Interview with David Kunau - CIO at Givaudan

Deloitte: You’ve worked in different companies across the CPG ecosystem. How has the role of technology leader evolved since the beginning of your career?

David Kunau: Some expectations of technology leadership remain timeless: ensuring resilient business operations, maintaining strong security, and running large-scale platforms with both stability and cost efficiency. But beyond that, the role has evolved dramatically.

Today, a technology leader must be deeply connected to the business itself — understanding the industry, anticipating customer expectations, and staying ahead of competitive shifts. The pace of technological change has accelerated to an extraordinary level, bringing increasing complexity and constant disruption. As a result, CIOs are no longer just technology providers; they are strategic transformation partners.

More than ever, technology leaders are expected to anticipate where innovation is heading, guide organisations through uncertainty, and advise the business on how digital and AI can fundamentally reshape operations, growth, and competitive advantage.

Deloitte: What are the most critical skills a CIO needs today?

David Kunau: The core skills of a successful CIO are closely aligned with those of any impactful senior leader — but the intensity and speed at which they must be applied today is unprecedented.

A CIO must be comfortable navigating ambiguity, making bold decisions without having complete visibility of the future, and placing strategic bets that can shape the direction of the company. At the same time, deep business understanding is absolutely essential: knowing the company, its customers, its industry dynamics, and the competitive landscape well enough to ensure technology investments truly create value.

What has changed most dramatically is the pace of transformation. Technology is evolving faster than ever, and leaders must help their organisations embrace uncertainty rather than fear it. The ability to lead teams through constant adaptation, while maintaining clarity, confidence, and purpose, has become one of the defining leadership capabilities of our time.

Deloitte: What do you see as Switzerland’s distinctive strengths in the technology landscape, and where are we at risk of falling behind?

David Kunau: I would not say Switzerland’s strengths are limited to technology alone. What truly differentiates Switzerland is its culture of excellence. We benefit from world-class scientific and technical universities, but also from a deeply rooted mindset focused on precision, quality, and innovation. That obsession with getting things right is embedded in Swiss culture and translates naturally into technology and innovation.

At the same time, no country can afford complacency in this industry. The technology sector evolves so rapidly that every nation is constantly at risk of falling behind. Yet what is exciting today is that access to technology has become far more democratised. The real opportunity no longer lies only in owning technology, but in creatively combining capabilities to build something meaningful, differentiated, and impactful.

Deloitte: Where do you see AI having the greatest impact across the consumer sector?

David Kunau: Whether in consumer-facing businesses or B2B organisations supporting the consumer sector, the challenges are becoming increasingly complex. Regulations are intensifying, raw material scarcity is growing, and consumer preferences are evolving at unprecedented speed.

AI has the potential to become a transformative force in addressing these challenges. It can augment human capabilities, streamline and reinvent processes, and accelerate the creation of proprietary solutions that drive competitive advantage.

The real challenge, however, is focus. Organisations must be disciplined about where AI can genuinely create meaningful impact for their business and industry. Spreading investments too broadly risks diluting both value and outcomes. The companies that succeed will be those that apply AI with clarity, purpose, and strategic intent.

Deloitte: How important is diversity in your leadership team? And what skills and capabilities will be critical for the future?

David Kunau: Diversity is fundamental — and always will be. The strength of any leadership team comes from the diversity of perspectives, experiences, and ways of thinking that people bring to the table. Whether it is diversity of gender, culture, industry background, or expertise, eclectic teams consistently drive greater creativity, stronger innovation, and better decision-making.

But diversity alone is not enough. High-performing leadership teams also need a shared sense of purpose and a common set of values that unite them behind clear ambitions and goals.

Looking ahead, adaptability will become one of the most critical capabilities for leaders and organisations alike. The future will belong to teams that can continuously learn, evolve quickly, embrace uncertainty, and turn change into opportunity.

Deloitte: How do you see the tech landscape and CIO role evolving in the next 3–5 years, and what are the major challenges you anticipate?

David Kunau: The technology landscape will continue to fragment and accelerate, particularly with the rapid expansion of digital platforms, AI ecosystems, autonomous agents, and eventually physical AI. In this environment, maintaining coherence across the technology landscape — ensuring connectivity, cybersecurity, governance, and data integrity — will become even more critical.

At the same time, the commoditisation of code is fundamentally reshaping how technology is developed and consumed. While this creates enormous opportunities for speed and accessibility, it also introduces new risks around quality, architecture, and long-term sustainability.

For CIOs, the challenge will increasingly be about anticipation and judgment. The speed of innovation is becoming so intense that identifying the right technology direction, understanding its business implications, and providing clear recommendations to Executive Committees will require both strategic vision and tremendous agility.

The role of the CIO is evolving from operational technology leadership into a central role, shaping enterprise transformation, resilience, and future competitiveness.