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Editorial #Milestones

100 for our 100th

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We’ve been writing about real people doing real things in Luxembourg for nearly 13 years now, and this edition marks Delano’s 100th magazine in print (and I’ve worked on them all, so please indulge me for a moment). So perhaps it’s fitting that we profile 100 personalities in the grand duchy’s technology sector (starting on page 24).

Our line-up includes a striking gender imbalance, which reflects the reality of the industry and not personal preferences. Of the 100 tech professionals featured, 80 are men and 20 are women. Yikes.

One of the executives profiled is Amal Choury, chair of the ICTLuxembourg federation and founder and CEO of software-as-a-service outfit E-Kenz. I spoke with Choury for Delano issue number 2, published in March 2011, about working in a traditionally male-dominated role. She told me that she hadn’t experienced gender discrimination when, for example, she spoke with investors about backing her company. Choury then said that focussing on work-life balance for both sexes, such as offering total flextime, allows women an equal chance for advancement and helped keep her company’s staff gender ratio in balance. That interview was conducted more than 12 years ago, but I feel like I could have a very similar conversation with leaders in several sectors today.

Looking at the 20 women spotlighted in the tech leaders section in this issue, 5 are active in information security. I wonder if cybersecurity is a bit more female-friendly because it’s a newish, or newishly growing, field within IT? If you have any thoughts on that or if you have any suggestions for Delano’s next 100 editions, drop me a line at aaron.grunwald@maisonmoderne.com.

More details: delano.lu/article/delano-webapp-and-web-alerts-

Words AARON GRUNWALD

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Content WINTER 2024

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FINANCE 8 ALAIN KINSCH

“Valuations to suffer across PE and VC portfolios”

Bank of America’s Benoit Nevouet on launching its new Luxembourg branch

12 BENOIT NEVOUET

“Our launch here is a significant milestone” 16 LILY WANG

“VC requires a lot of patience and resilience” BUSINESS 10 KAMEL AMROUNE

“It’s crucial to remain adaptable” 18 SABIKA ISHAQ

“This is what keeps CISOs awake at night”

18 &55

Photos

Guy Wolff, Romain Gamba

Grant Thornton’s Sabika Ishaq on ChatGPT and what skills chief information security officers really need

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Alain Kinsch on headwinds facing private asset funds

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DIGITAL BRAND EMPOWERMENT

Content WINTER 2024

24 TECH 100

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Profiles of top ICT sector leaders, listed A-Z 27 Serial entrepreneurs 30 Key organisations

Tracking Luxembourg’s IT services market

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33 Top ICT employers

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37 Skills & training 52 ICT sector employment

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54 Key investors 61 Support schemes 70 Accelerators & incubators 80 OUTLOOK

2024 fund sector forecast 84 PORTFOLIO

Meet the fintech magicians

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Alicia Brun at Up Luxembourg on climbing fintech mountains

LIFESTYLE

90 My first investment Denise Voss 92 10 things to do 96 Business Club

Photos

Guy Wolff, Maison Moderne archives

102 My faves My neighbourhood

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KPMG partner Yves Thorn on the city centre’s farmers’ market

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Why Luxflag’s Denise Voss likes “regular savings plans”

ADVERTORIAL 34 Trend Micro A strong cyberdefence strategy in 2024

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Ristretto #Finance

“Valuations to suffer across PE and VC portfolios” Ahead of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry’s Private Assets Conference on 28-29 November, Delano spoke with independent director Alain Kinsch about the main challenges for the industry.

What are the key challenges and trends in the private equity space?

Private equity and venture capital… was, for decades, only reserved to institutional investors, and very large family office investors… and retail investors now have access to this asset class.

Investors are looking for alternatives to invest their money because, over the last decades, they have not been very happy with the returns in the quoted markets.

Second, some management companies… are quoted on the stock exchange [so] they need to grow to support the stock price. Lastly, with modern technology, it makes it a little bit easier nowadays to onboard investors, which are in the lower range.

I’ve been in private equity for probably 25 years.

And it was always said that, well, we’re not interested in going down the ladder towards more retailing because it is not in line with the private equity model.

How can fund managers create value in the context of high Ebitda multiples?

By doing what PE and VC have always been good at, which is operational effectiveness. You really make your hands dirty, you go on the board, you change management, [you review] their suppliers, their customers, etc.… PE houses which have invested into having senior partners who are good at that will more likely make a difference, or those who are specialised by sector, by geography etc.…

[According to] a study at EY… the reason why PE and VC have consistently achieved above average returns is mainly… about operational value creation.

Have inflation and higher interest rates just started to bite the industry?

I would say that [we are] definitely not at the end and it will, of course, now depend a little bit on how long the interest rates will stay high.

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A lot of these loans are limited in time. They need… to be rolled over… while some companies might need additional loans on top. And banks are no longer willing to grant these loans. Because, of course, the companies cannot fulfil the various criteria in terms of loan-to-value or other provisions.

It hits those companies which are… the most indebted, and those that have the least cash flows, and this is typically in venture capital….

A lot of companies are going bankrupt, or they are just not performing, or they are just kind of surviving, that means they cannot invest to continue to expand.

Which sectors have benefited the most in 2023 in terms of capital flows?

If you take the full six months, from January to June… capital raised was $209bn. It was 26% less [than last year]. And the ones who benefited the most were technology, healthcare and then financial services.

What is your prognosis for 2024?

For the moment, cash is king…. So, I think that it’s really important now to get a good understanding of what is the trajectory to reach the cash breakeven [point] and not taking too high bets.

PRIVATE EQUITY SPECIALIST

Independent director. Named chair of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange in 2022, Alain Kinsch was managing partner at EY and its private equity leader for Europe, Middle East, India and Africa from 2009 to 2020.

Interview SYLVAIN BARRETTE Photo GUY WOLFF

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Ristretto #Business

“It’s crucial to remain adaptable” As digital companies change with new technologies, so must the marketing agencies they employ, says Kamel Amroune at The Dots. Agencies are seeing a shift towards data-driven strategies involving AI and machine learning (ML) tools.

You run a marketing agency for the digital community. What are your biggest challenges currently?

The digital marketing landscape is constantly evolving, demanding a blend of creativity, strategic thinking and technical expertise.

One of the most significant challenges I face is staying ahead of the curve in such a dynamic environment. With new platforms, technologies and consumer behaviours emerging regularly, it’s crucial to remain adaptable and continuously innovative.

Another challenge is integrating these advancements while maintaining authenticity and a personal touch… This balancing act between leveraging cuttingedge technology and nurturing real, human connections is at the heart of modern marketing success.

What are the current trends in marketing?

Currently, we are witnessing a significant shift towards personalised, data-driven marketing strategies, augmented by sophisticated AI and ML algorithms. These technologies enable us to analyse consumer behaviours and preferences at an unprecedented scale, leading to highly targeted and efficient marketing campaigns.

Another burgeoning trend is the integration of immersive technologies like AR and VR, which are redefining customer experiences. Looking forward, I anticipate a marketing world where digital and physical realms seamlessly blend, offering hyperpersonalised and immersive experiences. The emphasis will likely shift towards ethical use of data, transparency and building deeper, trustbased relationships with consumers. Sustainability and social responsibility will also become increasingly integral to marketing strategies.

The Dots produces a lot of text, from content writing to your TechSense platform.

What’s your stance on the ethics of using ChatGPT? 10

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AI-driven tools like ChatGPT represent a fascinating evolution in content creation. They can significantly enhance efficiency, generate creative ideas and even ensure consistency in brand messaging.

However, the ethical and practical use of these tools necessitates a careful approach. The risk of diluting the uniqueness and authenticity of content is a considerable concern. While these tools can produce content quickly, they may lack the nuanced understanding and emotional depth that human writers bring. Ethically, there’s also the matter of transparency and disclosure about using AI in content creation, ensuring audiences are aware of the technology behind the content they consume.

What’s unique about doing business in Luxembourg?

Working in Luxembourg, you quickly appreciate the unique dynamics of a small, close-knit business community. We are fortunate to have a level of trust and cooperation among professionals that might be rare elsewhere. This environment has been incredibly conducive to fostering the growth of The Dots.

It’s essential, however, to recognise that while we enjoy certain advantages within our local ecosystem, our true competition TECH-CENTRIC and benchmarks are global… This Kamel Amroune is doesn’t diminish the value of our local an entrepreneur interactions; rather, it emphasises the and founder of marketing importance of using our strong agency The Dots community as a springboard for Luxembourg. international competition and “I believe in the intersection of innovation.

technology and marketing as key drivers in any business,” he says.

Editor’s note: Amroune used ChatGPT to translate and rephrase his written replies.

Interview JEFF PALMS Photo ROMAIN GAMBA

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Conversation Benoit Nevouet

“ Our launch here is a significant milestone ” Benoit Nevouet, managing director of Bank of America’s new branch in Luxembourg, told Delano about the bank’s activities here in the grand duchy, what he’s excited about and how the bank supports local communities.

Interview LYDIA LINNA Photo ROMAIN GAMBA

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Benoit Nevouet joined Bank of America in May 2023

Conversation Benoit Nevouet

accomplished smoothly. There has also Can you give a brief summary of your career and role at Bank of America? been strong demand for us to set up new I have 26 years of experience in the clients and legal entities--our clients and banking world and have been fortunate to their requirements will continue to be our have the opportunity to work in various number one focus. regions and countries, which has been enriching both personally and professionally. Are there any challenges that you’re Helping set up a new branch for Bank of anticipating?

America is a great challenge in a country We do not identify any specific challenges that I know well and to which I owe a lot. which are unique from those I began my professional career in Luxem- that any other banking provibourg and have had great career opportu- der faces in establishing a new nities here, spanning 17 years in total. branch.

I’m proud to have the opportunity to work with Bank of America and did not What are you most looking hesitate when the opportunity was offered. forward to accomplishing?

In addition to its strong footprint and We are excited to develop our banking capabilities, Bank of America franchise in Luxembourg and offers an incredible working environment to become a key contributor in terms of diversity and inclusion--not just to the development of this in Luxembourg, but in every market they highly recognised internatioare present. I appreciate the fact that Bank nal financial marketplace. of America invests in the development of Implementing a presence in a new its employees. It’s also committed to sup- country is always an exciting and unique porting local communities in various ways. project; it requires collaboration with various stakeholders in order to make it Why did Bank of America decide a success, thereby inciting enthusiasm to open a branch in Luxembourg? and commitment across the whole orgaCan you tell me more about BofA’s nisation. As part of the bank’s commitactivities here in the grand duchy? ment to CSR, I also look forward to The launch demonstrates our ongoing seeing the ways in which we are able to commitment to supporting clients in key contribute to the local community. countries where they have cash management requirements. It will be able to sup- Is there anything in particular you port clients--corporate, commercial and are excited about as part of Bank NBFIs (non-bank financial institu- of America’s commitment to local tions)--with setting up local bank accounts communities? and provide in-country transaction Indeed, the bank believes investment in banking products and services. the arts helps build communities and I’m Our launch here is a significant mile- really pleased to be part of an institution stone for businesses in the region, given which is a longstanding supporter of arts, that Luxembourg is the second largest culture and heritage around the world. The investment fund centre in the world, after bank supports a wide range of non-profit the United States. Also, many multinatio- organisations with funding and programnal companies have chosen Luxembourg ming to help promote cultural sustainabias a European hub for their activities and lity and make the arts more accessible and it is also home to the European Investment inclusive. This includes sponsorship of Bank. We are proud to support business major exhibitions, loaning its own art colopportunities and responsible growth in lection to cultural organisations at no cost this important financial centre. and the Bank of America Art Conservation Project, which provides grants to conserve What are your plans to grow the historically significant works of art. branch here?

Our first priority was to bring across existing clients to our new branch, which we

“ We are able to contribute to the local community ”

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BIO Before becoming branch manager for Bank of America in Luxembourg in May 2023, Benoit Nevouet spent 25 years at BNP Paribas Group, holding various management positions in several countries.

The last six years were in Luxembourg, where he served as head of transaction banking (cash management, forex fixed income, trade finance and escrow services) and was a member of the corporate banking executive committee.

From 2013 to 2017, he was the head of sales & implementation for forex/fixed income and cash management in Italy. Before that, he was regional head of cash management for the Middle East and Southern Africa for four years and held various positions in Luxembourg for 11 years.

Interview #VentureCapital

“VC requires a lot of patience and resilience” Lily Wang, who was promoted to partner at venture capital firm Expon Capital in September 2023, talks about the importance of patience and resilience in investing, how the VC firm supports the firms it invests in and what it looks for in a company.

Words LYDIA LINNA

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LILY WANG Partner Expon Capital

“ We see a wave of not just digitalisation, but also technological advancement in healthcare, particularly when it comes to aging populations. ”

model. “We’re here to invest in a company that is managed by real people.” The company needs to have a product, explain why they’ve developed the product, how it addresses real-life problems, prove that their product has real value and show that it can be sold.

But just because Expon rejects a deal doesn’t necessarily mean the company is bad. Expon Capital has its own “sweet spot” and its own specific criteria. A rejected company could, for instance, just be out of the VC firm’s geography.

Importance of investing time “You need to spend time to understand the critical issues for the company.” Expon, for example, attends board meetings and other ad hoc meetings on topics such as strategy, sales pricing, international expansion or recruitment. “A lot of times, we have 12 meetings with a company every year.”

Moreover, as a VC investor, “We’ve seen good things, but also tonnes of mistakes.

And we can share with entrepreneurs all the learning and knowledge that has been accumulated over the years: what worked, what didn’t work.”

Wang is Expon Capital’s first woman partner. Though it may seem rare in Luxembourg or surrounding countries, “If you look at the Nordic countries, there are many female VC or PE partners,” said Wang.

“But I hope there will be more coming.”

And at a firm level? “We have several opportunities at the moment, so we hope to close more deals in the coming months.”

Expon Capital

Fintech, healthcare and climate tech Expon Capital is “sector-agnostic,” but “there’s tremendous opportunity in digitalisation across all sectors.” There are three main categories in which Expon has already successfully invested and plans to continue: fintech, healthcare and climate tech.

“Fintech is a huge sector, and we’re based in Luxembourg, so it’s a no-brainer,” said Wang.

“We also see a wave of not just digitalisation, but also technological advancement in healthcare, particularly when it comes to aging populations.” And the third, climate

tech, is a “huge sector.” Energy, the circular economy and agriculture are three sub-sectors that the firm is focusing on, but they’re open to other sub-sectors as well.

When evaluating a company, there are four main aspects to consider: the team, the product, the market and the business

Photo

“This job is about backing entrepreneurs and the next generation of businesses,” said Wang. “All big companies today--they were once a startup. And I think that’s what I’ve been most excited about since day one of joining a VC. That’s still what I’m excited about today.”

Wang also offered a note of caution. When people consider VC investors or entrepreneurs, they may think, ‘That’s so cool!’

“But it takes a really long time and a lot of hard work to build a business from scratch.”

“VC also requires a lot of patience and resilience,” said Wang. It’s not easy. Expon’s fund is a 10-year fund, and those 10 years are more about “solving problems rather than celebrating success.”

In VC, “we need to distinguish what is the long-term business opportunity vs shortterm hypes,” she highlighted. “We’re doing the tedious work to make sure we are turning the money from our investors into good returns, and getting money to the right entrepreneurs at the right opportunity.”

