October 10, 2025

What drives transformation at a leading healthcare company? Cristina Fernandez Losada is Vice President of SAP Functional IT Business Transformation at Fresenius and leads the IT-Finance at Fresenius’ IT business transformation program. With a diverse background spanning multiple industries, Cristina found her purpose in life sciences. Discover what motivates her and how AI is reshaping the future of patient care in this interview.

My official job title is “Vice President SAP Functional, IT Business Transformation” with a focus on finance. In this position, I am responsible for everything related to finance within the group-wide IT business transformation program ELEVATE. We are redesigning all of the processes and looking at state-of the-art technology – including AI, of course – so we are set for the future. Our focus is on being able to grow and develop products and services for our patients and looking at which technology we should use going forward. It is important to say that the focus is not just on speed here; rather, it is about the quality of the data to ensure that data flows automatically from systems, so less manual intervention is required. Our objective is to remove all the manual steps that slow down the process and that lead to errors. This also helps to leverage our internal capabilities and move our people from recurring tasks to more strategic thinking about how we can steer our company and improve our decision-making processes.

We are currently moving from legacy systems to new technologies that will enable us to operate in a different way over the coming years. Take our consolidation process, for instance. It has grown quite complex over the years, with more and more rules being added. We now need to work with the commercial team to define how this consolidation approach should look. Are we going to use matrix consolidation, for example? How can we harmonize, standardize, and simplify the process?

Once we have clarity on how we want to run consolidation within the Fresenius group, we then need to define the technology, tools, and applications we will use. We don’t just work with internal business and IT teams – we also engage with our suppliers and they share their best practices from their other clients. Once we have agreed upon the strategy, system integrators set to work using our systems to implement it.

What excites me most is the impact we have on people’s lives. We are committed to life and to bringing value to the company. This transformation will have a major impact – on our patients, on our people, and on our stakeholders. We need to be successful because the impact is so significant. This is where my skills and passion come together. Working in life sciences, knowing that what we are building and transforming ultimately serves patients and improves healthcare delivery – that is what motivates me every day.

In addition, the constant developments in technology and business processes make this a very challenging and interesting role. Working on transformation like this requires a delicate balance of focus and forward-thinking. I love being at the intersection of technology and healthcare: It is very exciting for me to be part of the change. I collate a lot of information from really capable and knowledgeable people within the company, plus the newcomers, and they have some great new ideas to bring to the table. The speed of information is amazing. It is fantastic and challenging but also very time-consuming.

We work closely with all business segments at Fresenius as well as with the many technology units, such as the Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence (AI CoE). We identify use cases and work closely with the business segments to understand their requirements. We have nominated people from almost all the segments at Fresenius and we work with them to enable the businesses to grow. We have moved from being service providers to facilitators. Innovation is a key part of our job.

We are all totally dedicated and bring a lot of positive energy, working as one integrated team across different divisions. We have colleagues from FSE leading major initiatives, people at KABI handling topics related to production, and warehouses where treatments and medicines are developed, not to forget Helios and FHS, who work as one team together with IT.

In the IT team, we are a group of solution architects who understand what needs to be done and how it fits into our complex landscape. We leverage different options and tools – SAP and non-SAP – and serve as IT advisors to the business. We help define the pros and cons of each technology, how we can leverage artificial intelligence and automation, and how we can speed up implementation to help the business unlock value, to mention a few of our skillsets. I especially appreciate how every single team member understands how critical our work is, especially in challenging times.

I initially studied Business Administration. I wanted to avoid IT, because my siblings had all gone down that route and I thought it was boring! However, after working in finance and accounting for a while, I became curious about the systems behind the numbers. I realized that, as I like finance and numbers, getting an insight into what lies behind it could be interesting. This led me to SAP back in 1999, which marks the start of my IT career. I worked as an external consultant across various industries – from construction to city councils, retail to even gas and oil. I felt a strong connection when I started working with life sciences. I joined Fresenius in 2022; drawn by the opportunity to see the direct impact of my work in an industry I am passionate about.

I would tell them that Fresenius offers a unique blend of professional growth and personal fulfillment. Here, you get to contribute to improving people’s health and lives. The company culture is exceptional – there is a strong sense of teamwork and support that makes coming to work enjoyable. Fresenius also offers exciting opportunities, especially with the ongoing digital transformation and different projects in both IT and commercial. You will have the chance to work on cutting-edge projects while seeing their real-world impact. Plus, the global nature of the company means that you are part of an international team, offering diverse perspectives and learning opportunities. We are changing, we are leading innovation, and we do fantastic things. If you want to grow, this is the place for you.