Meet the transformational CIOs who are currently leading their businesses into the digital future.
Explore their most important initiatives, leadership goals, and how they see their roles evolving in the near future.
This time, in CIO Insights, we feature Thore Dankert, Executive Director, Head of Digital.
Digital transformation is 10 per cent technology and 90 per cent people
Executive Director Thore Dankert is leading Novo Holdings’ digital transformation with a people-first approach, ensuring technology serves the business strategy and not the other way around.
Just under two years into the role as Executive Director, Head of Digital at Novo Holdings, Thore Dankert has moved quickly in leading the company’s digital transformation. A transformation with a twofold mission, ‘Enhance Investment Decisions’ and ‘Foster a Lean Organization’, as the guiding principles. In that task, Thore was quick to see the importance of getting the groundwork right:
‘In my first year, we focused on building the foundation for our digital transformation. That means taking care of our fundamentals: our data platform, our data ecosystem and our back-end systems, while at the same time improving our digital maturity. We are actually slightly ahead of that schedule, and it is the first time I have experienced that in a transformation of this scale. So now we can start looking at how to take our digital transformation from the operational level to the strategic level. For instance, how can we become even better at leveraging digital tools in our investment decisions than we are today? But it must all build on solid digital ground:the foundation is the most important part. If you do not build it properly, you accumulate technical debt over time, and we simply don’t want that.’
We are vendor agnostic and application agnostic
At a time when there is greater focus than ever on digital sovereignty, there is another important architectural principle at play on Novo Holdings’ digital building site:
‘We are building the entire foundation for our digital transformation so that we are vendor agnostic and application agnostic; not tied to one single vendor or application. It’s of course easier said than done, but we are building the foundation so that we can integrate other applications beyond the traditional ones.’
However, for Thore and his team, the focus is not only on systems, but even more so on the people who use them:
‘Digital transformation is 10 per cent technology and 90 per cent people, change management and culture. The technologies we have available today are so advanced and can do so much, but how do you get people to use them? That is what I find really interesting. For us, it’s about understanding people’s needs, their pain points and their motivation. It’s important that our digital transformation is driven by business needs and not by what I or my team thinks is technically fun. With that starting point, I think it helps to ensure that we have a business-led digital transformation rather than a technology-led one.’
“With AI we can kill bad deals faster”
Putting people and their needs first also applies to Novo Holdings approach to AI:
‘In all the models we develop, we work with human in the loop. We have full transparency in what the models recommend and how they arrive at their recommendations. In reality, what we are doing with artificial intelligence is exactly the same as what we already do today. We just do it faster and more efficiently. We do not use AI to reinvent value creation, but to support qualified decision making. That does not necessarily mean we invest more, but that with AI we can kill bad deals faster.’
“I have not hired anyone who just wants to sit in a corner”
Staying ahead, taking ownership and understanding the business and the people who drive it, are also a crucial tool as to how Thore builds his team:
‘The people I hire today are a bit like unicorns. They must primarily be very good at understanding people, and so their technical skills have almost become a commodity or a hygiene factor. I believethat our people are world class at automation, business intelligence or AI. They need to be. But what they need even more is the ability to talk to people and understand their needs. I have not hired anyone who just wants to sit in a corner.’
Thore also has another very clear principle when reviewing the application stacks:
‘I very much look for my diametrical opposites. I really enjoy working with people who are the not like me. I once had a director who always said no whenever I thought something was a great idea. That was very good for me because it forced me to think differently. I have carried that with me, and that’s why I constantly try to surround myself with people who challenge me and make me think twice.’
As a leader, Thore also looks beyond business thinking and towards philosophy:
‘I am very inspired by philosophy, especially stoicism, which focuses on achieving inner calm and happiness by clearly distinguishing between what we can control and what we cannot. That approach helps me focus on what I can impact and not on everything I cannot. It’s just an inspiration – it’s not as if I go around quoting Marcus Aurelius from morning to night.’
Mistakes can happen even when we have done everything right
His interest in philosophy, though, has helped sharpen his own leadership compass:
‘I have become much clearer about the values I look for and base my own leadership on. Some of them is decency and transparency. People usually know what they get with me. I have also become more aware of the difference between empathy and sympathy as a leader. Empathy allows you to recognize and respect other people’s emotions while staying grounded in your own judgement. Sympathy can blur that boundary and can pull you into decisions driven by emotion rather than responsibility. That is one of the realisations I have had as a leader.’
Another realisation concerns how Thore responds when things do not go to plan:
‘I delegate responsibility to my team, and I expect them to be very capable. If a delivery fails, I look inwards and ask what we could have done better. I distinguish between mistakes and blunders. Blunders happen when we have not done our groundwork properly. Mistakes can happen even when we have done everything right. I once read an interview with the US basketball player Kobe Bryant who said he did not focus on whether he won or lost, because he had done everything he could to prepare. I think that is very true.’
Either the tree falls, or it doesn’t
However, it is not a basketball Thore picks up in his spare time when he needs to clear his head from applications and AI, but an axe and a handsaw:
‘I really like doing something physical, so I cut down trees in my garden. It is quite simple. There is not much bullshit in it. Either the tree falls, or it does not. It is very concrete. There is something very satisfying about doing something where you can see the result immediately. You cannot always do that in my job. I think it is healthy for me to do something that is not about strategy and the future and transformation. Just doing something that is completely concrete.’
Something equally concrete is picking up a real book:
‘I only read physical books. I like being able to feel them in my hands. There is something about sitting with a book that does not blink and does not ping and cannot do anything other than be a book. It forces me to be present.’
And being present to Thore is not just about switching off notifications. It is about staying conscious of what you are doing and why:
‘At some point I must ask myself: What is it I want to stand for? What is it I want to be able to say I have done? What kind of mark have I left and how do I want to have conducted myself along the way? That matters more to me than anything else.’
“What kind of mark have I left and how do I want to have conducted myself along the way? That matters more to me than anything else.”
The CIO Transformation Board
In the Danish ICT Industry Association (IT-Branchen), we have the CIO Transformation Board, which brings together the most visionary CIOs from Denmark’s large and medium-sized companies. These are CIOs from businesses where digitalization is a strategic part of the business — but where there is also a desire to do more than just digitalize.
We aim not only to highlight Denmark’s most talented CIOs and share experiences and best practices across industries, but also to set the agenda in the media and with politicians regarding Denmark’s and the business sector’s digital future.
The CIO Transformation Board is created for those who also want to help find the new balance between people and technology. For those who have a stance and want to help influence our green transition, address the skills shortage, and strengthen growth in Denmark.