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Conversation Sabika Ishaq

“This is what keeps CISOs awake at night” Information security as a practice is maturing within organisations: it is the job of the chief information security officer (CISO) to contextualise IT threats--which, equally, are operational threats--for top management.

Grant Thornton’s CISO Sabika Ishaq explains.

Interview JEFF PALMS

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Photo GUY WOLFF

Sabika Ishaq became the CISO of Grant Thornton Luxembourg in January 2023

Conversation Sabika Ishaq

What challenges are CISOs facing?

There are two aspects… one is technological advancement and the other is the human element that comes along. So we have AI and machine learning tools--ChatGPT topping the list at the moment--but a human element [that also] needs to be considered at every step, because if there is no awareness, in terms of the use of these tools, then we are bound to face increased compromise.

This is what keeps CISOs awake at night: when they feel that there is a lack of awareness in terms of understanding these technological trends, not only at an organisational or a human level, but at a societal level. Because we all need to work together in order to make our cyberspace more secure.

Thirdly, compliance--in terms of the regulations that are coming in. With new technologies, we have new regulations, because new risks arrive… and all these obligations we need to be aware of, and that is a challenge, definitely.

And then, when you encompass all of those, there is the challenge of convincing your management that you need the budget to put the security controls in place. If you have the backing of the management, you can put these controls in place very easily. However, if the management is difficult to convince…

Are CISOs changing their strategies?

Cybersecurity is a topic that has gone from being a back-end, technological topic to a board-level topic. It needs to be discussed at the level of the board, at the level of the top management, who understand that they do have cyber risks attached to their business processes. And for that purpose, instead of the operational and the IT teams working in silos, they need to work together to be able to understand the objectives of the business, and then--according to these objectives-put in the controls that will protect the crown jewels of the organisation itself.

I can tell you the strategy that we have at Grant Thornton Luxembourg: pushing solutions that help put us into a resilient security posture, right from the top.

Because when the decision is made at the top, it is easier to have a trickle-down effect to the rest of the organisation, and 20

WINTER 2024

to have that security culture in place-which is missing in a lot of organisations--to deal with this continuously changing threat landscape that we face on a daily basis.

What’s a common misconception about CISOs? That the role is very technical. It is not.

It very, very much revolves around the human element, because you need to work with people as a CISO. And in order to put that resilient security posture in place, it’s not only the technical aspect, but--as I said right in the beginning--the human aspect. You need to have the ability to build that rapport with your staff members, in order to understand their point of view and also to put your point of view across in a language that they are able to understand.

“It needs to be discussed at the level of the board.”

Any thoughts about the regulatory horizon?

Some organisations--depending on their size--feel overwhelmed with all these regulations coming in. However… it is very important that these regulations do come in, because they force an organisation to put controls in place that otherwise wouldn’t even be considered.

When I spoke about the budgetary challenge that CISOs face, one of the pushes that allows them to get that budget in place is the compliance card that they play.

Other regulations [i.e., those before the EU’s Dora and NIS2 directives] were maybe working in a fragmented manner.

[Dora and NIS2] are a way to harmonise all of these existing regulations. In my opinion, they are good, because they not only make organisations comply with certain controls, but also force them to report it back to their governments or regulatory authorities, which adds another aspect of compliance… and this is only for the benefit of the organisation, because it’s not whether you are going to be targeted by cyberattacks, it’s when.

WOMEN CYBER FORCE

Leadership In 2023, Ishaq was elected president of Women Cyber Force, an organisation advocating gender diversity in cybersecurity.

Mentorship Ishaq is “extremely proud” of a new WCF programme that matches industry experts with members, providing them mentorship.

Scholarship At a university event earlier this year, Ishaq noted that out of 25 students only four were female.

The WCF thus launched a programme to attract more women to the IT security and management master’s degree. The first scholarship has already been awarded. “Close to my heart,” says Ishaq of the initiative.

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Information and communications technology represents roughly 5% of Luxembourg’s workforce and budgets worth millions of euros, keeping mission-critical systems humming across every sector in the economy. In this section, Delano presents profiles of 100 of the most influential decision-makers in Luxembourg’s tech field.

This is a subjective and unscientific list--not a ranking--of top technology executives in Luxembourg, based on feedback and suggestions from Delano’s sources in the tech sphere. Perceived influence and reputation counted heavily.

We’ve classified professionals into 5 very broad categories: finance, which covers fintech, insurance and service providers primarily focused on financial services players; industry, logistics & retail; infrastructure in a large sense, encompassing equipment vendors, sectoral support and telecom providers; the public & health sectors; and web, which includes IT services and hosted services.

Profiles are presented in alphabetical order, by family name.

Have suggestions for our next list? Email news@delano.lu.

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EMILIE ALLAERT

Head Luxembourg Blockchain Lab FINANCE

Allaert took the lead of the Luxembourg Blockchain Lab, the innovation cluster for digital ledger technologies, in July 2022 after five and half years as head of operations at the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology. She’s on the board of Luxembourg Blockchain & DLT Association, co-chairs the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry’s blockchain & crypto assets working group and lectures at the University of Luxembourg. She formerly held positions with Alpha FMC, JP Morgan and KPMG.

FABRICE ARESU

VINCENT ARNAL

WEB

FINANCE

After serving as global business development officer and then chief commercial officer, Aresu was named CEO of Luxtrust, the electronic identity and trusted services provider, in 2021. He chairs Cloud Community Europe Luxembourg, has a seat on the Gaia-X Luxembourg Hub steering committee and sits on the board of the ICTLuxembourg trade association.

He previously held sales management and consulting posts with Luxoft, Oracle and Thomson Reuters, and IT roles with Dexia and a local council in France.

He has headed the IT department at La Luxembourgeoise, one of the country’s major insurers, for well over a decade, having shepherded several large projects, from digitalisation to data protection since he joined the firm in 2011. He became a member of the company’s executive committee in February 2023. Earlier in his career, Arnal had insurance industry consulting roles with Deloitte, Solucom/ Eveho Conseil and CSC Peat Marwick Consulting. He studied at Northumbria University and Neoma Business School.

CEO Luxtrust

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Chief information officer Lalux Assurance

DJÉMAIA BADJI

Founder and CEO BDA Global Services FINANCE

She runs the executive search and staffing consultancy firm BDA Global Services (formerly known as MyJob Talent), which specialises in the IT and financial sectors and has offices in Luxembourg, Brussels and Paris. Badji sits on the board of the FFCEL, the Luxembourg federation for women CEOs. She previously held positions with the recruitment and HR advisory firms Talan, Wikitree Group and Agentco, and earlier had banking and insurance roles with Bâloise Assurances Luxembourg, Crédit Agricole and Banque Populaire.

LUDWIG BALMER

CIO State Centre for Human Resources and Organisation Management (CGPO) PUBLIC & HEALTH SECTORS

He oversees the Luxembourg state’s civil service HR systems, as well as organisation and process management components, at the government’s personnel management service, and serves on the board of the MLQE process and excellence association. Earlier Balmer held management and engineering roles with the government’s IT service, and with IDS Scheer, Husky Injection Molding Systems and GE Plastics.

He studied at the École des Mines de SaintÉtienne and Sacred Heart University.

SASHA BAILLIE

CEO Luxinnovation PUBLIC & HEALTH SECTORS

Baillie has headed Luxinnovation--an economic development agency focused on innovative, digital and sustainable technologies--since 2018. Previously she led the Luxgovsat project (a joint venture between the government and SES), was deputy chief of staff to the deputy prime minister, and held several posts at the foreign affairs ministry, including serving as Luxembourg’s ambassador to Serbia and as deputy head of mission in Moscow and Brussels. She studied at St Andrews and the European University Institute.

B

SERIAL ENTREPRENEURS

Sometimes once is not enough. Here is a selection of Luxembourg’s serial startup founders, along with some of the companies they founded or co-founded (listed alphabetically).

Georges Berscheid currently: Finologee and Mpulse; previously: Digicash Payments.

Sven Breckler currently: Alteox; previously: Beewee Media, Root Esolutions and Myhost. Thibaut Britz currently: Sedai.lu; previously: Talkwalker and Blue.lu. Xavier Buck currently: Namespace; previously: Datacenter.eu, Domain Invest and Openregistry.com.

Eric Busch currently: Nexten.io and IKE; previously: ITNation and Lancelot. Michel Hoffmann currently: Giftable; previously: Individuum. Marco Houwen currently: Zentrapreneur; previously: BHS Services, Datacenter.eu, E-Brand Services, EuroDNS, Luxcloud and Voipgate. Patrick Kersten currently: Medination; previously: Athome Group, Doctena and Immoregion.fr. Gary Kneip currently: Liewendoheem; previously: Prodomus and SecureIT. Laurent Kratz currently: Neofacto; previously: Jamendo, Lesfrontaliers. lu, Scorechain and Yallet. Raoul Mulheim currently: Finologee; previously: Digicash Payments, Luxusbuerg Chat & Community Platform, Mpulse and Nvision. Marc Neuen currently: Homexperts.lu; previously: Athome Group, Linc, Emresa Systems, Luxjob. lu and Yellow.lu. Alex Pospekhov currently: Mission Space; previously: Future Times, Iconic Mobile and Missiontech.co. Hubert Schumacher currently: Linkfacts; previously: M-plify, Synapse Finance, Synapse SA, Q-Leap and Zap. Joost van Oorschot currently: Maana Electric; previously: Ski Ai and Synkick.

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OLIVIER BEAUJEAN

SHEILA BECKER

INDUSTRY, LOGISTICS & RETAIL

PUBLIC & HEALTH SECTORS

He heads the expanding IT team at the freight airline Cargolux and he sits on the International Air Transport Association’s digital transformation advisory council.

He previously overhauled the IT department at the components manufacturer IEE, where he was named CIO of the year at the IT One Gala in 2018. Prior to that Beaujean held management positions with Champ Cargosystems and CSB Consulting. He studied at the University of Liège, Sacred Heart University and IMD business school.

Today she is in charge of keeping data safe and implementing the EU’s NIS rules at the ILR. Before that she was head of the Luxembourg Army’s cyberdefence team and a cyberdefence advisor at the Luxembourg Directorate of Defence.

Becker is a founding member of the networking association Women Cyber Force. “Being a female in this domain gives you more visibility compared to a male because there are not so many females,” she says. “So it can also be an advantage.”

JÖRG BEHREND

HAYKEL BEN AMARA

INDUSTRY, LOGISTICS & RETAIL

FINANCE

He has headed up tech at the chocolate and snack maker Ferrero in Luxembourg since 2020. Prior to that, Behrend held IT management positions in Switzerland, with Philip Morris International, Bacardi, Simalaya and Orange. In 2015, while at Bacardi, he was named runner-up in the CIO of the year award by CIO Magazine and Computerwoche. He started his career as a researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, after studying at Humboldt University and the Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics.

“I’ve dedicated my life to developing innovative banking solutions,” he says. In 2019, Ben Amara launched Beyn Group, a fintech focused on digital banking and payment solutions, which is based in Luxembourg, with offices in Algeria and France, and serves more than 200 banks around the world. That was after co-founding Algeria E-Banking Services in 2004, and working at Clear2Pay, Diagram EDI and ILIS France.

He attended ESCP Business School.

Despite his techie background, “human relations are essential for me.”

CIO Cargolux

Group CIO & chief technology officer Ferrero

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Head of network and information systems security Luxembourg Regulatory Institute (ILR)

Founder & chair Beyn

ORGANISATIONS Key trade and interest groups in the grand duchy’s technology ecosystem.

Good resources for knowledge-sharing and networking.

APDL

Infrachain

The Luxembourg data protection association is a forum for IT security best practices.

Chaired by Nathalie Sprauer at Banque Raiffeisen.

Hub for blockchain technology knowledge and best practices. Chaired by Fabrice Croiseaux at Intech and led by Tom Kettels.

Infrachain

apdl.lu

Apsi

Lu-Cix

The information society professionals association represents companies in Luxembourg’s ICT sector.

Chaired by Jean Diederich of Finegan.

Not-for-profit promoting Luxembourg’s internet infrastructure and data centre ecosystem.

Chaired and led by Claude Demuth.

apsi.lu

lu-cix.lu

Cloud Community Europe Luxembourg

LëtzBlock

Promotes Luxembourg’s cloud computing and software-as-a-service sectors. Chaired

by Fabrice Aresu at Luxtrust.

The Luxembourg Blockchain & DLT Association promotes the local DLT ecosystem. Chaired

by Biba Homsy of Homsy Legal and led by Arnaud Wenger.

cloudcommunityeurope.lu

letzblock.com

Clusil The information security club is a public forum for cybersecurity issues. Chaired by Cédric Mauny at Telindus. clusil.lu

Lhoft The Luxembourg House of Financial Technology is a hub for fintech solutions and support for fintech startups and professionals. Led by Nasir Zubairi. lhoft.com

FLD The Luxembourg digital federation represents e-commerce professionals and firms. Chaired

by Nicolas Gueuzurian of Auchan. ecom.lu

Payments Association EU “A business club of decision makers in the payments industry” in the EU27. Chaired by Anders la Cour at Banking Circle Group and led by Thibault de Barsy. thepaymentsassociation.eu

Finance & Technology Luxembourg Trade group for support PSFs (IT subcontractors licensed by the financial regulator CSSF).

Chaired by Jean-François Terminaux of Damovo. financeandtechnology.lu

Startups.lu The Luxembourg Startups Association aims to boost the country’s startup ecosystem and “be the voice of startups”. Chaired by Patrick Kersten at Vesperia. startups.lu

ICTLuxembourg Umbrella federation for trade associations representing the ICT sector and ICT stakeholders in Luxembourg. Chaired by Amal Choury of E-Kenz.

ICTLuxembourg

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HOCINE BERRANE

GEORGES BERSCHEID

FINANCE

FINANCE

Berrane has headed the Limpertsbergbased Crédit Agricole Life Insurance Europe’s IT department for roughly the past 13 years. He previously was IT & organisation director at Swiss Life Global Solutions, head of ICT & security at Dexia Life & Pension, IT manager at Arcolux/ Luxstar and IT manager at AT&T France.

He is a frequent speaker at technology conferences in the grand duchy and has served on the jury for ITone’s CIO of the Year award. He studied at the HEC business school in Paris.

He is co-founder and CTO of one of the buzziest fintech startups in Luxembourg, Finologee. But Berscheid was also co-founder and CTO of the mobile payments firm Mpulse and Digicash Payments (now part of Payconiq).

Currently he lectures on digital transformation in financeto graduate students at the University of Luxembourg. He started his career as a software engineer at IBM in Silicon Valley, after studying at the École Supérieure des Sciences Commerciales d’Angers and RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau.

SARA BERUJON

CHRISTOPHE BIANCO

CIO Crédit Agricole Life Insurance Europe (Calie)

Head of payments Luxembourg JP Morgan FINANCE

With 15 years of local payments and banking experience, she says of her current role: “I orchestrate strategic initiatives for our wholesale clients” with the aim of “introducing world class payments solutions to the Western Europe landscape”, such as buy now pay later services.

Berujon joined JP Morgan in 2022 after 8 years with Paypal (in several product roles) and 7 years with Banque Internationale à Luxembourg. She studied at Neoma Business School, Lancaster University and Skema Business School.

