My official job title is “Director Corporate Development” in the team “Digital Projects” at the Fresenius Group. In this role, I am responsible for overseeing AI projects at the Group level. My main responsibilities include identifying strategic opportunities for AI implementation across our business segments, securing funding and management support for these projects, and overseeing their implementation. Furthermore, we look at digital and data-driven business models. I work closely with Fresenius Digital Solutions and our AI Center of Excellence (AI CoE) at Fresenius Digital Technology as well as other business segments such as Helios to ensure that our AI projects follow our overall strategy.

It is mainly the opportunity to drive innovation that has a real impact on healthcare. We are not just implementing AI for the sake of using new technology; we are using it to solve concrete problems and improve patient care, e.g., by ensuring that medical equipment is always operational. For example, in 2024, we implemented a solution augmenting our field service engineers in our medtech business. I also like the challenge of identifying and prioritizing AI use cases that can deliver the most value. The potential for improving the work of our healthcare professionals is huge, as we are talking about over 140,000 professionals at Helios and Quirónsalud. It is a complex process that involves understanding our business processes, evaluating technological feasibility, and assessing potential impact. Using up-to-date technology in healthcare with a direct impact on people’s lives is very motivating for me.

I would say it is our strategic approach to AI implementation. We always try to bridge the gap between high-level strategic thinking and practical implementation. As such, we work closely with various stakeholders in the Group to make sure that our innovations are aligned with our business goals and at the same time bring true added value. Another key strength is our focus on building internal capabilities. While we collaborate with external partners, we are committed to developing our own AI expertise. This was one reason to create the AI CoE at Fresenius Digital Technology, as this approach allows us to be more agile and responsive to our specific needs as a healthcare company.

I moved to Fresenius because it offers such a wide range of areas and topics to work on: pharma, medtech, hospitals, IT and more. And of course, I find it very motivating to have this kind of impact on services and products that are so crucial to so many people. That is the obvious purpose of working in healthcare. From a practical perspective, I very much appreciate the innovative culture and the availability of resources to turn ideas into reality. Here, you have the opportunity to work with cutting-edge technologies while also developing a deep understanding of the healthcare industry. I also like the collaborative environment here – working with talented individuals across different functions and having plenty of opportunities for learning. Name another company where you can see robots manufacturing pharmaceutical products (we operate a plant in Friedberg), experience a medtech lab (like the one we operate in Lake Zurich near Chicago), and sit in on healthcare being provided in a busy emergency department.