Mads Joergensen was appointed Group Chief Financial Officer at Georg Fischer in April 2019. Previously he has been CFO and Head of Strategic Planning at Georg Fischer Piping Systems. Before these professional experiences he has held senior and managerial positions at Ernst &Young AG, The Fantastic Corporation, Gate Gourmet International and Perot Systems Consulting.
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Watch the interview from our Deloitte Finance Day 2024
Deloitte: I'm delighted to get some first-hand experience from a true leader in finance, here at Deloitte Finance Day – welcome Mads. So, how did you approach your finance transformation at Georg Fischer back in 2020?
Mads Joergensen: The first thing we did was to downselect 25 of our best talent in the organisation. We looked at the corporate level, divisional level and business unit level to create a dedicated team – that was the first thing we did.
Deloitte: And which topics did you cover?
Mads Joergensen: It was not only about the topics we were covering, but it was also how we selected them. I wanted to make sure that people had a complete buy-in, so we set up a democratic process where the 25 talents actually set the agenda and made the priorities. Luckily, it was aligned with my agenda – but eventually also topics like talent management came into focus.
Deloitte: Let's be very honest, those projects often suffer a loss of momentum over time. How did you keep up the pulse?
Mads Joergensen: We changed the concept. Rather than tripling a few hours per week over several years, we held Hackathons or Sprint sessions, where we dedicated 4 days at a time. Everybody came together and worked, focused on it, and still had time to do their daily business.
Deloitte: Great. And what I'd also like to know – what's up next then for you at Georg Fischer?
Mads Joergensen: It is probably no surprise.but it will be about Gen AI. AI in general is going to have a significant influence on the finance function over the next decade.