CTO Finologee

Co-founder & managing partner Excellium Services WEB

Bianco leads Excellium Services, a cybersecurity consultancy that started up in 2012, and is vice chair of the Africa Cybersecurity Resource Centre and lecturer at Telecom Nancy, the French engineering school. Previously he was vice president & general manager EMEA at Qualys, and held positions with Verizon Business Security Solutions, Cybertrust and Ubizen Luxembourg. He attended the École nationale d’ingénieurs de Brest and Telecom Bretagne, and currently is a PhD candidate at ESCP Business School.

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31

JÉRÔME BOUTHORS

KENZA BOUZOURAA

FINANCE

INFRASTRUCTURE

As COO, he is responsible for the law firm’s technology projects and digital transformation. At the same time, he is an angel investor and advisor, member of several startup boards and was involved in the ABBL banking group’s fintech forum.

Earlier in his career, Bouthors was a technology executive at JP Morgan in Hong Kong and Luxembourg, IT manager at HSBC in Hong Kong and Paris, and IT professional at Constantin Associations in New York City. He studied at the engineering school CPE Lyon.

She has worked her way up the ladder at Ainos, a digital transformation consultancy, from head of sales in 2017 to deputy director in 2019 to CEO in 2020. She joined the firm from Elgon, an IT services outfit, where she was a key account manager and then head of sales. Both are now part of Post Group. Bouzouraa attended the University of Metz and Essec Business School. “An application is much more than a code base; it is an ever-changing set of constraints, expectations and unforeseen events,” she says.

STEVE BREIER

LAURENT BROCHMANN

PUBLIC & HEALTH SECTORS

WEB

After several decades with the chamber of commerce--he started working there in 1993--Breier is now the management committee member in charge of finance, IT, purchasing and administration. In addition, he sits on the boards of Luxtrust, the digital security group Incert and Luxexpo, and is vice chair of Luxembourg’s Trade and Companies Register (RCS). He previously was chair of the advisory board for the flagship tech conference ICT Spring.

He studied computer science at the University of Nancy.

“Brochmann is a people person who likes to keep up with the latest technology,” his bio reads. He has been managing director since 2022 and global chief digital officer since 2020 at Dennemeyer, an intellectual property management software and services firm, where he currently oversees the delivery of IT services and applications.

Prior to that, he spent 25 years at Deloitte in Luxembourg, where he served as the consulting firm’s CIO. His hobbies include classic and sports cars, cooking and alpacas.

Chief operating officer Arendt & Medernach

Head of finance & IT Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce

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CEO Ainos

Chief digital officer Dennemeyer

XAVIER BUCK

Founder & chair Namespace

TOP ICT EMPLOYERS

Total number of employees working in the grand duchy, by group.

INFRASTRUCTURE

One of Luxembourg’s best known tech founders and investors. He’s been an internet entrepreneur since 1996 and founded or co-founded EuroDNS (now Namespace), Datacenter.eu, Domain Invest and Openregistry.com. He’s invested in, among others, Doctena, Domaintools, Emailtree and Georanker.com. Today Buck serves on the boards of the VC firms HLD, One Ragtime and High Capital, as well as the media firm Alchimie and construction outfit CDCL. He chaired the Luxembourg ICT Cluster for the five years to 2019.

Post Luxembourg Group*

4,500

Telindus SES Sogeti CTG Luxembourg PSF ARHS Kyndryl NTT Collaboration Betters The World Fujitsu Technology Solutions Dennemeyer Cronos International Sword Technologies CGI Eltrona-Interdiffusion Excellium Services Orange Com. Luxembourg Halian Lombard Odier T&O Services Intech Devoteam PSF

FINANCE

He’s been with the firm since 2013 and took on his current role in 2021, after having served as the insurer’s chief operating & compliance officer, chief risk officer and deputy CEO in Luxembourg.

Recently he helped launch “MyLMEP”, a 100% digital B2B2C platform. He was a runner-up for the CIO of the Year at IT Nation’s Golden-I awards in 2023. Bughin previously was COO and then CEO at Massmutual Europe, and policyholder services manager at Euresa Life. He attended the Université catholique de Louvain.

Talan Kneip Communication DXC Technology Champ Cargosystems Statec, Paperjam+Delano Business Guide

Director of transformation, IT and digital La Mondiale Europartner

Sfeir Benelux

Mixvoip Pictet Technologies Delaware Neofacto Finologee 0

250

500

750

1,000 2,000 4,000

Statec: Self-reported figures, including part-time staff, by firms who agreed to have data published, as of 1 January 2023.

Paperjam+Delano Business Guide: End 2022 or latest available.

Sources

PASCAL BUGHIN

*Includes postal and parcel delivery services, as well as Post Telecom, Ainos, Digora, EBRC, Elgon, Luxtrust, Victor Buck Services and Visual Online.

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BRAND VOICE

ICT

A strong cyberdefence strategy in 2024 Sponsored content by TREND MICRO

In 2024, security teams and cybercriminals will be facing their greatest challenge ever. Research by Trend Micro shows that on the dark web, information about software vulnerabilities can now fetch a million dollars or more, warns Pieter Molen, Technical Director Benelux at Trend Micro.

Because staying ahead of hackers and finding vulnerabilities first is vital, Trend Micro invests significantly in research.

“Without knowledge, technology is useless,” says Molen. For IT departments and cybersecurity teams, the high diversity of IT solutions or “silos” are each a potential entry point for hackers and represent a true challenge.

Molen explains: “Understanding your entire IT ecosystem and the current risks is the foundation for enhancing security levels and protecting against ever-evolving threats.” However, knowing which elements are in an IT ecosystem and which user accounts pose a risk or are even compromised is often difficult.

Understanding your digital attack surface Workstations, servers, networks, cloud environments, SaaS applications, linked IoT environments, and encoded data 34

WINTER 2024

such as account names and passwords can all pose a risk. From a security perspective, all these elements make up the digital attack surface that can be used to gain unauthorised access.

“With our knowledge about attacks and analysis of the telemetry data, we can know when an attack is initiated and can provide, from a single point of view, the risk level of different parts of a customer’s infrastructure. And that way, they know where to start,” Molen says. Once this digital attack surface is mapped out, it is important to know the status of those components. “Do they comply with policies? Which software versions are in use, and are there vulnerabilities?

Which modules with weaknesses are used by the applications?”

The answers help in determining a risk profile for the entire IT ecosystem of a company. It is then important to assess the cyber-risk

Raphaël Dumortier, Strategic Channel Manager, Murat Aksu, Senior Sales Engineer, and Kamal Ismail, Regional Account Manager Luxembourg

Raphaël Dumortier Raphaël has been with the company for around three and a half years, and his current post is Strategic Channel Manager. Working closely with several Strategic Partners in Luxembourg, he also engages with French-speaking partners in Belgium. For Raphaël, what makes Trend Micro stand out is not only that the company has a long history and wide range of expertise, but more simply that teamwork is at its centre. “We always work as a team, and that’s what makes the difference,” he says, adding that having a local presence is a huge added value for clients. “They know that when they need us, we are right here.”

“ The high diversity of IT solutions are each a potential entry point for hackers and represent a true challenge.”

Pieter Molen Technical Director Benelux at Trend Micro

WHY TREND MICRO?

1

A strong team present in the country, both on the sales front and the technical front

2

A convenient and easily accessible local office

3

Photos

Eva Krins (Maison Moderne), Trend Micro

Murat Aksu Murat’s feet have been firmly planted in Luxembourg for nearly a decade, and he now works for Trend Micro as Senior Sales Engineer, having joined the company around a year and a half ago. With around 20 years of experience in IT and cybersecurity, he says a big part of his job is to work closely with customers to ensure that they have visibility on their cybersecurity strategy. “For us, it is very important to be a trusted advisor and not simply a vendor of products. Our local presence really helps to build this trust.” One aspect of the job that Murat appreciates is being part of a community of like-minded specialists.

score and make it as transparent as possible. Molen explains: “A change in configuration or the discovery of a vulnerability in an operating system can increase the risk level, and changes in user behaviour can indicate that the account that is being used is compromised.” The analyses of this data can lead to the need for immediate action depending on the risk level, such as

Kamal Ismail Having worked in IT in Luxembourg since 2000, Kamal has been with Trend Micro since 2021 and now serves as Regional Account Manager Luxembourg. His job entails looking after enterprise clients with more than 500 seats or employees. “Indeed, we have many partner vendors with whom we work, and we have a lot of direct contact with our end customers, that creates a stronger customer experience and relationship,” Kamal says.

Because Trend Micro’s local client base extends to verticals in a wide variety of fields including finance, insurance, manufacturing, and public entities, his work is always interesting and keeps him on his feet.

“Many of our clients think of us as their other half, part of a pair,” he says.

blocking an account or modifying a configuration.

Proactively mitigate risks While discovering and assessing risks on your digital attack surface and responding to alerts is important, it should go hand in hand with a proactive policy. This may include updating software, applying so-called virtual patching, adjusting configurations, or excluding certain systems or user accounts to immediately mitigate the risk.

Detection and response for timely action Continuously monitoring for suspicious activities and responding accurately to them remains crucial to stopping an attack early. If, despite proactive measures, an attack goes unnoticed, there are also reactive solutions to put in place.

35 years experience, know-how and in-depth expertise

4

Annual investments directed to the Luxembourg market, customers and partners

5

Strong collaboration with customers and partners in country.

The strength of a detection and response solution lies in collecting telemetry data from the entire IT ecosystem, including workstations, servers, cloud and SaaS solutions, networks, and IoT environments. Molen says: “To have an effective cybersecurity solution, it is crucial to have a single view of your whole attack surface. To achieve this, the siloed approach in cybersecurity solutions must be given up as hackers only need one point of entry to compromise your organisation.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT HTTPS://WWW.TRENDMICRO.COM/ EN_NL/CONTACT.HTML

WINTER 2024

35

ERIC BUSCH

ANTHONY CANNELLA

Founder Nexten.io & IKE

Technology, media and telecom (TMT) leader EY

WEB

FINANCE

He launched his first startup in France, a web agency named Net-architect, in 1997, which he then sold to a London-listed outfit. Since then, back in Luxembourg, he’s founded the staffing firm Lancelot, media company Makana, and his current firms, the digital consultancy IKE and tech recruitment platform Nexten.io.

In-between, he was head of digital economy at the economic development agency Luxinnovation and worked at Telindus. Busch studied at Skema Business School and Western Carolina University.

Cannella was promoted to partner at EY in 2019, having joined the big four consultancy 12 years earlier. “He provides audit services to large international and local TMT groups but also to commercial and products companies across Europe, the US and emerging markets,” his bio states.

In addition, he leads the Luxembourg branch of EYnovation, a support programme for startup founders and entrepreneurs.

He is a statutory auditor authorised in the grand duchy. He attended HEC Liège Management School.

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OLIVIER CARDINAL

AMAL CHOURY

FINANCE

INFRASTRUCTURE

“I don’t tell you what you should do, I do it with you,” he writes on his Linkedin profile. Cardinal took up the top IT job at PWC in 2019, having previously been managing director and head of IT delivery at the big four consultancy. Before that, in Belgium, he was head of IT strategic planning and then head of IT transversal activities and deputy head of IT development at BNP Paribas Fortis, and an enterprise architect at BNP Paribas Fortis and ING. He studied at the Haute Ecole de la Province de Liège.

After working as an SAP consultant in France, IT manager at Ciments luxembourgeois and CIO at Eurobéton, Choury founded the managed services provider E-Kenz in 2008. She was named ICT Woman of the Year by ITone in 2009 and received the Woman Business Manager of the Year Award from Dexia Bil in 2011. She founded and chaired the Eurocloud Luxembourg industry group in 2009. She joined the board of ICTLuxembourg, an umbrella federation for tech trade associations in 2011, and was named its chair in 2023.

CIO PWC

Chair ICTLuxembourg

SKILLS & TRAINING It’s essential to keep up with the latest techniques and technologies. Here is a selection of course providers for professionals and resources for students.

Adem The National Employment Agency (Adem) provides courses for jobseekers, including Basic Digital Skills; Fit4DigitalFuture, an introduction to digital transformation and project management; FutureSkills, which covers soft skills, digital skills, project management, and data and coding; and an individual coaching programme for jobseekers under the age of 30, Fit4JobStart. adem.public.lu

Digital Learning Hub Open continued education training--with no preliminary qualifications required--in blockchain, coding, cybersecurity and design thinking. Located in Belval. dlh.lu

Digital Skills & Jobs Coalition “One-stop shop” for information about digital skills training and events in Luxembourg. digitalskills.lu

House of Training One of the largest providers of continued education in the grand duchy, covering a broad section of subjects, including cloud outsourcing, cybersecurity and ethical hacking, data & AI, data protection, digital finance, HTML5 and CSS3, Itil prep classes and PSF-specific training. It offers face-to-face learning (in Kirchberg), distance learning and blended learning, and both daytime and evening classes.

Depending on the subject, instruction is available in English, French, German and Luxembourgish.

Students who complete courses receive a recognised certificate. houseoftraining.lu

Keyjob Certified private training provider, offering courses in end-user applications, IT, web and design, project management and soft skills. Depending on the

subject, instruction is available in English, French, German and Luxembourgish. In the Gare district. keyjob.lu

Lifelong-learning.lu Publicly run portal featuring thousands of continued education courses offered by authorised training providers, for both individuals and companies. It also provides information on training-related aid and schemes. lifelong-learning.lu

Luxembourg Tech School A free programme for students aged 12 to 19 who are interested in developing their digital skills and are “eager to learn and apply technology in a real business or creative context.” Sessions are held at high schools across the grand duchy. techschool.lu

Oxiane A private training provider that believes “anyone who keeps learning stays young and clever”. It is geared towards active professionals who want to obtain advanced skills and knowledge. Subjects range from Agile management and architecture to Java and SAP. Courses available both online and in-person (in Windhof), in English and French. oxiane.lu

University of Luxembourg Competence Centre Offers both short- and long-term “university quality” courses “in sectors in which job opportunities are currently increasing.” Fields range from supercomputing to the Cisco Networking Academy. Depending on the subject, instruction is available online or at the university’s Belval campus, in English or French. competence.lu

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KAISU CHRISTIE

SERGIO CORONADO

FINANCE

PUBLIC & HEALTH SECTORS

She has led the EU development bank’s digital and IT departments since 2022, when she moved to Luxembourg from Finland. Previously, she held executive positions with OP Financial Group and Cognizant, and was a board member of the digital property transaction platform Dias Oyj, OP Mortgage Bank and Checkout Finland. Christie lived in Australia for 13 years, holding IT and project posts with Bank of Queensland, Origin Energy, ING and Optus. She studied at the Turku Institute of Business and Aalto University.

He joined Nato in 2003, taking up his current post in 2020, and is focussed onAI and machine learning, cloud, cybersecurity and other technologies.

He is co-founder and lead coach of the Luxembourg Tech School, which is “aimed at 12-19 year old students who are passionate about the digital realm and eager to learn and apply technology in a real business context.” He also lectures at the University of Luxembourg.

