My Last Day ... I Am Retiring

Today is a big day for me, it's my last day with Deloitte.? I am retiring. While I still struggle to say that and I’m? not entirely sure who I will be tomorrow, I mostly feel relieved..

Relieved? Yes. Despite the less fancy lifestyle, it means fewer Amazon packages, it means less stress over my numbers each month, quarter and year, and it means from now on I make the decisions about what I do every day in the now.

In the now? One promise I am making to myself is that I will live more in the now, less yesterday and less tomorrow. And that is hard. So much of what I did for Deloitte, for clients, for myself was trying to make an impact and measure myself against that. To be honest, it was more of a rat race than I care to admit, especially in the end. It feels so good to wake up each morning and deciding where I go today, what I do today.

Who am I now? Well let's be honest right away and admit that it’s kind of a moving target.? I don’t feel as well defined? and maybe I never will again. My LinkedIn tagline was “Pragmatically Audacious Executive & Leader”, so let's take this apart and look at it today.

Pragmatic? I think I always struggled with being pragmatic because that so often means giving up on dreams, it means conceding to my fears and the fears of others. It means often choosing not to aim as high as possible, instead focussing on what seems achievable today, or, sometimes, trying to match what others have done. It sounded good for business and for the resume. And now I think it’s time to drop it.

Audacious? That one I own, yesterday, today and tomorrow. I believe in the mantra “Reach for the stars, reach the moon”. My good friend Chas said once to me that I have more ideas in a day than others have in a month. And despite feeling age come on, that hasn’t changed. I think I will keep that one.

Executive & Leader? That one has become hard for me, and has been a challenge for the last few years. While I have been a leader and always owned that, for sure inside me, I haven’t felt like an Executive for a while now. As much as it is fun to jump from one project and challenge to the next as a consultant, it also means you sit in the passenger seat of a vehicle that the client is actually driving. In retirement I am deciding to take back the driver seat.

And now I want to do a last, honest look back at my career and reflect …

宝洁 - I think that was the time when I grew and learned the most. How did a petroleum engineer end up as a Finance Manager? I don’t have a good answer for that except that I always liked math, though it turned out math was the smallest portion of the job. It was where I found my passion for large complex systems. It was also where I met the smartest and most motivated people I ever worked with, including Thomas Tippl . THANKS THOMAS

Price Waterhouse - The best thing was that PW got me to this country, the place where my kids were born and the place I now call home.

Deloitte Consulting - Deloitte was my work-home twice, the first time was a real blast, it was the crazy times of many Europeans joining for all the SAP work, it was the time of startups and it was the time when we met in person and worked with so many people around us in real time. I made friends that lasted well into my second time with Deloitte, including Craig Hodgetts . THANKS CRAIG

PedAlign - I always had a dream, a yearning to work for a startup and this was my chance. I learned how different it is to have lots of freedom and room to make decisions, without the deep pockets of a larger company. We made some really awesome things happen, and it felt so good to see our work last for many, many years past my leaving. All this was possible because I worked with my university buddy Thomas Pichler . THANKS THOMI

Activision - I joined Activision before it was Activision Blizzard and I got to be part of a large merger which taught me so much. I learned about the difference between sitting in the driver seat and not the consultant’s passenger seat …and I really liked it. No, I loved it. I think this may have been the peak of my career – becoming a CIO, working with Salesforce leaders, and probably working as hard as I ever have in my life. And nothing would have been the same without the fun people I met there, including again Thomas Tippl , my boss again. THANKS THOMAS

德勤 - If it wasn’t for Craig Hodgetts, I wouldn’t have come back for a second go. He convinced me Deloitte Digital was the great combo for me, a mix of big company power and small startup flexibility and innovation. While I don’t think I ever felt the true start-up spirit I was hoping for, I did find so much room for creativity thru my work in IoT, creating interactive virtual factory experiences, speaking at tech conferences in front of thousands of people – with owls and TV stars – and creating hundreds of YouTube episodes titled “Coffee with Mr.IoT”, maybe my favorite thing to look back upon. And when I had to let that go, I knew my time had come, to make a change.

Deloitte gave me so many different opportunities, I met some of the nicest people. I would hire Deloitte again for most things, if I needed help with an established problem. But you know what I liked the best about Deloitte, we had the widest variety of people. And Andy Daecher welcomed me back with open arms, guided me and supported me thru my second go. THANKS ANDY

Enough reminiscing about yesterday, and before I truly live in the now, here is a little TOMORROW. The technologist, the pioneer, the adventurer in me is so excited about artificial intelligence, I can’t wait for what is coming. Yes, I think AI is the biggest changer for us, similar to how the internet has been. If you want to watch some of my inspirations, check out Peter Diamandis YouTube channel.

I believe AI will fundamentally change consulting. For example, it will answer 90% of the questions clients pay millions for today and force Deloitte and it’s competitors to change their views on IP, their views on projects, their views on revenue and most likely expand the concept of partnership. And what really excites me is the idea that AI will combat life changing things, like -cognitive bias. How you may ask? Well watch Peter's YouTube channel as he gives you a glimpse into AI and cognitive bias and so much more.

What does that mean for me, and my future in tech? I don’t really know. I am not looking for my next job. I am not looking for a last hurray in a startup. And,having said that, if you have an adventure, a dream that you would like to bounce off me, I love to dream together. Because I am an adventurer. Because I am audacious. Because I may not remember as much as ChatGPT does, but as my dad always said “The brain is not here to remember, it's here to think” and I am still thinking.

Who will I be tomorrow? Here is my new LinkedIn tagline … “An Audacious Dreamer and Adventurer. Loves Flying in the Air. Loves Surfing on the Water. Enjoys the Now.”

Thanks to everyone who was part of my privileged professional journey, who believed in me and who just plain loves me. I LOVE YOU!