People in July/August 2023
KIT President Becomes President of Fraunhofer
Professor Holger Hanselka, President of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) since 2013, was unanimously elected as the new President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft by the Fraunhofer Senate in Dresden. As its eleventh president, Hanselka is to succeed Professor Reimund Neugebauer. Holger Hanselka is leading KIT in his second term of office. With a clear strategic orientation, he has succeeded in bringing KIT back into the ranks of the universities of excellence as the research university in the Helmholtz Association. In addition, he has consistently advanced the unification of KIT.
"Making full use of the synergies of KIT as a nationally unique institution in competition, both nationally and internationally, was and is my incentive. This also applies in particular to the research-oriented studies in Karlsruhe, because our future lies in young people and their ideas for solving the challenges of our time."
Holger Hanselka, President, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
From 2001 to 2013, he headed the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability in Darmstadt and was Vice President of the TU Darmstadt. From 2006 to 2012, he was a member of the Presidential Board of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
New CEO at source-to-pay provider Jaggaer
Procurement expert Jaggaer has worked with Andy Hovancik a new CEO effective immediately, who will also join the Board of Directors. Hovancik brings years of leadership experience with a proven track record of leading international, fast-growing SaaS solution providers in the financial, manufacturing and services sectors. His goal is to lead Jaggaer into its next phase of growth, continue to expand the company's vision and leadership position, and contribute to significant customer successes. Prior to joining Jaggaer, he held the position of CEO for over ten years at Sovos Compliance, one of the world's leading providers of international tax compliance and business-to-government reporting software. Through a comprehensive organic expansion strategy, complemented by 30 acquisitions, Sovos advanced to become the industry leader during this time.
"Jaggaer is pursuing its Autonomous-
Commerce strategy at just the right time. Today's well-known global supply chain and skills challenges, economic uncertainty and the need for action on ESG make enterprise commerce ripe for transformation. Jaggaer is well positioned to deliver on its vision of helping procurement teams with processes that were previously unfeasible for them - across the source-to-pay process."
Andy Hovancik, CEO, Jaegger
AWS executive becomes Fivetrans CMO
Fivetran, a provider for automated data movement, has Rachel Thornton as the new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). With more than 25 years of experience in the B2B tech industry - through marketing and leadership roles at Amazon, Salesforce, Cisco Systems and Microsoft, among others - Thornton is an established SaaS industry executive. She will report to COO Taylor Brown and, as a member of the five-tran executive team, will be responsible for marketing (brand, customer, partner, field and product marketing), public and analyst relations, and events. Most recently, Rachel Thornton served as CMO of AWS.
SNP expands board to include Corporate Development and ESG
The Heidelberg-based software and consulting company SNP, a provider of software for digital transformations, automated data migrations and data management in the SAP environment, is continuing its own transformation: On October 1, 2023, it will take on Nicole Burhenne as Chief Sustainability Officer and Head of Corporate Development and ESG. Her remit is to bring together environmental, social and corporate governance issues and the strategic development of the company.
Nicole Burhenne was most recently responsible for the German presales organization for strategic customers and the upper midmarket at Salesforce. She already brought ESG issues onto the agenda there and, as Chief Philanthropy Officer, drove social and ecological projects forward. Prior to that, she spent 21 years at SAP in various positions and brings extensive experience in product development and management, consulting, marketing and sales, among other things.
Burhenne launched new solutions for the banking sector at SAP. She headed the EMEA CEO's staff team, was responsible for programs for the entire Group and, as COO, managed the operations of the S/4 Engineering development organization.
Veeam gets chief people and culture officer
Veeam Software, a provider of data protection and ransomware recovery, announced the appointment of Kacy Hassack as the company's chief people and culture officer (CPC). Kacy Hassack is responsible for all human resources matters at Veeam, including talent attraction and development, leadership development, diversity initiatives, equity and inclusion. Hassack has a career in human resources spanning more than two decades. Prior to joining Veeam, Hassack held leadership positions at global technology companies including Indeed, Amazon Web Services, Hewlett Packard and Dell. With a focus on global growth and scale, she has lived and worked in multiple regions, including the U.S., Central America and Asia Pacific. In each role, she has been committed to delivering solutions that put people first and help businesses.
"I'm very excited to join Veeam and work with teams across the company to develop strategies that emphasize the value of our employees."
Kacy Hassack, CPC, Veeam