Coronado earned a PhD in industrial engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

LAURENT COUTURIER

FABRICE CROISEAUX

INDUSTRY, LOGISTICS & RETAIL

WEB

Couturier took up the top IT job at Armacell, a maker of insulation and specialised materials, in 2021. Before that, he was a supply chain consultant at Leadersun Consulting, supply chain director at Tarkett and a performance management system consultant. “We want to connect engineers who see how their production lines can be improved with IT experts who can make it happen,” he told Luxinnovation. “There are a lot of ideas in the field, and if we can capture them we can transform them into innovation.”

“Love to code. Blockchain enthusiast,” he writes on his Linkedin profile. He’s led the IT consultancy since 2011, having joined Intech, a subsidiary of Post Group, in 1998. Croiseaux serves on the boards of Ease, Nexten.io and Tokeny, chairs Infrachain, Lumena Startup Studio and Telecom Nancy, and moderates the blockchain working group at the French trade association Fédération des Tiers de Confiance Numériques. Earlier in his career, he was a podcast host for Nipcast and software architect at BGL BNP Paribas.

Group chief digital officer & CIO European Investment Bank

CIO Armacell

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CIO Nato Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA)

CEO Intech

Let’s simplify together!

For public services that make your daily life easier.

zesumme-vereinfachen.lu

GIOVANNI CUOCO

DIEGO DE BIASIO

INFRASTRUCTURE

INFRASTRUCTURE

Cuoco has led Anidris, an IT integrator, since 2010. He says that the firm has a flat structure, with little focus on hierarchy, but rather the spotlight is on knowledge and accomplishments. He also sits on the board of Spoc Luxembourg, an IT services and consulting provider. Earlier in his career, he held sales and sales management positions with Sun Microsystems and Netbuilding (now Simac). He studied at the University of Metz. His hobbies include playing guitar, road cycling and model aircraft making.

In 2012, he took the reins of the 25-year-old Technoport, a technology business incubator in Belval “that supports individuals or small teams to validate and implement their ideas through different support programs.” De Biasio has been on the board of the European Business and Innovation Centre Network (EBN) since 2007 and was elected its chair in June 2023. He also is an advisory committee member at the scaleup incubator Tomorrow Street. He studied at the Université Louis Pasteur, in Strasbourg.

CEO Anidris

CEO Technoport

D

MEDIA & NETWORKING

Here are some of the most influential conferences, events and press outlets in Luxembourg’s tech world.

Creative Young Entrepreneur Luxembourg: A competition to recognise talented budding entrepreneurs and business creativity. The awards consider early stage and growth stage startups registered in Luxembourg, founded by individuals aged 18-40, in any sector. Organised by the Junior Chamber International’s Luxembourg branch (cyel.jci.lu).

Luxembourg Venture Days: Three days of pitches, panels, presentations and networking for players in Luxembourg’s startup ecosystem. Organised by Luxinnovation, LBAN, LPEA and Startups.lu (startupluxembourg.com).

TNT Symposium: 1,000 key decision-makers converge to see who will be named the CIO of the Year and Luxembourg Tech Firm of the Year. Organised by Techsense (techsense.lu).

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Silicon Luxembourg: The 10-year-old media and event company calls itself “a leading voice in the tech industry and the digital economy.” Founded by Charles-Louis Machuron (siliconluxembourg.lu).

Startup Grind: Part of a global network, startup founders and leaders, sector experts, innovators and creators share their personal stories and lessons learned. Organised in Luxembourg by Steve Glange (startupgrind.com).

Paperjam’s Thierry Labro: The editor-in-chief of Delano’s French-language sister publication has logged well over two decades as a technology journalist in the grand duchy. He is known for breaking big stories, providing unique analysis and for his extensive network of contacts and sources (paperjam.lu).

CLOUD & INFRASTRUCTURE SYSTÈME

POSTE DE TRAVAIL & MULTIMÉDIA

RÉSEAU, SÉCURITÉ & CONNECTIVITÉ

UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS & OPÉRATEUR

SÉCURITÉ PHYSIQUE (BIENS & PERSONNES)

SERVICES MANAGÉS, PROJETS & FORMATIONS

DÉVELOPPEMENT WEB

Tous nos services sur telkea.com ou à info@telkea.com

DATA CENTRE OPERATORS Here is a selection of the key players that keep the grand duchy’s bits and blocks secure and available.

Broadcasting Center Europe

Luxprovide

BCE runs a Tier IV data centre, which has 1,000 square metres of floorspace, in Kirchberg, and Tier II site (200m2) in Junglinster. Tier IV indicates the highest level of redundancy and reliability, according to standards set and verified by the Uptime Institute, an independent body.

It runs the Meluxina supercomputer, operating from a Tier IV data centre in Bissen.

Data4 Luxembourg The provider runs a Tier IV facility (3,000m2) in Howald.

EBRC EBRC, which stands for European Business Reliance Centre, runs 5 main data centres in Luxembourg.

It operates 3 Tier IV sites: the EBRC Resilience Centre West in Windhof, EBRC Resilience Centre South in Kayl and EBRC Resilience Centre East in Betzdorf, each of which has 5,000m2 of floorspace.

It also runs a Tier II+ site (500m2) and Tier III+ site (1,000m2) in Gasperich.

European Data Hub Its Tier IV site, in Gasperich, has 5,511m2 of floorspace.

Luxconnect The company operates 3 Tier IV data centres in Bettembourg (3,100m2, 1,300m2 and 5,500m2) and a Tier IV site in Bissen (4,800m2).

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Root Operates a Tier II and Tier IV data centre, totalling 2,000m2, in Roost.

Visual Online It runs a Tier II and Tier IV data centre, totalling 300m2, in Contern.

Other Tier IV providers Cegecom, CMD Solutions and Rcarré operate Tier IV facilities.

More key operators In the financial sector, Banque de Luxembourg operates a Tier III data centre in Howald and Clearstream has a major site in Kirchberg. Content delivery networks operating in Luxembourg include those run by Akamai, Cloudflare, Google, Meta and Netflix.

Telecom, ICT infrastructure and hosting providers present in the grand duchy include BT, Eltrona, Hurricane Electric, Lu-Cix, Orange, Post, Proximus, SES and Zonat. The Government IT Centre (CTIE) has a strategic site in Luxembourg City.

Sources For more information: datacenters-in-europe.com delano.lu/guide lu-cix.lu uptimeinstitute.com

NADÈGE DE BIASIO

MICHAEL DE ROOVER

FINANCE

FINANCE

She has worked at the Deutsche Börse unit since 2022, managing IT projects for Clearstream Fund Services, integrating Kneip’s data platform, examining cloud solutions and improving processes.

She previously was head of CRM at Nordea Asset Management, project manager at RBC Investor & Treasury Services and senior manager at EY. Before working in Luxembourg, De Biasio was head of the IT department at Indesit, in Thionville, and a sales engineer at T&T, in Italy.

She studied at HEI in Lille.

De Roover moved to Banque Raiffeisen, a cooperative bank, in February 2023.

He joined from the private bank and investment services provider Banque de Luxembourg, where over the course of 15 years he had advanced from pole manager to applications management to head of front solutions and management committee member working on bank digitalisation. Prior to working in the financial sector, he was head of corporate information systems at ArcelorMittal. He attended the IAE Nancy School of Management.

CLAUDE DEMUTH

MOHAMED DIB

INFRASTRUCTURE

FINANCE

He has been with Luxembourg’s commercial internet exchange since its inception in 2009, serving as CEO of its operational arm since 2016 and chairing its not-for-profit parent association since 2020. Demuth also is co-founder and co-organiser of the Luxembourg Internet Days conference, sits on the board of Myconnectivity.lu and chairs Luxchat. He previously held positions with Cetrel, Luxconnect and Post Luxembourg. He attended the University of Luxembourg and Université Louis Pasteur, in Strasbourg.

He was named head of procurement in 2020, after serving nearly 6 years as head of product at Rakuten Europe Bank, a merchant banking subsidiary of Japan’s largest ecommerce group, which has its European HQ in Luxembourg. Prior to that, he worked--in France, Spain, Mauritius and the UK--as operations manager at John & John, senior consultant at EY, project manager at Bull and business analyst at Atos.

Dib studied at the Epita computer engineering school and Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, in France.

Head of business services and change Clearstream

CEO Lu-Cix

CIO Banque Raiffeisen

Head of procurement Rakuten Europe Bank

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LOÏC DIDELOT CEO Mixvoip

INFRASTRUCTURE

Didelot founded the IP-based telecom provider for businesses and professionals Mixvoip in 2008, which today employs nearly 100 staff and has started to expand its client base outside of the grand duchy.

Previously he was CTO at MS Networks and Voipgate. Currently he also chairs the HB Mersch 75 handball club, having played handball since a young age and saying the sport helps him remain a team player at the office and to decompress after hectic workdays. He studied at the Ichec Brussels Management School.

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JEAN DIEDERICH

Chair Association des professionnels de la société de l’information (Apsi) INFRASTRUCTURE

He was named chair of the professional association Apsi in 2010; his day job is partner at the consulting firm Finegan Luxembourg. Previously he was partner at the management consultancies Kurt Salmon and Wavestone. Prior to that, he held management posts at Arthur Andersen Business Consulting, Electronic Data Systems, IBM Global Services and Logica. He started his career as an IT analyst/programmer at Société Marseillaise de Crédit. Diederich’s hobbies include art, music production, wine and cigars.

JEAN-JACQUES DUBOIS

VINCENT EGGEN

FINANCE

FINANCE

Dubois joined what was then Banque Générale du Luxembourg, as head of development support, in 1998. Much of his professional life in the late 2000s and early 2010s was spent integrating BGL’s systems into the BNP Paribas group, and then later migrating from mainframes to Linux.

He was named Most Valuable Professional of the Year at the ITone gala in 2014.

He became the bank’s CIO in 2019.

He started his career on the development team at Euroclear, after studying computer science at the University of Liège.

He has led Belval-based Pictet Technologies, the fintech services unit of the Swiss asset management and private banking firm Pictet, since 2016.

He was named CIO of the Year at ITnation’s Golden-I gala in 2019. At the time, Eggen said he “was moved” by the award and the prize was “above all, for all of the company’s employees.” He previously held positions with Champ Cargosystems, KBL European Private Bankers and Odyssey Financial Technologies. He studied computer science at the University of Namur.

CIO BGL BNP Paribas

CEO & CIO Pictet Technologies

Looking for a new challenge?

Become part of the NSI Family and submit your application on our website today! www.nsi.lu

REMY ELS

GENNA ELVIN

FINANCE

WEB

At last count, he and his team were responsible for keeping roughly 500 applications up and running smoothly for the insurer’s employees, partners and clients.

He supervises some 100 staff, ranging from developers to UX designers. Els originally joined Foyer as a project manager in 2009, moving up to deputy director in 2011 and department director in 2014, then being named to the top tech spot in 2015.

He started his career at a university software spinoff. He studied applied computing in Saarbrücken.

“At 17, I was a founding member of my first startup, created to bring solar energy to the impoverished Marshall Islands.

Since then I have consistently seen the world through the eyes of an entrepreneur,” Elvin states on her Linkedin bio. The New Zealander co-founded Luxembourg-based Tadaweb, an “open source intelligence platform”, in 2011. She is also active in the Australian and New Zealand Chamber of Commerce, Institute of Directors in New Zealand, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and Startups.lu.

IT director Foyer

Co-founder & chief tada officer Tadaweb

PHILIPPE EVRARD

JACQUES FEDERSPIEL

FINANCE

PUBLIC & HEALTH SECTORS

He joined Apex Group, a fast-growing fund services provider, in 2021. No doubt his days (and probably some nights) are filled by integrating the firm’s numerous recent acquisitions and managing organic growth. Evrard formerly was head of IT and strategic change management at Nomura in Luxembourg, director of technology and business solutions at Lombard International Assurance and COO at a mobile pureplay bank. He attended the Isep digital engineering school, University of Sussex and ICN Business School.

Federspiel needs to keep confidential information, sensitive medical data and essential applications--used to treat thousands of patients each day--safe, secure and sound. He’s been the head cybersecurity honcho at the major hospital group since 2017. Prior to that, he was IT manager at the group’s Zitha Klinik. Before moving into the health sector, he was head of the IT and organisation department at Dresdner Bank Luxembourg and then Commerzbank Luxemburg. He studied computer science at Universität Trier.

Luxembourg CIO Apex Group

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Chief information security officer Hôpitaux Robert Schuman

PARTNER CONTENT

Ralf Hustadt Special Advisor on Digitalisation, Data Economy and Gaia-x at Luxinnovation

What excuse do you have for not being digital?

Crédits

Luxinnovation / Marion Dessard

Embarking on the path to digitalisation requires good preparation. Thankfully, there is no shortage of tools and supports in Luxembourg.

It has been almost 20 years since British mathematician Clive Humby elevated data to the status of “new oil”. However, the apprehension of data and, on a larger scale, the state of mind of digitalisation are far from being innate. And going digital doesn’t happen with the wave of a magic wand.

However, businesses in Luxembourg benefit from a large ecosystem tailor-made to help them understand, exploit and benefit from digital applications and data, without essentially having to produce them themselves.

This approach is essential to hope to remain competitive and there is no shortage of tools: the “Fit 4” performance programmes supported by Luxinnovation, the digital maturity assessments of the Luxembourg Digital Innovation Hub or even the provision, for companies, of resources calculations of the MeluXina super computer (HPC) are all concrete avenues for companies of all sizes

and in all sectors. All supported by aid schemes from the Ministry of the Economy.

“In this ecosystem, our role is to connect the demand for digitalisation with the offer of numerous existing services in Luxembourg and the Greater Region, and to facilitate access to HPC resources for companies,” explains Ralf Hustadt, Special Advisor on digitalisation, the data economy and Gaia-X at Luxinnovation.

The launch by the Ministry of State, the Ministry of the Economy, the FNR and Luxinnovation, in mid-November, of a joint call for projects in the field of 5G communication technologies, offers companies and research institutes new perspectives in this area. There are now no more excuses not to get started.

EN SAVOIR PLUS RALF HUSTADT Special Advisor on Digitalisation, Data Economy and Gaia-x Luxinnovation t. +352 43 62 63 - 641 ralf.hustadt@luxinnovation.lu

MANUEL FISCHER

SÉBASTIEN GENESCA

INDUSTRY, LOGISTICS & RETAIL

INFRASTRUCTURE

For the past decade, he’s led IT for Amazon operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “I am passionate about leveraging technology to create value for customers, stakeholders, and society,” Fischer says in his Linkedin bio. In 2010, while CIO of Six Payment Services, he was named CIO of the Year by both ITone in Luxembourg and the German edition of CIO magazine.

He’s also had posts at Accenture, Bull Consulting and Deloitte. He attended the University of Saarland and EM Lyon Business School.

He first worked in the grand duchy in 1998, when he came for an internship. He has led the data centre operator EBRC since 2022, where Genesca aims to “support global transformation projects and enable our clients to derive more value from their data while keeping it safe.” That followed turns at Post Luxembourg, Elgon, SD Worx, CGI and Sogeti. He has been active in Rotary International for the past 16 years. He studied at the IAE management school in France. His hobbies include fine dining and running.

LUDOVIC GILLES

TOM GOERENS

WEB

FINANCE

“My passion is to help clients transform their IT,” Gilles states on Linkedin. He took up the top post at the consultancy Elgon in 2022, after holding management roles at Post Luxembourg, as well as at EBRC, Microsoft’s cloud operations in Belgium and Luxembourg, and at IBM in Brussels, Paris and Luxembourg. Earlier in his career, he was an IT manager at the Europe Information Service, a news agency in Brussels. He attended Henley Business School in the UK. His hobbies include golf and trekking.

