Dr. Michael Hecker, who has been responsible for expanding the business area since September 2018, explains the motivation and strategy behind it.

Dr. Hecker, why the new business field in a completely different industry?

Michael Hecker: GFT's expanded business strategy is based on our technological expertise. As IT experts, we have already gained experience with clients from this sector by integrating financial transactions into the supply chain of traditional industry. We have found that our expertise is ideally suited to supporting them in the digitalization of their business processes.

And which companies do you have your eye on in particular?

Michael Hecker: Our first successful projects have shown that we want to and can make the enormous potential of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and cloud engineering accessible to SMEs in the industrial sector in particular. SMEs in particular are suffering from a massive shortage of software specialists. We are therefore convinced that now is the right time to consistently exploit the huge market potential of Industry 4.0.

What range or portfolio can you offer?

Michael Hecker: On the one hand, we offer companies the entire IT portfolio that we have developed in the Financial Services division. In recent months, we have expanded this existing portfolio to include industry-specific topics. For users who are at the beginning of their digital transformation, we offer a 'readiness check' in which we determine their ability to innovate on the basis of established methods. Based on this, we develop a digital strategy together and implement it step by step.

Where do you see your advantage over competitors who have been in the industrial sector for a long time?

Michael Hecker: GFT has an excellent international presence: we are already implementing projects in every dimension and all over the world on the basis of agile development methods and technologies. In addition, with over 3,000 software experts at our European Software Engineering Center and a further 1,000 at the American Software Engineering Center, we can handle any task - from the extended workbench to the completely independent processing of development services. Our strong IT expertise and permanent focus on innovation and disruptive technology trends complete the picture.

In April last year, GFT announced its partnership with Software AG. Does this also have an impact on your new business area?

Michael Hecker : One of the top issues for industrial companies is the IoT. Software AG plays a key role here with its cloud-based platform 'Cumulocity IoT'.

However, it is difficult for medium-sized companies to set up and operate complex IT platforms independently. This is where our extensive technical and methodological expertise, with which we support users as a consulting and technology partner, is crucial. On this basis, we jointly implement projects in both the financial and industrial sectors.

What is the roadmap for the future?

Michael Hecker: Our goal is to establish GFT as a leading consulting and technology partner for industrial companies. To this end, we are constantly developing our holistic portfolio of IT solutions based on new technologies. Now we need to get more potential employees excited about our plans and attract them to GFT. We are also prepared to invest in inorganic growth in the right places.