Interview with Andrea Hendrickx, Country Head, Infosys Germany
They see themselves as pioneers of digital transformation and are already active in 46 countries worldwide: The experts at Infosys are launching projects in the fields of artificial intelligence, 5G and machine learning. In doing so, the Indian company focuses on an always-on learning mentality. Ideas and concepts are continually being optimized – a sensible approach in view of the rapidly changing digital world. Andrea Hendrickx, Country Head Germany, reports on Infosys' plans for Germany.
- The world is in the middle of the digital revolution – what contributions does Infosys make
Infosys has come up with its digital strategy with the view to help customer navigate their next in their digital journey. Most of our large clients (G2000 firms) have extensive IT systems that are imperfectly connected, work in silos and have a significant legacy landscape. To be able to provide true digital experience to end-consumers, it is not enough to just convert the user experience layer but it requires re-imagining and modernizing the legacy landscape. Hence, Infosys has come up with the pillars ‘accelerate’, ‘experience’, ‘insight’, ‘innovation’ and ‘assurance’ to help customers on their digital journey. We further help our customers leverage agile development methodologies, rapid prototyping, and ideation workshops as part of Infosys Living Labs.
- Where in Europe is Infosys already active and why was North Rhine-Westphalia chosen as a location?
Europe is an extremely important market for Infosys. We have been present in Europe over the last 35 years with over 14,000 employees. Europe accounts for almost a quarter of the company’s global revenues and we have a clientele base in almost every European country.
Over the last 24 months, we have launched eight centers across Europe in the UK, Germany, France, Switzerland and Romania, as well as client specialty centers and design studios. We also set up a new Cyber Defense Centre in Bucharest servicing the entire continent.
We have been operating in Germany since 1999 and the market has become our key growth engine for Europe. Currently, we are active at 22 locations throughout the country with Infosys Delivery Centers as well as the Infosys European Innovation and Digital Center in Berlin and Dusseldorf. Over 2,000 employees support our business across Germany. Germany, and especially Düsseldorf, is an attractive business location for Infosys for various reasons including its geographical location, infrastructure, the highly skilled labor supply, social, legal and regulatory credentials and of course the impressive academic institutions. In addition, Dusseldorf is a global hub for technology and innovation, which resonated with us.
- You recently opened your new Digital Innovation Center in Dusseldorf. How is the search for specialists going?
Infosys firmly believes that the talent of tomorrow does not exist and we work on creating organic talent pools. Part of our talent strategy is a multipronged strategy of hiring lateral talent and hiring fresh talent from universities. We are working closely with local key universities such as RWTH Aachen University, Otto Beisheim School of Management, and Hochschule Düsseldorf not only to support with the education of the next-generation of talents but also to attract talents for our own business. We have hired our first two batches. The first batch has undergone extensive training on digital areas and already started on client work. The second batch is currently being trained and we will be hiring additional batches in March.
- What are Infosys' plans for Germany?
We are committed to hiring new professionals in Germany within the next three years. Infosys offers top working conditions, continuous education and training as well as a diverse, innovative and creative work environment. We are investing in training in Germany for our current employees, as well as new hires to ensure that they will have the requisite skills to meet the needs of Infosys’ clients. We will continue to form strategic academic partnerships which will help us build the next generation of technology talent. Our Düsseldorf Centre will function as strategic center for the German market, as well as for Europe to help grow our business organically and to extend our existing customer base.