Goerens has spent a quarter of a century working at the state savings bank Spuerkeess. He joined in 1997 and has served as deputy head of IT production, vice president and head of the IT production business unit, and since July 2023 senior vice president and overall head of IT. Before joining the bank, he was a systems engineer at IBM. He is active in the children’s cancer care charity Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner, running in the recent Lëtz Go Gold fundraiser. He attended the University of Liège.

Director IT EMEA Amazon

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CEO Elgon

CEO EBRC (European Business Reliance Centre)

Head of IT department Spuerkeess

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KENNETH GRAHAM

KRYSTINA GRAY

INFRASTRUCTURE

FINANCE

He’s led the Vodafone-backed scaleup incubator since 2019. Before taking up the post, Graham spent more than 25 years at the global telecom giant, including as head of group supply chain management for Vodafone Business; head of technology planning & performance for Africa, Middle East & Asia-Pacific; and head of new access network technologies & innovation.

Earlier in his career, he was a network implementation & optimisation manager at Vodacom in South Africa. He studied at the University of Strathclyde.

She took up her current job in 2022 after serving as HSBC’s country CISO and head of resilience risk. Before joining the bank, she was an information security consultant and held cybersecurity positions with Amazon and Scotiabank. Gray sits on the board of the (ISC)² Belux Chapter, a group for certified IT security professionals, and is a founding member of Women Cyber Force and Women4Cyber Luxembourg.

“I act to inspire others to believe in themselves,” she says. She studied at Centennial College in Toronto.

MARIO GROTZ

JEAN HILGER

CEO Tomorrow Street

Director general for industry, technology and research Ministry of Economy PUBLIC & HEALTH SECTORS

His day job is to evaluate private sector R&D projects. In addition, Grotz chairs the cybersecurity group Incert, economic development agency Luxinnovation, high performance computing outfit Luxprovide and the energy provider Creos, and is an advisor to the University of Luxembourg’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT). Earlier in his career, he was an SME advisor at the Chamber of Commerce and Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts. He attended the University of Liège.

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Country head of data and technology risks HSBC

Head of Finnovation Hub University of Luxembourg FINANCE

“The Finnovation Hub mission is to orient the university’s research capacities towards financial service industry needs and to encourage the industry to commit to longer-term R&D projects,” Hilger says.

He also chairs the ABBL trade group’s digital strategy committee and the open banking platform Luxhub, in addition to the NGO Fondation Follereau Luxembourg.

Previously, he spent 30 years in the IT department at Spuerkeess, where he still advises the CEO. He studied at the University of Strasbourg.

GÉRARD HOFFMANN

PATRICK HOUTSCH

INFRASTRUCTURE

PUBLIC & HEALTH SECTORS

He leads the local operations of Proximus, which includes the telecom provider Tango and IT services outfit Telindus.

Hoffmann sits on the boards of Cloud Computing Europe Luxembourg, the Fedil business federation and Finance & Technology Luxembourg, and for 20+ years the University of Luxembourg. Earlier in his career, he worked at the steelmakers ArcelorMittal and Arbed. He attended ETH Zürich, the University of St Gallen and Stanford University. His hobbies include basketball, jogging and travel.

Houtsch took on the top job at the CTIE, which provides IT services to the national government and public bodies, in 2019, after serving as deputy director for 5 years.

He’s responsible for a budget of more than €200m and 500+ staff. Previously he was managing director at Govcert.lu, the computer emergency response team, and head of CTIE’s security and audit department. Earlier in his career, he was a systems engineer at the state savings bank Spuerkeess. He graduated from the University of Liège.

Director Government IT Centre (CTIE)

Luxembourg CEO Proximus

TOTAL ICT SECTOR EMPLOYMENT IN LUXEMBOURG At end of quarter. * Through Q2

23.000 22.000

21,332

21.000 20.000 19.000 18.000

16.000 15.000

15,247 2013

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2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023*

Source

Statec

17.000

Need help navigating the digital world?

Let the digital trust specialist guide you. www.luxtrust.com

FINANCIAL BACKERS Key VCs, business angels and investors in Luxembourg’s technology sector.

Pascal Bouvier

Yannick Oswald

Co-founder and managing partner of Middlegame Ventures, which invests in early stage fintech startups. “First and foremost, we look for exceptional talent.”

Partner at Mangrove Capital Partners. “We invest in business models leveraging technology, not the other way around.”

Yannick Oswald

Pascal Bouvier

Pierre Festal Partner at Promus Ventures, which focuses “on deep-tech startups,” he says, “mainly at an early stage and opportunistically in later-stage ones.”

Pierre Festal

Alain Rodermann Managing partner at Expon Capital. The VC firm’s Digital Tech Fund is “the only local-focused venture capital fund in Luxembourg,” he says.

“We take minority stakes of maximum €1m in seed-stage businesses.”

Alain Rodermann

Uli Grabenwarter Head of VC at the European Investment Fund, which he says invests “across the market cycles”.

Uli Grabenwarter

Laurent Hengesch Founding partner at Ilavska Vuillermoz Capital.

“We are mainly looking for European companies that have a strong management team, need money to grow, are close to profitability and already have substantial recurrent revenues.”

Laurent Hengesch

Michel Rzonzef President of the Luxembourg Business Angel Network. “It’s about helping people identify changes in an ecosystem, and then adapting the strategies, the business models to remain successful.”

Michel Rzonzef

Hans-Jürgen Schmitz Managing partner at Mangrove Capital Partners.

When screening for a portfolio company, first and foremost he looks for “a technology or a product.”

Hans-Jürgen Schmitz

Romain Hoffmann Board director at the Luxembourg Business Angel Network. He evaluates deals by asking: “Are they solving a real problem? Do they have the potential to disrupt a market?”

Romain Hoffmann

Menachem Tabanpour Luxembourg managing director of Gener8tor, which strives for diversity: 40% of its portfolio companies have at least one female founder.

Menachem Tabanpour

Matias Mäenpää

Jérôme Wittamer

Serial entrepreneur and angel investor.

“My curiosity has been one of the key abilities to succeed.”

Co-founder and managing partner of Expon Capital.

“We wanted to create a firm that was a responsible investor, because we had--and we still have--a very deep conviction about what technology should do.”

Matias Mäenpää

Jerome Wittamer

Rajaa Mekouar Founding managing partner at private equity shop Calista Direct Investors. She has a special focus on family-owned firms, because “they think long-term”.

Rajaa Mekouar

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MINH HUA

SABIKA ISHAQ

FINANCE

FINANCE

She’s led the big four consultancy’s IT operations since 2022, after serving as CIO at the pharmaceuticals supplier Minafin Group and materials outfit Magotteaux. Prior to that, she was IT director at GSK Biologicals and a business analyst at Unilever Belgium. Hua attended the University of Liège and is a certified Lean Six Sigma black belt. “She believes in the importance of team collaboration as it creates and fosters the further development of an organisation’s mindset and culture,” her bio reads.

She was promoted from within to lead cybersecurity at the accounting and advisory firm in January 2023. Previously she held information security positions with SES Satellites and Cyberwayfinder. Ishaq chairs Women Cyber Force and Women4Cyber Luxembourg. Previously, she was a communication facilitator for the Italian energy group Eni, in Milan, and helped organised the UN Forum 2012 conference, in London. She studied at the University of London and London School of Economics. See interview on page 18.

NATALIIA ISKRA

TOM KETTELS

FINANCE

INFRASTRUCTURE

She took up her current cybersecurity role in 2021, after serving as head of billing at Clearstream and earlier as an economist at Metinvest in Ukraine. Shifting companies into the cloud “is one of the most important activities for the next 5 years which will give an advantage of being fast, flexible, and keeping on creating values instead of only running operations,” Iskra said earlier this year. She studied at New York University, the Luxembourg School of Finance and Luxembourg School of Business.

He’s driven the Luxembourg blockchain development initiative since 2019 and serves on the policy group at European Blockchain Services Infrastructure, an EU programme. Earlier, he was a board member and then chief business development officer at the data centre operator Luxconnect, and advisor at the government’s Department of Media, Connectivity and Digital Policy and at the former statebacked economic promotion agency Luxembourg for Business. Kettels studied at Ichec Brussels Management School.

CIO KPMG

Head of IT security operations Clearstream DBAG/Deutsche Börse

Chief information security officer Grant Thornton

Project lead Infrachain

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CHRISTIAN KETTMANN

SERHAN KIYMAZ

INDUSTRY, LOGISTICS & RETAIL

FINANCE

He’s been helping to keep the country’s train network running--by supporting staff and operations at the Luxembourg National Railway Company (CFL)--for nearly 3 decades. Kettmann was named CIO in 2015 and he supervises some 175 staffers.

Previously he served as IT production systems manager, DBA/systems analyst, IT instructor and help desk staffer at CFL. He was named CIO of the Year at the ITone gala in 2021. Earlier in his career, he was a computer engineer in the legal department at Foyer Assurances.

He is “responsible for product development, architecture and engineering process improvements” and “heads up our career development for engineers,” Kiymaz’s company bio reads. Before joining the regtech startup darling, he was head of engineering at Docler Holding in Luxembourg, and CTO at Metglobal, Bilyonder.com and Segmentify in Turkey, and CTO at Elefant.ro in Romania. He also held positions with Markafoni, TVYO, Turkcell and Vodafone Turkey. He attended Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul.

CIO CFL

CTO Governance.com

GROSS VALUE ADDED TO LUXEMBOURG ECONOMY, €M Luxembourg’s ICT sector adds roughly the same amount to the economy as industry and utilities collectively do, and is not far behind public administration (excluding education and health).

Industry and utilities Construction Administrative and support services

Information and communication Public administration

Financial services

Selected sectors, at current prices

1,000

800

600

400

Source

Statec

200

0 2013

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2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

www.telindus.lu

CLIFF KONSBRUCK

PAUL KONSBRUCK

INFRASTRUCTURE

INFRASTRUCTURE

He’s headed up Luxembourg’s backbone telecom provider since 2016, after serving 10 years as Post Telecom’s head of customer services, 8 years as head of IP applications and 6 years as head of internet services. Konsbruck was also appointed deputy managing director of the overall Post Group in 2022. He was named Personality of the Year at the Cisco Belux Partner Awards in 2019. Previously, he was an engineer at Goodyear. He studied at RWTH Aachen University. His hobbies include racing bikes and travel.

He took charge of the data centre and dark fibre provider Luxconnect in 2021, after serving nearly 6 years as chief of staff and 2 years as communications advisor to Luxembourg’s prime minister. He serves on the boards of Luxprovide and SES, and previously served on the boards of Encevo, Luxconnect and Societe Electricté de l’Our. Earlier in his career, Konsbruck was editor-in-chief of Eldoradio and a journalist and presenter at RTL Radio. He attended Heidelberg University and the Harvard Kennedy School.

Director Post Telecom

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CEO Luxconnect

LAURENT KRATZ

WILFRID LAGRANGE

WEB

WEB

A serial entrepreneur (see page 27), he’s led the software services outfit Neofacto since 2010. He co-founded big data for blockchain provider Scorechain (which received the Apsi Luxembourg Startup Award at the Golden-I gala in 2021) and Yallet (‘yet another bitcoin wallet’) and founded music platform Jamendo. He’s also been managing partner of the USWeb/ CKS/Marchfirst branch in Luxembourg.

Kratz studied at the INP computer science school in Grenoble and Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management.

He was named HRone’s Human Focused CEO in 2021, and during his tenure at the IT services provider Devoteam it has received both HRone’s CSR Initiative of the Year and its Onboarding Excellence awards twice, as well as Microsoft Country Partner of the Year for Luxembourg. Lagrange previously was director of Ausy Luxembourg PSF, business unit manager and account manager at Ausy Luxembourg, and deputy director general and sales director at Cross Communication. He studied at the University of Strasbourg.

CEO Neofacto

Country manager Devoteam

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ARNAUD LAMBERT

PATRICK LAURENT

INFRASTRUCTURE

FINANCE

Lambert has led the high performance computing provider Luxprovide since October 2023 (and sat on its board since 2020). Previously he was digital innovation director at Luxinnovation, CEO of Champ Cargosystems, IT director at Cargolux and manager at Procter & Gamble’s European HQ, and has served on the boards of the Cluster for Logistics Luxembourg and E-Kenz. He attended Louvain School of Management and Insead business school.

His hobbies include classic car rally driving, regatta sailing and trekking.

He joined Deloitte in 2011 and leads its financial technology innovation efforts, ranging from AI to fintech. He also serves as the big four consultancy’s core financial services technology leader for the EMEA region. Laurent previously was CIO and managing director of IT services at Banque Internationale à Luxembourg, a senior manager focused on IT transformation in banking at Accenture and a senior system engineer at Dow Jones. He went to the Ecole polytechnique de Bruxelles and IMD Business School.

BERNARD LHERMITTE

PHILIPPE LINSTER

FINANCE

INFRASTRUCTURE

He has spent more than 33 years getting to know the ins and outs of ING Luxembourg.

He’s been CIO and executive committee member since 2015 and wore the dual hats of CIO and COO between 2015 and 2022.

Previously, he’s been head of IT and manager of application & project management.

Lhermitte was named CIO of the Year and his team was named ICT Department of the Year by ITone, both in 2012. He was a finalist for CIOnet’s European Digital Leader of the Year in 2013. He studied at the University of Namur.

He took charge of the Host innovation campus in 2020. Currently he sits on the boards of the Luxembourg Business Angel Network, Digital Tech Fund, Luxembourg City Incubator and Luxinnovation. Previously he was an advisor at the House of Entrepreneurship and Banque de Luxembourg. Linster is a worldranked chess player, rated ‘master’ by the International Chess Federation, and competes on the national team. He’s also a handball referee at Luxembourg, European and international matches.

CEO Luxprovide

CIO ING Luxembourg

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Advisory & consulting group and innovation leader Deloitte

CEO House of Startups (Host)

AID & SUPPORT SCHEMES Need advice, guidance and help with financing for your planned business, startup or growing firm? Here are some handy resources.

Business Mentoring

House of Entrepreneurship

The group, backed by the Chamber of Commerce, matches experienced business leaders with budding entrepreneurs. It’s free.

A Chamber of Commerce initiative that helps entrepreneurs create and launch their business, from administrative steps to seeking state aid.

Business Mentoring Luxembourg

houseofentrepreneurship.lu

Esric

Luxembourg Digital Innovation Hub

The European Space Resources Innovation Centre hosts the “world’s only startup support programme exclusively dedicated to space resources.”

A centre helping industrial firms go digital, with a special focus on AI, cybersecurity and high performance computing.

European Space Resources Innovation Centre (ESRIC)

dih.lu

EU-Tribe

Luxinnovation

A network of innovation hubs that helps 500 startups expand in the Greater Region. Organised by the Luxembourg House of Startups.

The economic development agency runs several programmes to help startups with their business plans, access funding and market their wares.

eutribe@host.lu

luxinnovation.lu

Fit 4 Start

Nyuko

A publicly backed accelerator programme featuring “intensive coaching, attractive equity-free funding and access to key networks”.

