Peter Andersson New CEO of Hypergene

We at Hypergene have had the opportunity to meet you a couple of times already. But for customers and partners, how would you describe yourself?
I would say that I am a business-driven leader who is passionate about working close to customers and partners, helping them simplify their businesses and become more efficient. Leadership issues and innovation are also close to my heart. I most recently came from the software company Jeppesen in the aviation industry where I had the opportunity to work in many parts of the world. I have now lived in Stockholm for five years but I have also lived abroad, and I am originally from Gothenburg. Now I am looking forward to becoming part of the team at Hypergene and to continue to grow together with customers and partners.

What are you bringing with you from Jeppesen, now that you're coming to Hypergene?
I come from an international environment and an organisation that is used to growth. It has meant many challenges and thus experiences that I bring with me for Hypergenes' journey going forward. I am also used to leading enthusiastic, skilled experts who are passionate about helping customers. And that's something Hypergene has plenty of.

Something else I bring with me is the importance of keeping everything, such as delivery, development, support and sales in balance, in order to be able to develop sustainably. No growth company is better than its existing customers. Everyone must join the journey and grow together in order to succeed with their long-term growth. I know that Hypergene is already putting a lot of focus on this, not least from the excellent figures in the customer surveys. But I hope to be able to contribute to us continuing to develop positively in this work.

Another thing is the importance of being one step ahead and preparing the organisation for what is around the corner. This can apply to product development and support as well as understanding the challenges that are on our customers' agendas. Even though it won’t be me alone with all the business intelligence, it is important that we as a team pick up what is happening in the market and are one step ahead. And this applies both in the process and user area as well as for technology development.

You start as CEO of Hypergene on 11 January. Where will your main focus be in the first months?
First and foremost, I want to get to know the organisation, the product and our customers. The next step is to build or adjust the plan together with the rest of the team. I believe in first listening intensively and then working inclusively with the way forward.

It may sound like a cliché but, at Hypergene, customers and their needs are very present in everything we do. What do you usually do to keep your ear to the ground and the market?
I have always made a point of working close to customers and partners, regardless of my role. Not only because it is with the customers that the truth about one's product exists, but also because I get so much energy and inspiration from seeing how we solve their problems. Then I have very good experiences of developing new functionality and new products together with customers and partners. I know that Hypergene does the same, and we will continue to do so.

With that said, I usually try to be involved in various customer dialogues. In addition, it is important to follow the market as a whole. It could be about following the technical development in areas which concern our product, or following both our own industry and what is happening in different customer segments through trade journals and other channels. A lot is happening right now so this part of the job is important.

Speaking of keeping up to date: You also have experience of working with SaaS, optimisation and new technologies. How do you make sure you keep track of developments?
I generally have a great interest in technology, but usually from a trend-monitoring and user perspective. I started my career as a developer and ever since then I have kept myself updated on what opportunities there will be in the future. In practical terms, it includes everything from Gartner reports and the media flow to reading books and talking to people who are experts in their respective fields, because I am not.

Then the most important thing has always been what you use the technology for. Basically, it’s about applying the technology in a way that solves the customers' problems. For example, in my previous role we talked a lot about ground-breaking new hardware such as quantum computers. In those examples, there are customers whose calculations today can take hours. What if completely new technology and hardware could turn this into minutes or seconds - what value could you then create? Or to enable machine learning to suggest solutions based on historical data. And the same applies to areas such as SaaS and Cloud, which are interesting because they make it easier to be a customer and you can focus on your core business and solve your problems.

I have already noticed that the interest in and knowledge of new technology is very high at Hypergene. I look forward to taking an active part in evaluating the opportunities for innovation and development in our area.

Our product is about supporting customers in planning, follow-up and analysis. What were your thoughts on these areas before you came in contact with Hypergene?
These are questions I am passionate about and have had many opportunities to wrestle with. The aviation industry is an extreme example in a year like this, but the importance of being able to work with agility with financial planning has probably never been more important. For instance, we worked with several different scenarios about the future of rolling 3, 6 and 12-month forecasts and placed great emphasis on choosing KPI’s that we followed and worked towards. The importance of working with both financial and operational planning that works well is something I really bring with me, and then, not least, "hands-on" as a user.

This is, of course, a somewhat premature question, but what are your thoughts on the development of the market and where Hypergene will go with its product - what can customers expect from us in the next 2-3 years?
Basically, I am passionate about technology being easy to use and helping the customer to run their businesses more efficiently. Then, whether for Hypergene it is about more automation, self-service or AI, yes these are priorities that the product department is already looking at. So, in a first step, I look forward to taking part in those discussions. After that, we will come back with some more visionary commitments.

In conclusion: Covid-19 has impacted 2020 and will remain in 2021. What are your thoughts on it and how does it affect our market?
One thing we know is that it has become more difficult to predict the future. Therefore, the indications are that needs will increase in areas such as rolling forecasts and scenario planning. The same probably applies to the possibilities for effective business planning as well as follow-up and reporting of KPIs and various forms of business data. And here, companies like Hypergene can make a big difference