatoren”. He kindly accepted to answer 3 of our questions about this project and its current and future developments.

How does the COVID situation affect your daily work? In the middle of March, I was still enjoying my holidays in Australia and at the same time I followed the events in Switzerland. Fortunately, we could get on board of our return flight and travelled home on time as planned. On Monday 23.03.2020, without any coffee chit-chat with my colleagues about my holiday experiences – as advised I took off to the home office. In the first week of work-from-home I missed the personal contact and verbal exchange in the office. However, we quickly adapted and set up conferences for online meetings and project task forces in order to create a roadmap and prioritize our current and future activities. Unfortunately, some of our customers either completely cancelled or indefinitely postponed many of the projects. Fortunately, the COVID measures implemented by the Swiss Government allowed for a real boom in Swiss Post with our “Brot-Post” service, the delivery of regional products and various home delivery services.

How has the Brot-Post project developed since you completed your Executive CAS at the iimt? The project Brot-Post was initiated by my teammates. When I wrote my thesis, they were in the validation phase and wanted to gain more knowledge about the customers. My thesis (Executive CAS Lean Innovation) allowed me to dive even deeper into the Brot-Post project. This enabled me to apply the methods and knowledge I learned directly to my daily work, which in turn allowed me to explore and recognise the customers’ need for flexible offers. Subsequently, I created novel product development measures and incorporated them into the current project. At present, the number of orders per week is rapidly increasing. Every week, more and more regional bakeries are being added, which now have their broad range of fine products delivered to Swiss households via Brot-Post. For the bakeries, this represents an additional distribution channel complementary to the usual store-based trade. The Brot-Post service is also being continuously developed, independently of my thesis. The service also benefits from the present situation, which has increased the demand for home-delivered regional food. Furthermore, we are also in contact with regional bakeries in French-speaking Switzerland and looking into making the range of products available to an even broader clientele.

Where do you see yourself and the Brot-Post in one year? I see Swiss Post’s Brot-Post as a firmly established Swiss Post service that enjoys a high standing among the Swiss population by offering great benefits. When I look through my “future telescope”, the service should be available in all towns and villages across Switzerland, from Aarberg for A to Zuoz for Z. Should this not happen by next year, then hopefully it will in the year after. Via www.brot-post.ch you can already check whether you live in a baker’s delivery area. Personally, I still see myself acting in an innovative and customer-oriented environment. This will hopefully include numerous exciting projects with solution variants developed through iterative processes, offering direct added value for our customers.

Stefano Camuso

CEO AXIANS & ACTEMIUM SWITZERLAND

After finishing my studies at the iimt I was immediately equipped with a ready-to-use tool-set for my daily job. The iimt provides students with a good mix of theoretical and practical know-how. The professors and lecturers boast a wide spectrum of knowledge, which allows for insightful discussions during the lessons. Studies at the iimt stand out from the competition in particular for their use of the theoretical material in the case studies, the group works and so on. The iimt has a strong focus on IT & Telecom and as such stands out from similar institutions – if IT & Telecom are what you are interested in, consider joining the iimt. I would like to also pay special thanks to Prof. Dr S. Teufel for her dedication to the iimt over the years.