The organisation provides free tools and training for prospective and new entrepreneurs (firms less than 5 years old).

startupluxembourg.com

nyuko.lu

Govtech Lab

Startyourbusiness

The Luxembourg state’s technology innovation accelerator.

A training programme run by the state employment agency Adem that offers training to jobseekers who would like to start their own business.

GovTech Lab Luxembourg

adem.public.lu

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CORINNE LOZÉ

LUC LUTOT

INFRASTRUCTURE

INFRASTRUCTURE

She arrived in the grand duchy, in 2019, with plenty of international experience within the Orange telecom group. Lozé had been CEO of Orange Centrafrique, where she launched Orange Money in 2016; CEO of Orange StarAfrica; group director of audience generation and analytics; and director of Orange marketing strategic innovation for multimedia. She volunteers as a foreign trade advisor with a French government agency. Additionally she volunteers with Natur&Ëmwelt and the Ordre de Malte Luxembourg.

He started Luxnetwork, an international private telecom services provider based in the grand duchy, in 2012, which was subsequently acquired by the cloud and telecom provider Nomotech. “Human relations” are key for companies, Lutot has said, “trust and interactions are essential.”

He received a Channel Contribution Award at the Juniper Networks Partner Awards ceremony in 2017. Previously he worked for Nomotech in France. He studied at the University of Caen Normandy and University of Paris-Est Créteil.

CEO Orange Luxembourg

Founder & CEO Luxnetwork

REGULATORY RADAR

Here are a few of the recently implemented and pending EU rules that technology entrepreneurs and executives need to have in their sights.

Artificial Intelligence Act: Proposed EU-wide rules on AI developers and professional users.

Still being debated. Artificial Intelligence Liability Directive: Draft civil liability rules specific to harm caused by AI systems. Legislation in progress. Cyber Resilience Act: Would set common cybersecurity standards for hardware and software products in the EU, introduce mandatory reporting requirements and ban the sale of products with known vulnerabilities. If finalised by the end of 2023, the rules would take effect in stages between the end of 2024 and mid-2026. Data Governance Act: Framework for how companies, organisations, public bodies and individuals can safely share personal and confidential data. Took effect on 24 September 2023. Digital Operational Resilience Act: Dora is a risk management framework for the finance sector, requiring financial firms and their service providers to implement technical standards by 17 January 2025. Digital Services Act: Updates rules on illegal online content, advertising transparency and disinformation. Includes special requirements for large ecommerce and social media platforms. Took effect on 25 August 2023. Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation: Mica introduced uniform EU-wide market rules for crypto-assets, with the aim of protecting consumers and providing market stability. Provisions start to apply on 30 June 2024 and 30 December 2024.

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M

NATHAN MANGENOT

DANIEL MATHIEU

INFRASTRUCTURE

INDUSTRY, LOGISTICS & RETAIL

He’s led the IT integrator in the grand duchy since 2017 and its French branch since 2022. Previously he held sales positions with Real Solutions Luxembourg, Iris Financial Services and Arsia Mons.

He attended IUT Thionville and the École Superieure de Vente. Mangenot founded Solidar-IT, a voluntary group formed during the first covid lockdown that distributed tablets with video call software installed to care homes, so residents would feel less isolated, and has gone on to aid Ukrainian refugees.

He joined the national railway company in June 2023. That was after roughly 30 years at Ferrero, where he had served as an IT director, corporate IT strategist, and CIO for France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Mathieu received ITone’s CIO of the Year award in 2015. Earlier in his career, he was an IT manager at Soremartec. He studied physics at Université catholique de Louvain and the University of Liège, got an MBA at Neoma Business School and PhD in IT at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers.

LAURENCE METZLER

CLAUDE MEURISSE

INDUSTRY, LOGISTICS & RETAIL

FINANCE

She joined Rotarex in September 2023, after, as Metzler put it on her Linkedin page, “an incredible journey of 31 years” at Guardian Industries. During her time there, she advanced from network administrator to IT supervisor to IT infrastructure supervisor Europe to IT director Europe to IT director EMEA to IT director global plant IT/OT to chief technology officer. “While change can be both challenging and invigorating, I am eager to embrace new opportunities and continue to learn and grow,” she wrote.

He took the top job at the open finance platform Luxhub in May 2023, after 5 years as its COO. Prior to that, he spent 19 years at BGL BNP Paribas, including as IT domain manager, IT technical coordinator, IT solution architect and project manager. Meurisse started his career as a desktop services analyst at Euroclear. He is active in the French standards groups Stet and Collectif API Thinking, and Berlin Group-Open Finance Advisory Group.

He attended the University of Liège and Haute École Libre Mosane.

Luxembourg branch director NSI (Cegeka Group)

Deputy CIO Rotarex

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Head of IT operations and applications CFL

CEO Luxhub

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LAURENT MOSCETTI

RAOUL MULHEIMS

FINANCE

FINANCE

According to his bio, he has “solid expertise in complex business transformation execution.” He started at the big four in 2020, aiming to bridge the gap between the financial services and technology worlds. Prior to EY, Moscetti spent 22 years at Accenture, which he joined as a business analyst in 1998 and worked his way up to country managing director, a post he held for the last 6 years with the consulting outfit. He studied at the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon and Brunel University London.

He cofounded Finologee, a compliancefocused fintech firm, in 2017, but that was not his first startup. He’s cofounded Mpulse and Digicash Payments. He cofounded Nvision, a web agency, in his final year at law school, which was ParisPantheon-Assas University. His first entrepreneurial effort was the Luxusbuerg Chat & Community Platform, which had 70,000 users in the late 1990s. Today Mulheims is an executive council member of the Payments Cluster Luxembourg, part of the Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL).

Financial services consulting service line leader EY

CEO Finologee

JESPER NIELSEN

OLIVIER NOSETTI

INDUSTRY, LOGISTICS & RETAIL

FINANCE

Nielsen has been modernising what he called “a very traditional” IT department since he joined the national airline in 2021, including the development of a new mobile app and a website refresh. His efforts have not gone unnoticed: he was named CIO of the Year at ITnation’s Golden-I ceremony in June 2023. Before joining Luxair, he was CIO at Apex Group, a director at Deloitte and management consultant at Verizon. He studied at the Royal Danish Navy Academy, The Open University and Kellogg Executive Education.

Nosetti was named head of transformation in January 2023, while keeping his responsibilities as head of IT, a post he’s had since 2010. Other roles at the bank have included Avaloq programme manager and IT project manager. Earlier, he worked at the Société Européenne de Banque and Clearstream. He attended the Centre Européen Universitaire and McGill University. He is a UTMB-ranked mountain ultramarathon runner, in recent years competing in races in France, Italy, Morocco and Switzerland.

CIO Luxair

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Head of transformation and IT Banque de Luxembourg

Fund and Asset Managers

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For more information on IQ-EQ Group, including details of principal operating subsidiaries, please visit www.iqeq.com/legal-and-compliance

SANTOSH PANDEY

ALEX PANICAN

INDUSTRY, LOGISTICS & RETAIL

FINANCE

He’s been with the steelmaking group since 2007. He took up the post of European CIO in 2022, after turns as head of strategy for its Long Products Europe unit in Luxembourg, head of finance controlling and reporting at ArcelorMittal Ostrava in the Czech Republic, and country head of internal assurance for ArcelorMittal Ostrava in Ukraine and Bosnia. Earlier in his career, Pandey held finance positions with Philips, Oracle and Daikin. He studied at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

He’s been with Lhoft since 2017, first as head of partnerships and ecosystem development, then as deputy CEO since 2022. He’s a board member of the ABBL trade group’s Fintech and Innovation Forum, Romania Luxemburg Business Forum and Unchain Fintech Festival.

Before Lhoft, he was an advisor at the consultancy Strategys. Earlier in his career, Panican cofounded Malinshopper. com and worked at Labgroup, FI Press Montreal, the University of Quebec, Bombardier and UBS. He studied at the University of Quebec.

Europe CIO ArcelorMittal

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Deputy CEO Luxembourg House of Financial Technology

IT SERVICES REVENUE IN LUXEMBOURG BY SEGMENT, €M Forecast as of June 2023.

Business process outsourcing

IT consulting & implementation

IT outsourcing

Other IT services

1,500

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Statista Market Insights

900

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Source

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CLERVAUX

since November 2021

©TheRoadAbroad

Vue d’exposition © Mike ZENARI

Member of the international cittaslow network of cities where living is Good

www.visit-clervaux.lu

People Traditions History Exhibitions Photography Nature Wellness Hiking

Your energy makes the difference

www.zesumme-spueren.lu

ACCELERATORS & INCUBATORS Here are 12 spaces and support schemes to supercharge your startup in Luxembourg.

Catapult: Inclusion Africa

Luxembourg House of Startups (Host)

Accelerator programme focused on startups developing an inclusive finance solution for African markets.

Host hosts several accelerators, incubators and innovation hubs. host.lu

lhoft.com

Esric Startup Support Programme Three-month bootcamp for new space technology firms. esric.lu

EYnovation Big 4 accelerator programme for startups and scaleups. ey.com/lu

Le Village by CA A “business and innovation accelerator for startups and bigger companies” seeking international growth.

Backed by the French banking group Crédit Agricole.

Le Village by CA Luxembourg

LePlateau Lux Fintech innovation laboratory run by the French banking group Société Générale. societegenerale.lu

Luxembourg City Incubator Incubator for early-stage startups, run by the Chamber of Commerce. cityincubator.lu

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Paul Wurth Incub Incubator for industrial technology entrepreneurs.

Paul Wurth Incub

PWC’s Accelerator The consultancy’s “international market growth platform”. pwc.lu

Technoport Incubator and workspace for technologyoriented firms.

Technoport SA

Tomorrow Street Innovation centre for scaling late-stage startups, run by Vodafone and Technoport.

Tomorrow Street

University of Luxembourg Incubator Multisector accelerator for entrepreneurs linked with the university.

University of Luxembourg Incubator and Entrepreneurship Programme

TAHEREH PAZOUKI

RUY PINTO

WEB

INFRASTRUCTURE

Pazouki launched the math learning app (Magrid) in 2017 and tutoring programme (Letzmath) in 2020. She’s been recognised with several awards: European Young Leader (top 40, 2023), MIT Solve (top 40, 2022); Creative Young Entrepreneur (second place world, 2022; first place Europe, 2022; and first place Luxembourg, 2021) and World Summit Awards (top 40). Previously she was a software developer and researcher at the University of Luxembourg, after studying computer science and psychology there.

He joined the satellite operator--from its archrival--as deputy chief technology officer in 2017, moving up to CIO and then CTO, before being promoted to the top job in July 2023. That archrival was Inmarsat, where over the course of 16+ years he was group CTO, group COO, VP of satellite and network operations, and director of satellite operations and navigation. Pinto previously chaired the UK Space Industry Trade Association and was a board member of Invsat. He attended Rio de Janeiro Catholic University.

OLIVIER POSTY

LAURENT PULINCKX

INFRASTRUCTURE

FINANCE

He’s led the global technology services player’s grand duchy operations since 2019, transitioning from NTT-owned Dimension Data Luxembourg, where over the course of 12 years he had been country manager, COO and held cloud-focussed sales, marketing and solutions positions.

Earlier in his career, Posty worked for Alcatel Business Systems and Matra Nortel Communications. He started his career at the French government’s trade office in Boston. He studied at ESC Clermont Business School and Stanford University.

Pulinckx was tapped as CIO in 2020, after serving as the bourse’s head of IT for a year. Previously he was COO and CFO of Eproseed, CFO and Windows business unit manager at Dexia Technology and Services and operations manager at Dexia Bil. He was named CIO of the Year 2023 at the TNT Symposium in November 2022, meaning, award organisers say, he’s “the ambassador of the community throughout 2023.” He attended Ecam Brussels Engineering School and the Haute École Léonard de Vinci.

Founder & CEO Magrid Learning Solution & Letzmath

Country managing director NTT

CEO SES

CIO Luxembourg Stock Exchange

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OLIVIER RAMLOT

FRÉDÉRIC ROBIN

FINANCE

FINANCE

He’s been CIO since April 2023, after a year and a half as the bank’s chief data officer. He switched to Bil after 16+ years at ING Luxembourg, where Ramlot had been chief data officer, head of business intelligence and data management, head of enterprise architecture, Sepa programme manager, business intelligence IT manager and enterprise data warehouse project manager. Previously he held consulting positions with ARHS, Sword Technologies and EY. He studied at the University of Namur and Vlerick Business School.

He’s been the Luxembourg leader for the technology consultancy Sogeti and vice president at its parent group, the management consultancy Capgemini, shepherding “transversal initiatives” since 2021.

Previously Robin had been deputy CEO at GFI Luxembourg for 4 years, country general manager at IBM for 6 years and senior manager and health and public services lead at Accenture Luxembourg for 6 years. Prior to working in the grand duchy, he held sales roles focussed on the financial services sector at IBM in France.

CIO Banque Internationale à Luxembourg

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Country leader Sogeti

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JONATHAN SAMARAS

JOURDAN SERDERIDIS

FINANCE

INFRASTRUCTURE

He’s been in charge of the IT service provider’s grand duchy operations since 2020 and added Belgium to his portfolio in 2022.

Previously Samaras was managing director of Digitalmotion Luxembourg, which he founded in 2018, and MBR Luxembourg, which he founded in 2013, both of which were acquired by Talan. Earlier he held positions with ArcelorMittal, Statec, Dexia Bil, Capgemini and Belgian Post Group. He attended the Haute École Libre de Bruxelles, University of Lorraine and IAE Nancy School of Management.

He launched the IT consultancy ARHS more than 20 years ago and today it employs roughly 2,500 staff worldwide.

Previously he cofounded Cronos Technologies, which he left in 2002 to start ARHS, and was a sales and marketing manager at Intrasoft. Earlier in his career, he worked at the computer firms Olivetti and Wang. He attended the University of Liège. Serderidis is a motorsport enthusiast, leading a rally team of 5 cars, and was awarded the World Rally Champion title, in the WRC Trophy category, in 2017.

Managing director, Belgium and Luxembourg Talan

Founder and chair ARHS Group

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HEDI SGHAIER

CAROLINE SIMON

FINANCE

FINANCE

Sghaier has been with Société Générale since 1994. He took up his current post with the bank in Luxembourg in 2018, has been head of credit risk technology for Société Générale Global Banking & Investor Solutions since 2014, and global head of financial technology for Société Générale since 2009. Previous roles, in France, included head of back office equity derivatives, global head of application support and services, and IS architect.

He studied at the University of Tunis and Université de Technologie de Compiègne.

“During my service to the company, CTG Luxembourg PSF has grown from a small group of individuals to the current team of more than 400 employees, and has been named a Great Place to Work nine times in a row,” she says on Linkedin.

Before taking the MD role, in 2020, she was HR director, HR manager, career developer and she started at the IT staffing and services firm as a recruiter. She began her career as an advisor at Vedior Intérim.

Simon studied at the University of Metz and IAE Metz School of Management.

OLIVIER SPAHN

PASCAL STEICHEN

INFRASTRUCTURE

PUBLIC & HEALTH SECTORS

He’s been managing director of Delaware Consulting’s Luxembourg office since 2012 and a partner with Delaware Belux, responsible for its office in Liège, since 2019, helping to get financial, business services and industrial clients into the cloud. Under his tenure, the firm was named the 2023 Microsoft Partner of the Year in Luxembourg. Spahn’s background is as an SAP consultant and support manager, and he’s advised on projects at CFL, RTL Group, SES and Spadel.

