Leading Corporate Transformation: The WHU Podcast, powered by PwC
Episodes
Christian Schätz, COO Microsoft Deutschland – the Future of AI, Cloud Adoption & Fostering a “Learn-it-All” Culture
11 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
What is the perspective of one of the world’s leading technology companies on the future of Artificial Intelligence? In this episode, Christian Schä...
Jan Philipp Schmitz, Executive Vice-President at Ardian – Scaling Global Growth in Private Markets
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How does one of the world’s leading private investment houses balance agility, scale, and purpose? In this episode, we sit down with Jan Philipp Sc...
Helene von Roeder, CFO Merck – Combining Pharma, Life Science and Electronics in a Stock-Listed, Family-Owned Firm
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do you steer a 350-year-old global science and technology company through complex transformation while balancing short-term market expectations an...
Dr. Michael Müller, RWE: Navigating Energy Transition, Changing Regulatory Environments & Risk-Driven Capital Allocation
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What does it take to transform one of Europe’s largest utility companies from a legacy coal and nuclear powerhouse into a leader in global renewable...
EMERAM Capital Partners - Dr. Sven Oleownik: Private Equity, German Mid-Cap & Investor-CEO Relationship
18 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do you bring management and investor views together to successfully transform a company for growth? In this episode, we explore this question with...
AVL CFO Dr. Yorck Schmidt – automobile technology, strategic innovation & financial stability
02 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How can a family-owned company navigate the industry-wide transformation while maintaining financial stability? AVL List, a €2 billion company locat...
Delivery Hero CFO Emmanuel Thomassin - Deals, Profitability, and Fierce Competition
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“We grew by more than 100% for 12 quarters in a row." Today, the market reality of the food delivery business has changed. Fierce competition, deval...
Bayer AG CFO Wolfgang Nickl – Monsanto litigations, the pharma pipeline, and Dynamic Shared Ownership
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bayer AG is one of the most important German companies in the life science business. Now the organization is at a historic turning point, dealing with...
Sixt SE CFO Kai Andrejewski - electric mobility, flashy advertising & US-expansion
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this new episode of the Leading Corporate Transformation podcast, Professor Martin Glaum from WHU and Gori von Hirschhausen from PwC Germany interv...
Keysight Technologies CMD Dr. Joachim Peerlings - supply chain disruptions, AI enablement & vertical integration
07 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the latest episode of Leading Corporate Transformation, Prof. Serden Ozcan and Gori von Hirschhausen from PwC Germany interview the Chair Managing ...
INTER IKEA Group Head of Global Retail Experience Gillian Drakeford - family business, Chinese market & franchising
03 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this new episode, Prof. Serden Ozcan and Gori von Hirschhausen from PwC Germany discuss with Gillian Drakeford, former Head of Global Retail Experi...
Mercedes Benz Group CFO Harald Wilhelm - Daimler carve out, going electric only & focus on luxury
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Leading Corporate Transformation, Professor Martin Glaum of WHU and Gori von Hirschhausen of PwC Germany are joined by Harald Wilhe...
Hensoldt AG CFO Christian Ladurner - market consolidation, working in defence & reestablishing as an AG
16 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this new episode of Leading Corporate Transformation, Prof. Dr. Martin Glaum (WHU) and Gori von Hirschhausen (PwC) together with their guest Christ...
Breitling SA CFO Lars Kaestle - smart watches, increasing production cost & aviation branding vs. Sustainability
12 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To kick off the second season of Leading Corporate Transformation, Prof. Dr. Martin Glaum (WHU) and Gori von Hirschhausen (PwC) are joined by Lars Kae...
KWS Saat SE CFO Eva Kienle - genome editing, global joint venture strategy & KWS R&D projects
06 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Leading Corporate Transformation, Professor Martin Glaum from WHU and Gori von Hirschhausen from PwC Germany talk to Eva Kienle, CF...
Westwing Group AG CFO Sebastian Säuberlich - pandemic impact, war for talent & scaling westwing logistics
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hosts Professor Martin Glaum from WHU and Gori von Hirschhausen from PwC Germany are joined in this episode by Sebastian Säuberlich, CFO of the Westw...
Axel Springer SE CFO Dr. Julian Deutz - digitalizing print business, going private with KKR & POLITICO acquisition
10 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the first episode of the new year, Gori von Hirschhausen from PwC and Professor Martin Glaum from WHU are joined by the CFO of Axel Springer, Dr Ju...
Giesecke+Devrient CFO Dr. Peter Zattler - central bank digital currency, FinTech competition & IT specialist shortage
23 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hosts Professor Martin Glaum from WHU and Gori von Hirschhausen from PwC are joined in this episode by the CFO of Giesecke+Devrient, Dr Peter Zattler....
Röchling CEO Prof. Hanns-Peter Knaebel - semiconductor shortage, ESG integration & rising raw material prices
25 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This time, hosts Professor Serden Ozcan from WHU and Gori von Hirschhausen from PwC are joined by the CEO of the Röchling Group, Professor Hanns-Pete...
Klöckner & Co. SE CEO Gisbert Rühl - Becoming a platform business, digital leadership & customer orientation
22 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This time, hosts Professor Serden Ozcan from WHU and Gori von Hirschhausen from PwC are joined by the longstanding former CEO of Klöckner, Gisbert Rü...
Trumpf GmbH & Co. KG CFO Dr. Lars Grünert - economic downturn, becoming a high-tech company & China
25 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hosts Professor Martin Glaum from WHU and Gori von Hirschhausen from PwC are joined in this episode by Dr Lars Grünert, the CFO of Trumpf, to discuss...
Techem Energy Services GmbH CEO Matthias Hartmann - regulated market, pandemic & digitalizing energy industry
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hosts Professor Serden Ozcan and Gori von Hirschhausen are joined in this episode by the CEO of Techem, Matthias Hartmann. He tells us about the chall...
Introduction: Transformation is here to stay
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What actually is corporate transformation? How does it differ from strategic management? And what’s it got to do with WHU, PwC and this podcast? Our...