About me


Uwe Degel

Chief Information Officer – Diplom-Informatiker (Univ.)


SHORT PROFILE

  • 25+ years leadership experience as CIO, CDO, IT Director or similar positions across China, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and Americas.
  • Accountable for yearly operational budgets up to 75+ MUSD.
  • Leading organizations of up to 90 direct reports and up to 200 dotted line reports.
  • 3 years in dental materials, 9 years in medical devices, 7 years in machinery, equipment & components, 5 years in the automotive industry, and 5 years in IT services and consulting for the financial sector.

PERSONAL SKILLS

  • Strategic and structured leader with strong business acumen and decision-making skills.
  • Excellent communication and negotiation abilities, with a persuasive and customer-focused approach.
  • Effective team player skilled in managing complex issues and driving organizational success.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

  • Led global Digital Business Transformation programs for 5+ leading companies, optimizing financial and operational efficiency using SAP and Microsoft Dynamics.
  • Designed and implemented secure, scalable global infrastructure for 24/7 operations, safeguarding IP and enhancing user experience for 4+ international companies.
  • Designed and implemented global project portfolio management frameworks for 2 major industry players, aligning strategic objectives with project activities across all functions.
  • Transformed on-premises IT operations to cloud solutions using Amazon, Google, and Microsoft technologies for 3 companies.

LANGUAGES

  • German (mother tongue)
  • Englisch (Verhandlungssicher)

KEY CAREER MILESTONES

Vice President Information Technology

Medical device manufacturer / dental industry

Zurich Kloten, Switzerland

Digital transformation using Microsoft Dynamics and Office 365, including due diligence support during acquisition, restructuring the IT organization, implementing a global BI solution, and rolling out cloud-based collaboration and digital dental solutions.

General Manager IT / Global CIO

Dental chemistry / Medical device manufacturer

Lucerne, Switzerland

Global SAP S/4 Hana business transformation, including the unification of processes. Global IT organization restructuring. Customer cloud platform implementation. Migration to Microsoft Office 365. Deployment of a global SD-WAN with GxP compliance.

Head ICT APAC region

Capital goods industry / automotive

Paradiso, Ticino, Switzerland

  • ICT operations across Australia, New Zealand, CIS, Turkey, and Asia Pacific, overseeing a $40M OPEX, $35M CAPEX budget, and managing 170 team members.
  • Reorganisation of multiple ICT organizations across APAC.SAP ECC 6 in China. Regional IT service management in India. Establishment of 4 manufacturing sites and a headquarter in China.

IT Director EAME, ANZ & EEA

Capital goods industry / automotive

Schaffhausen, Switzerland

  • Verantwortlich für den IT-Betrieb und Projekte in Europa, Afrika, dem Nahen Osten, Australien, Neuseeland, Osteuropa und Asien.
  • Responsibility for an annual budget of over 40 MUSD OPEX and more than 15 MUSD CAPEX.
  • Leadership responsibility: 10 direct reports plus 170 indirect matrix reports.
  • Successful SAP ECC implementations and rollouts in France, China, Russia, and other European countries, establishment of an IT organization and an SAP Competence Center in China, introduction of a global IT service catalog based on ITIL, and IT support for acquisitions in China, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

Chief Information Officer

Medical device manufacturer / dental industry

Basel, Switzerland

Spearheaded the global IT strategy and expanded the international IT organization at Straumann, growing from 3 to 60 employees across 17 countries, while implementing key mySAP systems and establishing disaster-capable data centers.

EDUCATION

Diploma in Computer Science

Universität Fridericiana zu Karlsruhe

1987-1993

Karlsruhe, Germany

Program for Executive Development

International Institute for Management Development

2002

Lausanne, Switzerland

3P Seminar (Gemba Kaizen)

Shingijutsu Asia Hong KongCo.,LTD.

2008

Hong Kong & Japan

Private Pilot License PPL(A)/SEP

Flight School Fricktal

2022 – 2024

LSZI, Switzerland

en_GBEnglish (UK)