He studied at the University of Liège.

If there’s a “Mr Cybersecurity” in Luxembourg, then it’s Steichen. In 2010, he founded the Luxembourg House of Cybersecurity (previously Securitymadein. lu), which hosts the Computer Incident Response Center Luxembourg and National Cybersecurity Competence Center. He chairs the European Cybersecurity Competence Center, sits on the International Cybersecurity Forum advisory board, and lectures at the University of Luxembourg. He attended the Université libre de Bruxelles.

Information systems director Société Générale Luxembourg

Managing director, Luxembourg Delaware

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Managing director CTG

CEO Luxembourg House of Cybersecurity

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CLAUDE STRASSER

NATHALIE THIELEMANS

INFRASTRUCTURE

WEB

He’s led Post since 2012, driving its transformation from regulated postal entity into a diversified provider of ICT and logistics services in a competitive marketplace.

Previously he was chief administrative officer of Société électrique de l’Our, and European finance manager and European controller of the Polyester Films unit at DuPont de Nemours Luxembourg. He started his career as a tax advisor at Arthur Anderson. Strasser studied at Ichec Brussels Management School. His hobbies include golf, skiing and wine.

Since 2011, she’s headed the Luxembourg branch of Oxiane, a French IT training provider primarily offering continued education courses for active professionals.

Unsurprisingly, Thielemans is seeing increased demand for AI and blockchain courses. Previously, she spent 12 years with the IT services provider GFI Benelux, as sales director for GFI Luxembourg and GFI training centres. Earlier in her career, she was a training centre manager for Case Consult and technical sales representative with Conceptware.

Managing director Post Luxembourg

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Managing director, Luxembourg Oxiane

EXPLAINER: WHAT DOES A CIO DO? For the uninitiated, here’s a quick primer on the role of a chief information officer from 3 well-known sources.

“The chief information officer (CIO) oversees the people, processes and technologies within a company’s IT organization to ensure they deliver outcomes that support the goals of the business,” states the IT data and advisory firm Gartner.

“Because technology is increasing and reshaping industries globally, the role of the CIO has increased in popularity and importance. The CIO analyzes how various technologies benefit the company or improve an existing business process and then integrates a system to realize that benefit or improvement,” says the website Investopedia.

“In many companies, the CIO reports directly to the chief executive officer (CEO), and at some companies the CIO sits on the executive board,” notes the industry news site Techtarget.

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RONAN VANDER ELST

OLIVIER VANSTEELANDT

FINANCE

FINANCE

Vander Elst has been with Deloite since 2008 and was named partner in 2017.

He leads its digital & technology practice and its “Ecosystem and Alliances” initiative, building Deloitte’s relationships with technology vendors. He is a member of the ABBL trade group’s digital strategy committee. Previously he was a senior consultant focussed on the asset management sector at Business Solutions Builders.

He attended the Université libre de Bruxelles and Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management.

He’s been with the Axa group for 20+ years, as a member of the executive committee in Luxembourg since 2010, and before that with Axa in Belgium. Previously he was a consultant at Deployments Factory and analyst at Royale Belge (now part of Axa). Vansteelandt was named CIO of the Year by ITone in 2014. He’s been a lecturer at HEC Liège Luxembourg since November 2023. He studied at Université catholique de Louvain and Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management. His hobbies include cycling and playing guitar.

JEAN-MARC VERDURE

XAVIER VINCENS

INDUSTRY, LOGISTICS & RETAIL

WEB

He’s led IT at the grid operator Creos since 2019 and energy provider Encevo since 2016. Previously Verdure worked in the financial sector, as IT director at European Fund Administration and prior to that as general manager IS risk & credit at BNP Paribas Fortis, deputy CIO and head of IT development at BGL BNP Paribas, and general manager of Fortis Ebanking France, among other posts. He was named CIO of the Year by ITone in 2011, while at European Fund Administration.

He attended the University of Namur.

He cofounded Excellium Services, a cybersecurity consultancy that started up 11 years ago and was acquired by the French multinational group Thales in 2022. Before launching the firm, he was a security sales specialist and senior account manager at Verizon Business Security Solutions, a senior account manager at Ubizen, senior key account manager at SAS and account manager focussed on the financial sector at Capgemini. Vincens accepted the Golden-I Flagship Award in 2017.

He studied at the Esidec business school.

Digital & technology consulting leader Deloitte

CIO Creos & Encevo

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CIO Axa Luxembourg & Axa Wealth Europe

Managing partner Excellium Services

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JEAN-CHRISTOPHE WITZ

PATRICE WITZ

INDUSTRY, LOGISTICS & RETAIL

FINANCE

He’s led the machinery maker’s global IT team since 2020, having been with the firm for 17 years. Previously he was director of digitalisation, strategic deployment leader for the factory of the future, global advanced solutions manager and R&D team leader. Earlier, he was transformation leader at Savoilor. Witz received the CIO of the Year award at the Golden-I gala in 2022. He attended the University of Metz.

He joined the big four consultancy in 2016 and manages its financial services tech consulting team. He helps lead the firm’s Experience Center, which advises on employee and customer experiences.

Previously he spent 17 years at Accenture, serving as Luxembourg managing director and technology lead and Belux advanced technology & architecture lead.

Earlier in his career, he was a telecom engineer at Thomson CSF. Witz studied at the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon and University of Birmingham.

CIO Husky Injection Molding Systems

Technology partner and digital leader PWC

JELENA ZELENOVIC-MATONE

NASIR ZUBAIRI

FINANCE

FINANCE

She’s been CISO at the EIB since 2019 and she co-founded Women Cyber Force and Women4Cyber Luxembourg in 2020.

Previously she was senior operations risk officer and an information security officer at the European Stability Mechanism and IT audit manager at the Canadian supermarket chain Sobeys. Zelenovic Matone was named Cybersecurity Ambassador of the Year by Post in 2021 and CISO of the Year during Cybersecurity Week Luxembourg in 2019. She attended York University and the University of Toronto.

Zubairi has led the public-private fintech innovation hub since 2016 and sits on IMF and OECD advisory boards, and is a council member at the British Chamber of Commerce for Luxembourg. Previously he’s been a venture partner at Finleap, an incubator in Berlin; principal at New Buckland, a consultancy in London; and CEO of EuroTRX, a marketplace in London. He’s also been a business mentor at Level39 and Startupbootcamp.

He attended the London Business School and London School of Economics.

Chief information security officer European Investment Bank

CEO Luxembourg House of Financial Technology

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Outlook

Looking ahead: 2024 fund forecast SINOR CHHOR Managing director & conducting officer Nordea Investment Funds

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In the context of the democratisation of private assets, with Eltif II becoming applicable in January 2024, one can expect a continuing expansion of Eltifs and a specific interest of asset managers for so-called semi-open Eltifs that allow subscriptions and redemptions.

In addition, sustainable finance and taxonomy regulations will stay on top of the regulatory agenda with potentially significant impacts for asset managers. As reflected in its recent consultation on assessing the implementation of SFDR, the EU commission is considering amendments to the current regulatory framework.Moreover, the retail investment strategy was adopted in 2023 by the EU commission and aims at strengthening retail investor protection rules, introducing notably the concept of value for money to avoid undue costs and certain limitations on inducements.

DWS, Romain Gamba/Maison Moderne, Elvinger Hoss Prussen

Digital assets, including tokenised assets, tokenised money and cryptocurrencies, provide key growth opportunities for asset managers Luxembourg can solidify its strong position as a dominant European fund provider by driving digital asset adoption. A threefold focus should be lain on innovation-friendly regulation, a vibrant fintech ecosystem and endto-end value chain adoption. First, Luxembourg profits from both EU and national digital asset regulation, such as the EU Mica regulation and Luxembourg blockchain laws. Second, fintechs provide crucial technical expertise for the underlying blockchain technology. Third, digital assets require simultaneous adoption by asset managers and asset service providers. Interdependencies of all three topics complicate adoption, but the substantial opportunities of digital assets warrant the effort.

YVES ELVINGER Partner Elvinger Hoss Prussen

Photos

NATHALIE BAUSCH CEO & head of HR EMEA DWS Investment

This new paradigm of rising interest rates [means] that all asset managers need to rethink their operating models and make sure that it’s fit for purpose and really focusing on the core services. Active managers are really pushed to justify the level of fees and to generate even greater returns than our low-cost counterparts.

I think what we see is that investors are very cautious to come back into investing in funds, considering there are other more profitable solutions out there. So definitely a challenge in here, which will force our industry to rethink also how it operates. Larger asset managers can leverage on their scale to lower the fees, but smaller asset managers with tight margins need to assess their operating model as a strategic priority to effectively manage cost.

We asked nine Luxembourg investment industry professionals about the top issue on their radar for the coming year.

Words SYLVAIN BARRETTE & LYDIA LINNA

LOVISA LÖWENBORG Founder Female Fund

Photos

Fund AML, Female Fund, Romain Gamba/Maison Moderne

VALERIIA KOTSUR Managing partner Fund AML As a responsable du contrôle, I can expect that the risk appetite of many asset managers will need to be adjusted if they want to do business and not only generate costs. Starting from 2022, we’ve seen a high level of geopolitical risks, an increase in cost of funding and ongoing tightness of margins due to a more complex regulatory environment. This means that some asset managers will pursue riskier strategies driven by market sentiment.

Cyber, tech and defence will be in focus but may also cause problems due to higher exposure to sanctions and dual goods [rules]. I would also expect to have more mobility-linked projects in the pipeline for all types of asset managers. Obviously, ESG will also be key for regulated asset managers and their investors, as those would be forced to shift fully to better taxonomy as regulated investors will demand this for their own reporting purposes.

Having lived in various countries, I have repeatedly felt the need to empower women in and through finance. The lack of financial education and representation of women in finance will not be solved today, but we aim to turn the tide in the long run.

Unfortunately, not every woman is aware of their financial potential.

Financial education and awareness are therefore among our top priorities.

Setting up the first female-owned fund in Luxembourg is an important step in accomplishing that goal.

Looking at the current markets, we see clear opportunities for female investors. We aim to accompany them in their investment journey, independently of their age or experience. We want to help them identify and take risks at the right moment and make full use of the opportunities presented to them.

CLAUS MANSFELDT President Luxembourg Private Equity & Venture Capital Association Education and deregulation. The LPEA wants to educate people about the critical importance and material benefits of private equity and venture capital in a capitalist system, which we inhabit, in terms of increased efficiency and employment.

The education starts at the top.

Government pension funds can, for instance, reduce future budgetary transfers by obvious improvements in investment portfolio returns (by adding PE). Personal savings can similarly benefit. Private pensions on offer today still leaves investors short of top-class global PE portfolio allocations. Regulations overall, in the industry, are bordering prescriptive day-to-day micro-management, unlike public markets where people are free to manage businesses and free to trade risk capital products, as adults, using their own brains.

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VANESSA ROGER GRÜNEKLEE Conducting officer Schroders

EQT is excited about those investment opportunities to fund areas such as the energy transition, the digitalisation of societies or the healthcare systems. We are continuously sharpening our value creation playbook, being in the areas of digitalisation, AI or sustainability or across the board. And, we have more than €50bn of dry powder to invest in what we believe will be a very interesting vintage. Overall, we are witnessing the end of the financial engineering era, where leverage and increasing multiples helped all managers to perform reasonably well.

Going forward, it will be about fundamentally adding value, and really transforming portfolio company’s abilities. Private wealth is a strategic priority and a growth area that we want to scale up over the long-term.

Photos

The last 15 years have been very good years for the asset management industry. Fifteen years of low interest rates, 13 years of increasing stock markets. We believe that the asset management industry as such is a growth industry, but with a smaller slope of growth. [Opportunities are] higher than risk, even though risk [is] increasing. We will improve our competitive edge only through increased investments in digitalisation, sustainability and alternative products.

Therefore, we need to ask ourselves, as a group: what is beneficial for the future and what is not. Consequently, we must identify and reduce the unnecessary points and finance our investments independently from the economic environment.

JOSHUA STONE Managing director EQT

Union Investment, Schroders, EQT

KAI NEMEC Head of risk and special tasks Union Investment Luxembourg

Continued monitoring of global economic trends, political developments and potential risks will remain essential for making informed investment decisions and delivering returns.

A key challenge facing the industry is the emergence of new investment channels, which requires adaptation of the management company’s operating models. Investors are seeking more convenient and accessible ways to invest, driven by advancements in technology. In particular, the mutualisation of private assets poses questions in terms of valuation, pricing and liquidity management. Innovative solutions, such as blockchain, have the potential to support the design of tailored, cost effective and faster solutions for investors. Supporting these digital/online platforms is crucial for the industry.

Most of these challenges could be turned to opportunities if the fund industry demonstrates enough creativity and flexibility and is supported by the right technology.

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UNLOCK THE FLAVOR OF CHRISTMAS AND ORDER YOUR MENU ON NIESSEN.LU

Portfolio

Anne-Sophie Morvan Chief commercial officer, Luxhub “I imagine that, in 10 to 15 years, we’re going to… retake control of the data,” says Morvan, lawyer by training and self-described “privacy freak.” Morvan contends that, whereas nowadays people say “data is the new oil,” eventually it will be data privacy that is most prized. Hence, her work at Luxhub: helping banks practice open banking, or the sharing of certain data with third parties.

Beyond that comes open finance, a similar treatment for insurance companies and other financial institutions.

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Meet the fintech magicians Photos GUY WOLFF

Luxembourg’s fintech scene grows more vibrant every year, making it hard to choose just five “fintech magicians.” But chose we have: meet the data privacy freak, the back-office automator, the deeptech director, the industry budger and payments mountaineer.

Words JEFF PALMS

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Davide Martucci Cofounder, Next Gate Tech Launched in 2018 and now with 40 people across two offices, Next Gate Tech has certainly been a success story. Formerly of UBS, Martucci discovered the nitty gritty of back office operations upon taking a job in Luxembourg in 2015, soon realising the potential for new technologies in the area (with particular application for the asset management industry).

His proudest professional feat: “Seeing users use the solution on a daily basis.” The fintech has raised €19m and counts BNP Paribas and Amundi as clients.

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Petra Krizan Managing director, The Blockhouse Technology (TBTL) “The future I envision is one where technology doesn’t just add convenience but also fundamentally preserves our right to privacy and security.”

This is what inspires Krizan, who started out as a software engineer but turned entrepreneur (“I chose to talk less to computers and more to people”) and now runs the deeptech startup. Proudest career moment?

Bringing TBTL to Luxembourg (from Oxford, UK), which has been “an exquisite learning experience.”

Bert Boerman Cofounder, Governance.com “Successful innovation is all about people and never about technology,” says Boerman, who started the firm with his twin brother Rob in 2013.

The regtech platform has become an industry favourite, thriving on its tenth birthday and boasting the likes of Apex Group and BNP Paribas as clients. “It’s incredibly hard to be an innovator,” Boerman continues, reflecting on the challenges of budging an industry that did not want to be budged. “It takes a lot of patience, effort and determination.”

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Alicia Brun Country manager, Up Luxembourg “When you start a business, it’s the beginning of many mountains to climb,” says Brun, whose payments fintech seeks to digitalise meal vouchers.

