Gabriela Keller becomes new CEO at Ergon Informatik AG
Generation change at Swiss software service provider Ergon Informatik AG: As of July 1, 2016, Gabriela Keller will replace long-time CEO Patrick Burkhalter on the company's management board. Burkhalter himself will become Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ergon. Lukas Ehrensperger will be the new Chief Sales Officer, succeeding Alois Sauter. The four previous department heads Adrian Berger, Heiko Faller, Roman Hugelshofer and Dominik Moser will also become part of the new Ergon management.
Ergon, a software company with 250 employees, is one of the most popular employers in Switzerland and has already won various awards. Special features include the transparency of wages and company data for employees, the high degree of co-determination and the participation of everyone in the company's success.
Continuity and renewal
The new management team stands for continuity: Gabriela Keller has been with Ergon since 1994, 15 years of which were spent on the executive board. The graduate ETH computer engineer was previously responsible for marketing and human resources and played a key role in shaping Ergon's corporate culture. "I am looking forward to continuing to shape Ergon's development in my new position as CEO and to building optimal software for our customers with our engineering teams." Patrick Burkhalter, who has led Ergon since 1992, will retire from the operational business and will now be responsible for Ergon's strategic development as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
With Lukas Ehrensperger, who has been working as an account manager at Ergon since 2014, a strong sales personality with a large industry network is joining the management team. Alois Sauter will continue to work for Ergon in sales and as an account manager. Teddy Graf as CFO and Hans-Jürg Schneider as COO will retain their functions.
Decentralized organization with a strong market focus
The four departments Finance Solutions, Enterprise Solutions, Application Security and Telecom Solutions are now directly represented on the Executive Board by their long-standing heads Adrian Berger, Heiko Faller, Roman Hugelshofer and Dominik Moser. The management structure is becoming flatter and the direct flow of information supports short decision-making paths and a strong focus of the management on the respective markets.
The changes in the management team were preceded by a succession planning process lasting several years, during which the future management team worked together with Ergon employees on the new strategic direction of the company and the management team was prepared for its new role with further training.
