Ambu: Scaling resilience through CFO-led enterprise leadership

Ambu operates in one of the most demanding segments of global healthcare. The Danish-listed medtech company develops and manufactures single-use endoscopy solutions used in hospitals around the world. In this market, product reliability, regulatory compliance, and uninterrupted supply are baseline requirements that demand strategic attention and the ability to respond quickly to disruptions.

“Organisational resilience, for me, comes in three different shapes,” Group CFO Henrik Bender says. He first points to Ambu’s own trajectory. In a business growing above 10 percent annually, the key question is how the organisation scales without becoming dependent on local setups or ad hoc processes.

“The second dimension is shaped by a changing global landscape. Ambu has operated internationally for decades, with manufacturing in China, Malaysia, Mexico, and the United States. We are increasingly using our global footprint as an active resilience lever,” says Henrik Bender. “Being globally present gives us access to different talent pools and reduces dependence on one country. Today, we can decide whether a role should sit in Washington, Ballerup, or Penang. That creates a completely different level of flexibility.”

The third dimension lies in the supply chain. Here, Ambu has moved away from a traditional linear production model towards a more diversified setup with parallel manufacturing and sourcing structures across regions.

Resilience in practice

Henrik Bender points to the establishment of a manufacturing site in Juárez, Mexico as one example of structural resilience. Four years ago, the ambition was to use the factory as a global production hub for new product categories. That strategy did not work out, yet the investment proved valuable for a different reason.

“Today, the factory has become a cornerstone in Ambu’s shift towards dual manufacturing and dual sourcing. With the current tariff situation in the US, our Mexican factory is covered by the USMCA agreement and is therefore tariff exempt,” Henrik Bender explains. “That makes it a very significant asset.”

The same logic extends to organisational structure. In Penang, Malaysia Ambu’s largest manufacturing site, the company has built a global hub for key functions. Teams within R&D, IT, and finance operate from the site, supporting the business globally. Initially, the move was driven by access to talent and cost efficiencies, but it has since taken on a broader role in strengthening operational continuity.

“It reduces our dependence on a single location. If something happens – whether it is a lockdown, a cyber incident, or something else – we have multiple sites that can continue operating.”

Public markets sharpen the discipline

As a publicly listed company, Ambu operates under a different level of scrutiny and speed. Market regulations require immediate and transparent communication, leaving limited room for hesitation and increasing demands on preparedness and scenario planning. For Henrik Bender, being public forces clarity in how the business anticipates what comes next and sharpens the balance between long-term value creation and short-term pressure.

“As a CFO, I often challenge myself to focus enough on the long term. In public companies, it is easy to fall into a short-term trap. What I dislike most is when unknown risks suddenly materialize. Some risks cannot be controlled, such as tariffs, but unexpected risks are uncomfortable. The difference between expected and unexpected risks lies in preparation. I focus on identifying risks we can manage over time while balancing short-term responses,” he says.

Not all risks can be addressed at once, making prioritisation central. Choosing which risks to prepare for also means accepting that others may materialise. That trade-off puts resource allocation at the core of resilience and makes planning inherently dynamic. This dynamic approach also shapes how Ambu connects strategy, planning, and risk management. While these processes have traditionally been handled separately, they are increasingly moving closer together.

“They are not one single process, but they need to inform each other,” Henrik Bender says and notes that the real challenge lies in identifying the few questions that matter most and aligning decisions across functions operating on different time horizons. “R&D may be working five years ahead, while sales is focused on next quarter. Bringing those perspectives together is complex, but necessary."

A competitive edge

In areas such as anesthesia and patient monitoring, Ambu competes with both global incumbents and lower-cost manufacturers. Here, reliability has become a clear differentiator.

“Over the past two and a half years, we have implemented significant price increases. That is partly driven by brand and product quality, but also by supply chain reliability. Customers are paying closer attention to that. After years marked by disruptions, congestion, and tariffs, the ability to deliver consistently under different conditions now carries greater weight in purchasing decisions,” Henrik Bender says.

This is equally visible in Ambu’s transition from reusable endoscopy equipment to single-use solutions, where trust is critical. “When you ask customers to move from reusable to single-use, you need to demonstrate at least the same level of reliability.”

Ambu’s global footprint and dual manufacturing setup support that position. With parallel supply chains and the ability to hold inventory across regions, Ambu can offer a level of delivery security that many smaller competitors cannot match.  

Expanding the CFO role

As resilience rises on the agenda, the role of the CFO is shifting with it. Where the focus once sat on financial risk and processes, it now spans a broader scope across the business.

“That shift is actually one of the reasons I took this role. When I was introduced to Ambu, I was described as a CFO who works with transformations in the grey zones between CFO, COO, and CCO responsibilities,” says Henrik Bender and adds that he generally see the CFO role in three parts: One is the sparring partnership with the CEO, where the CFO is often the trusted confidant in strategic discussions. The second is the classical CFO responsibility – financial controlling, risk and compliance, annual reporting, and the ability to say yes or no to a budget.

“Between those two lies a growing part of the role that concerns driving business transformation. Even though my title says CFO, I see myself equally as an enterprise leader within the executive team.”

When Henrik Bender joined Ambu, he recalls openly telling colleagues that he was willing to take a risk and being met with hesitation. Did he really mean it, was more analysis needed…? In the following meetings, he would reiterate that the decision had already been made, that he was aware of the risk, and that it was time to act.

“That is what I mean by enterprise leadership. It is about encouraging faster decision-making across the business as a cultural shift and recognising that it starts with me.”

Looking forward, Henrik Bender expects the resilience agenda to continue evolving.

“Ten or fifteen years ago, resilience might have meant risk management, cybersecurity, or physical disruptions such as factories burning down. Today, it encompasses how we work, how dynamic planning is, how technology is applied, and how organisations and cultures function,” he says.

Henrik Bender's three pieces of advice to fellow CFOs 

About Ambu

Ambu is a global medtech company headquartered in Denmark, developing and manufacturing solutions within endoscopy, anesthesia, and patient monitoring. Founded in 1937, Ambu’s solutions are used to treat more than 100 million patients annually. With around 5,200 employees and production sites in the USA, China, Malaysia, and Mexico, Ambu operates across the full value chain from product development to manufacturing and global distribution.