Her own journey in Luxembourg started seven years ago with Payconiq--another success story--before she joined Up in 2023. “I’m very proud of what I’m building,” she says of the fintech. “Dynamise a sector for the better: better for merchants, better for employers, better for employees.”

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TUESDA Y

MARCH 26 2024

10 x 6 Leading CIOs’ Challenges 2024 18h30 - 22h30 | Luxembourg City

Ten CIOs will talk about their key challenges: balancing priorities in an uncertain economy, bolstering cybersecurity, improving customer experience, incorporating generative AI models into operations, dealing with supply chain issues and rising costs, managing the transition to a low-carbon economy, enhancing interoperability, and more.

REAL-TIME TRANSLATION

Registration on paperjam.lu/club

My first investment

Getting a head start on investing For Denise Voss, independent director and chairwoman of sustainable finance labelling agency Luxflag, investment funds are an efficient way for people to meet their financial goals. Her first--and subsequent investments--have all been in investment funds.

Interview LYDIA LINNA

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“ I was aware of RSPs that helped retail investors like me get a head start on investing ”

Maison Moderne archives

DENISE VOSS Independent board director & Luxflag chair

Photo

What was your first investment?

Your investments since then have also In a so-called “regular savings plan” (RSP) been in investment funds: why? in investment funds. At the time, I made an After working in the investment fund indusinitial investment of $1,000 and also ins- try for nearly 30 years I truly believe that tructed the investment company to directly investment funds are the most efficient way debit money from my bank account to to access professionally run investment proinvest a small amount into an investment ducts to help individuals meet their finanfund on a monthly basis. cial goals, such as buying a car or a house There are several advantages to opening and saving for education and retirement. an RSP, including being able to invest small amounts of money each month (or quarter You’re originally from the US but you’ve or whatever period you choose) into an been in Luxembourg for quite a while. investment product so your investment Do you see a drastic difference (or any grows over time. Once the RSP is set up you difference) in terms of how young don’t have to remember to make further people approach personal investments investments as it happens automatical- in the US vs in Europe? ly--unless you stop it--and it is very easy to Pensions paid by the US government are increase the amount of regular investment not intended to be as substantial as they are when you get a salary increase, etc. in most European countries, US companies have company pension plans (401K plans), Why did you decide to invest in and there are personal pension products a regular savings plan? Was it that can be set up and invested in in the US. recommended by people around As such, young people in the US know that you, by your school, due to your own they have to actively save and invest for research? their retirement and they are often aware Working in the investment fund industry, of investing and what financial products first in the United States as an auditor of they can invest in. funds and then in Luxembourg working for When I came to Luxembourg over 33 Franklin Templeton Investments, I was years ago, young Europeans did not have aware of RSPs that helped retail investors this mindset at all. But given changing demographics in Europe--fewer people like me get a head start on investing.

I also encouraged my daughter and my working for more retirees--I believe that nieces to do the same and they started RSPs this mind set is changing in Europe, which even earlier than I, so they will benefit even is positive to ensure that today’s youth have more from having their money grow over sufficient financial means when they evenan even longer period of time that me. tually retire.

THURSD AY

JULY 04 2024

Round table

Fintech innovation Innovative fintech solutions are reshaping traditional financial services, from digital payments and mobile banking to robo-advisory platforms and blockchain technology. As the game-changing potential of artificial intelligence and data

analytics revolutionise risk management, customer experiences and investment strategies, this round table will look at the future of fintech in Luxembourg, unveiling the disruptive technologies and trends that will shape the industry.

18h30 - 21h30 | Luxembourg City Registration on paperjam.lu/club

Leisure time

Photos of war and peace

1

Part of UA Days, this exhibition puts symbolic and emotional photographs centred on war and peace into the spotlight.

Works by Lyam Bourrouilhou, Tyler Hicks, Evgeniy Maloletka, Maryna Rozhko, Marcel Braun and Jan Guth will be displayed.

Until Sunday 31 December Esch-sur-Alzette uadays.lu

Business chambers’ Christmas parties

3

2 Christmas markets

Have some mulled wine, hot chocolate with whipped cream or grilled sausages and sweet treats, browse for Christmas decorations or gifts, take a ride on the Ferris wheel, or enjoy concerts during the city’s Winterlights festival.

Friday 24 November-Sunday 7 January Luxembourg City winterlights.vdl.lu

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The British Chamber of Commerce (pictured) and the American Chamber of Commerce are holding their annual Christmas events: enjoy delicious food, festive drinks, dancing and networking.

Friday 8 December (BCC) & Saturday 16 December (Amcham) Kirchberg & Dommeldange bcc.lu & amcham.lu

Napoleon: In the name of art Be king or

4

queen for a day To celebrate Epiphany, have a piece of Dräikinnekskuch, or Three Kings Cake, a flaky pastry often filled with frangipane or apple chunks. If you’re lucky enough to find the figurine hidden in your slice, you get to wear a crown!

Photos

Kateryna Mostova, Jan Hanrion/Maison Moderne, Matic Zorman/Maison Moderne, Shutterstock, Lala La Photo

Friday 24 November-Sunday 7 January Across the grand duchy luxembourg.public.lu

5 6

During the Wine Lights Enjoy festival, enjoy wine tasting and unique scenery as the vineyards between Wormeldange and Ahn are illuminated with a light show.

Friday 2-Saturday 3 February Moselle region visitmoselle.lu

This documentary dives into the relationship between Napoleon, culture and art, exploring the ways he used architecture and art to establish an imperial iconography, as well as the links between art and power.

Tuesday 16 January & Sunday 21 January Ciné Utopia kinepolis.lu

Wine & light festival

TO DO

Find more things to do on our agenda www.delano.lu/agenda

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Leisure time

Carnival Celebrate with masked balls, parades & cavalcades!

Music, pastries, drinks & costumes make the season extra festive. The most famous cavalcades are in Diekirch (pictured), Schifflange, Wasserbillig, Esch, Remich & Pétange, with a kids cavalcade in Kayl.

9

Check out Jérôme Zonder’s Joyeuse Apocalypse! exhibition, which showcases pencil and charcoal drawings.

Or discover Tessa Perutz’s landscape paintings, which feature repeated patterns and bright colors.

Casino Luxembourg Until Sunday 7 January casino-luxembourg.lu

8

Celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent, tradition stipulates that a man should offer a pretzel to his sweetheart; if she loves him back, she’ll offer him an egg for Easter.

But since 2024 is a leap year, the roles are switched.

Sunday 10 March Across the grand duchy luxembourg-city.com

Contemporary art expo

10

Everybody has to eat, right?

This exhibition uses examples from Luxembourg to explore the climatic, economic and cultural factors that influence human diets, our relationship with food and how our habits impact the environment.

Until Sunday 14 July Lëtzebuerg City Museum citymuseum.lu

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Mike Zenari (archives), Shutterstock, Marc Domage/courtesy of the artist and Galerie Nathalie Obadia Paris/Bruxelles, Brad West/Unsplash

Bretzelsonndeg

Mid-February Across the grand duchy luxembourg.public.lu

Photos

7

season

Corinne Lamesch, Alfi

Welcome to the Club!

Dear Members, The next few months will provide many enriching business opportunities produced

by Paperjam + Delano Business Club.

If you are a CEO or an Entrepreneur, please mark your agenda and be sure to join us on December 12th where 7 experts will share their thoughts about the upcoming trends for next year. The Paperjam + Delano 2024 Luxembourg Trend Makers will also welcome the new Prime Minister on stage, and our panelists will provide you with the major trends of their respective sector, e.g. Innovation, ICT, Finance, Entrepreneurship, Sustainability as well as the Media.

Your latest events in pictures “Strategy is more a way of thinking.”

Gilberto Fernandes Salonkee

1

Diego Brasioli (Italian embassy) et Piotr Wojtczak (Embassy of the Republic of Poland).

2

Camille Bourke (Arendt & Medernach), Joshua

On January 24 , make sure to be with us for our first monthly flagship 10x6 event of the year, which restarts with Leading HR Managers’ Challenges 2024.. 10 leading HR experts will share their major challenges and discuss employer branding, attractive company culture, quality of life at work, D&I, and more.

Stone (EQT), Kai Nemec

th

E-mobility is emerging as a key element to facilitate the transition to more sustainable transport. We hope you will be with us for our eDrive roundtable conference on January 30th.

(Union Investment Luxembourg S.A.) and Sinor Chhor (Nordea) 3

Hailhao Wang (Embassy of the People’s Republic of China), Cees Bansema (Embassy of the Netherlands) et Yuan Wang (Embassy of the People’s Republic of China).

We wish you a very happy festive season and a prosperous New Year.

MICHEL GREVESSE-SOVET Director Paperjam+Delano Business Club 96

WINTER 2024

1

“Engage myself in the process of trial and failure” Tahereh Pazouki Magrid Learning Solution

2

BECOME A MEMBER

3

The Paperjam+Delano Business Club is open to all Luxembourg and Luxembourg-related companies and institutions, whatever their sector of activity or size.

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Programme TALKS, SHOWS & AWARDS

SOCIAL

ACADEMY

Paperjam+Delano 2024 Luxembourg Trend Makers

01.12

Carrousel Lunch

13.12

01.12

Thank-God-It’s-Friday: Under 50 Lunch

Webinar Pitch Ambulance – helping you getting your message heard

08.12

Thank-God-It’s-Friday: Leadership Lunch

19.12

Off the record Leadership

15.12

Thank-God-It’s-Friday: HR Lunch

10.01

Webinar Employer branding

12.01

Carrousel Lunch

25.01

Workshops day

12.01

Thank-God-It’s-Friday: Leadership Lunch

Tuesday December 12, 2023 (17:30 - 22:30) Athénée de Luxembourg — FR/EN

Take a look ahead to the trends of 2024 at a prestigious three-part evening: a networking cocktail, a round table with seven experts and a walking dinner.

GENERAL PARTNER : ING Luxembourg

10x6 Leading HR Managers’ Challenges 2024 Wednesday January 24, 2024 (18:30 - 22:30) Luxembourg-city — FR/EN

With the participation of: Didier Lemeire (Spuerkeess), Louis de Looz-Croswarem (BGL BNP Paribas), Genevieve Machin (NATO Support and Procurement Agency – NSPA), Christelle Noel (Dussmann), Ann De Jonghe (Sodexo Luxembourg), Hyppolito Staudt (POST Luxembourg), Géraldine Hassler (KPMG), and Marine Cardé (Delhaize).

19.01 25.01

Thank-God-It’s-Friday: HR Lunch Let’s Taste: WOW! – WomenOn-Winetasting

Brainstorming: focus on cognitive diversity How to set goals and stick to them Best cybersecurity practices in SMEs

06.02 Off the record Leadership

26.01 Thank-God-It’s-Friday: Marketing Lunch

GENERAL PARTNER : Deel

eDrive Tuesday January 30, 2024 (18:30 - 21:30) Foyer Assurances — FR/EN

The challenges and opportunities of electric vehicles versus decarbonised fuels are becoming increasingly important in the transition to more environmentally friendly mobility. As the country strives to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality, the adoption of electric vehicles is giving rise to some crucial considerations. This round table aims to explore the environmental, economic and technological realities and benefits of electric vehicles, and how they complement other low-carbon energy sources.

98

WINTER 2024

Our full programme

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011 BY MIKE K N2 OE DI DI DE

WINTER 2024 PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

Mike Koedinger EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Editorial Phone (+352) 20 70 70-150 E-mail news@delano.lu ASSISTANT EDITOR

Lydia Linna (-165) JOURNALISTS

Aaron Grunwald (-152) COVER

Serge Ricco (art direction)

Brand Studio Phone (+352) 20 70 70-300 E-mail brandstudio@maisonmoderne.com

Sylvain Barrette (-153) Kangkan Halder (-150) Jeffrey Palms (-156)

DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

PHOTOGRAPHY

Florence Christmann

Romain Gamba Guy Wolff Matic Zorman

Publisher

www.maisonmoderne.com Phone (+352) 20 70 70 E-mail publishing@maisonmoderne.com

Pierre-Alexis Quirin

CHAIRMAN

HEAD OF MARKETS & BUSINESS

Hugues Delcourt

COMMERCIAL ASSISTANT

Céline Bayle (-303) MEDIA ADVISORS

Mélanie Juredieu (-317) Aline Puget (-323) Aissa Abeid (-315) Laurie Cros (-310) Géraldine Gij (-307) Marie Langlais (-325) Emmanuelle Mitchell (-318) Jean-Claude Negri (-314) Barbara Wiesen (-309) HEAD OF CLUB SALES

Virginie Laurent (-322)

FOUNDER, CEO AND PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

Mike Koedinger COO

Etienne Velasti DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Pierre-Alexis Quirin DIRECTOR, BUSINESS CLUB

Michel Grevesse-Sovet HEAD OF IT

Antonello Di Pinto HR DIRECTOR

Nathalie Bourdeau ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER

Sylvia Leplang

CLUB SALES

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

Léo Santoro (-335) Mikaël Spezzacatena (-326)

Quentin Marenic

STUDIO MANAGER

Sandrine Papadopoulos LAYOUT

Sophie Melai (coordination), Stéphane Cognioul, Guillaume Sinopoli, Marielle Voisin

To contact staff members SEND AN E-MAIL TO

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100

WINTER 2024

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Maison Moderne is committed to reducing its ecological footprint. Delano magazine uses CO2 neutral printing, Blauer Engel recycled paper for its cover and FSC® certified sustainable paper for interior pages. Please recycle. Have you finished reading this magazine?

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In accordance with article 66 of the law of 08.06.2004 on the freedom of expression in the media, the following statement is obligatory “one time per year, in the first edition distributed”. We have decided to publish it in each issue.

The company that publishes Delano is directly held, by a 100% stake, by Mike Koedinger, a publisher registered in Luxembourg. He is chartered with general and daily management.

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Networking, workshops and a variety of events.

Learn more on delano.lu/club

ECOSYSTEM

Podcasts

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Listen on delano.lu/list/podcasts

Find the latest listings on jobs.delano.lu

Social media

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WINTER 2024

101

My faves “I love cooking for family and friends on weekends.

At the market in the city centre, you’ll find the best local ingredients and a great cup of coffee.”

YVES THORN (WITH JULES)

PARTNER, KPMG “Casper’s climbing shop has all the supplies needed for outdoor and indoor climbing.

They have me covered for all kinds of adventures.”

INSTITUTIONAL CLIENTS RELATIONSHIP MANAGER, SWISSQUOTE

WERONIKA MOJSIEJ

MARÍA TAPIA ROJO

“The people at Ernster Cloche d’Or are really helpful and passionate. I love their book recommendations and ‘book blind dates.’ It can lead to great surprises and new discoveries.”

COMMUNICATION MANAGER, LUXEMBOURG SUSTAINABLE FINANCE INITIATIVE

DELPHINE BERLEMONT

My neighbourhood 102

WINTER 2024

Photos

“I love to start the weekend by going for a coffee (and sometimes a sweet!) at Knopes.

Superb quality coffee, artisanally roasted, cosy environment and friendly staff.”

Romain Gamba/Maison Moderne, Guy Wolff/Maison Moderne

HR DIRECTOR, ING

Get in touch with us www.pwc.lu/alternatives-managed-services