Bridging the technology-business divide

From a career perspective, Thomas Zinniker has always been focused on bringing IT into business, and making technology benefit the business, after working as a consultant for many years in large multinational companies.

“But my philosophy has changed over the last couple of years,” he notes. “I’ve seen that the increased speed of change can only be achieved through self-organisation and self-sufficient employees.

“As a manager, you can’t always tell people what they have to do. Provide people with guiding principles, give them a clear target – but let them find the way to that target themselves. 

“I like to see myself as the coach on the sidelines, there when they need help, rather than to interfere with the game itself. Always trust people – trust is essential. Mistakes happen but be transparent and look for solutions.”

As CIO he is responsible for developing the ICT services supporting the change of BKW from a pure utilities company to an international infrastructure services supplier. 

Prior to joining BKW in 2016, he held positions of software engineer, consultant and CIO for a variety of companies.