S2E18: How to Turn Your Corporate IT into an Innovation Driver - with Hilti Group CIO Johannes Reichert

My name is Kilian Karrasch and in this episode, I talk to Johannes Reichert, Head of Global IT and Chief Information Officer at Hilti Group.

During his career, Johannes drove the global IT agile transformation and large-scale IT projects, introducing not only an innovative CRM system and top-notch ERP functionalities but also developing a microservice-based infrastructure to enable Digital Products in one of the least digitized industries in the world.

In our podcast episode, we talk about:

• his core learnings on launching microservices at startup speed in the corporate IT department?
• best practices on how to transition a multinational company step-by-step into an agile way of working?
• how to evaluate the degree of agility needed in large-scale IT projects?
• and much more…

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a minute to subscribe, like, or share this podcast to spread the word, so I can continue bringing you outstanding guests and conversations. 🙏

And if you have questions about this episode or on how to start building digital products or services, you're welcome to reach out to me on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kiliankarrasch/ or E-Mail: kilian@hatch.studio.

Thanks again for listening to the Digital Transformers podcast. 🚀

Timeline:

0:00 - Introduction

0:28 – Who is Johannes Reichert?

0:50 – Episode overview

1:18 – One thing you wouldn’t expect about Johannes

1:43 – How Hilti managed to transform one of the least digitized industries

5:38 – The startup “ingredients” that corporations need to create innovative digital products

8:40 – The right agile mindset that leads to success

9:41 – The process behind deciding what systems to innovate

11:22 – Core learnings from digitizing Hilti

12:37 – Digital unit vs. corporate IT - what is the right setup to innovate?

15:55 – Core learnings from the Global IT Transformation at Hilti

19:01 – How to do an agile transformation the right way?

21:06 – How to select the right transformation methods?

22:12 – How to convince your team to use agile methods?

25:19 – When does it make sense to work in an agile manner?

28:43 – Valuable feedback on agile setups

31:30 – How to run an agile IT transformation in a hybrid setting?

34:00 – When does agile make sense in large IT-scale projects?

36:23 – Best practices for running large scale agile IT projects?

38:37 - How to create transparency during agile projects

40:30 – How to protect the team from too much interference?