Johan

“Working at Capgemini Invent allows for quite a lot of freedom and an entrepreneurial spirit – a mindset to go for new opportunities and ideas that we as individuals find interesting and exciting”

I joined Capgemini Invent in October 2013 in my current role as Head of Financial Services. Before starting my journey at Invent, I worked as the Nordic Lead for Financial Services at another consultancy for six years. Earlier in my career, I worked in a few different line organizations. Started out at Procter & Gamble within fast moving consumer goods but have also worked with two start-ups in the telecom area. During the years, I gained experience both from very structured and efficient global organizations, as well as entrepreneurial start-ups where we built companies from the beginning. I experienced both failures and close downs, as well as successes and exits when working with the start-ups, which was a very useful learning experience.

When moving into management consulting in 2006, I started by leveraging my Operational Excellence experience for various clients. At the time, Operations Excellence was a key development area for banks and the financial industry, so I started leading projects to help banks become more efficient. Over the years, I continued working with banks and insurance companies across multiples areas, and ultimately ended up as a Financial Services consultant.

Tell us about your role at Capgemini Invent?

I lead the Financial Services market unit in Sweden and Finland, which includes banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions. Recently we have also added Private Equity as a sector to our FS unit. My job consists of three main parts. First, it entails driving our business growth. This means being responsible for building longstanding relationships with new and existing clients and winning new business with them. Second, it is about bringing thought leadership and our service offerings from the global Capgemini Group to the market. I want to make sure we put forward our latest thinking and our best experts in front of our clients to support them in solving their business challenges. Third, my job is to build a winning Financial Services team in Sweden and Finland. This involves recruiting new talent but also to grow the existing team and support them in building their careers by enhancing their capabilities and skillsets to ensure we have a winning team. Our consultants should grow as individuals, grow with our clients, and ultimately become business leaders driving our long-term growth.

In addition, I am part of the Invent Sweden-Finland leadership team where our role is to make our business unit and company better, stronger, and an even greater place to work.

What makes you passionate about your work?

I am passionate about consulting because it is in many ways intellectually stimulating. First, it is about working with strategic forward-looking topics for our clients – always trying to understand what is happening now, what will happen in the future. It is about staying educated about how to stay competitive in the future to help our clients in the best possible way. Second, I work with highly talented colleagues that are independent, driven, and smart individuals always doing their best, driving real value-add for our own business and our clients. It is a truly rewarding and challenging environment to work in where we help, stimulate, and challenge each other to always become better. Finally, I am really interested in financial services and how it impacts our society, our work, and the business world as such. Capgemini as a group has a great technology dimension with future technologies and tools. I want to explore what these technologies can do for our clients, as well as for us as consumers.

Looking back at your years at Capgemini Invent, what are your key takeaways and highlights so far?

I would say that the entrepreneurial aspect and dimension of Capgemini Invent as a company is quite unique. Many consultancies tend to be very structured and rigid. In some contrast, working at Capgemini Invent allows for quite a lot of freedom and an entrepreneurial spirit – a mindset to go for new opportunities and ideas that we as individuals find interesting and exciting. This gives us the chance to aim for something that really inspires us – whether it is a new customer, new market, or new domain. To make it happen, we can mobilize all forces of Invent and the entire Capgemini Group. As businessmen and women, this gives us the opportunity to challenge ourselves with new things that excites us. Being able to do so in a global organization is a very rewarding and exciting combination.

The second take-away is the challenging and complex requests that we work on with our clients for a new project or a new area. These types of propositions can be tough and exhausting to work on and develop, but the feeling when we win or get rewarded of a project by a client is fantastic. For me, those hard requests and proposals are the most rewarding.

Finally, I would like to highlight our diversity. While diversity always can and should improve and increase, I believe that our company in many ways is a very diverse organization. Understanding various ways of thinking across the Capgemini Group and learning new things from our many experts and other colleagues is a privilege. Also, to be able to team up with individuals you really enjoy working with and build a network with these strong individuals that help each other out is always great fun and something I really appreciate.

We help clients invent their futures by bringing to life what’s next. Please tell more about this, perhaps by sharing an example.

This is an exciting but challenging question. For me, bringing to life what is next is not a big bang topic. For me, it is more of an evolution, meaning that we have our ambition set on a north star for the client or for the industry itself. The path to reach this ambition is not straight, it consists of many small steps. Our key challenge is not to help our client define their ambition, but to help them understand, the steps they need to take and support them to make that journey.

Some examples of work we have done includes the development of what instant payments will look like and what features will be offered for consumers in near future. Also, we are looking into advanced Machine Learning and Robotics solutions for financial services and insurance companies, which will create completely new products, and significantly change the customer experience.

What makes Capgemini Invent stand out?

Capgemini Invent stands out by being human in the way we treat each other as employees and as colleagues. While being professional and demanding in the work we do, and the quality we deliver. We are focused on having a solid work-life balance, personal development, and reaching individual aspirations. Everyone is very helpful – without a ‘sharp elbow’ competitive environment. However, I want to point out that we still have work to do to improve in these areas, but they are high on our agenda.

On the client dimension, I would say that Capgemini Invent stands out with consultants that are passionate about working hands-on in projects together with our clients. Our consultants really want to achieve and implement something that is better than before – really make a change happen, not only produce analyses and reports. Our clients often perceive and appreciate our consultants as fellow colleagues and a natural part of their teams.

What is your best advice to a student or younger professional who dream to start a career in management consulting and at Capgemini Invent?

A role in management consulting is an interesting role in a high-paced environment where you learn a lot and work with smart high-achieving individuals. However, to succeed I do believe that it is very important to have a clear view of what you want to achieve and in which areas you want to develop yourself. You should not let things happen by accident, but rather define your individual agenda and take charge of your own career and development.

Why should you join Capgemini Invent?

If you want to be part of a journey that aspires to bring the future innovative solutions, powered by future technologies, to leading companies on the market – you should join us. Capgemini Invent, together with the rest of the Capgemini Group, has the capabilities to make it happen. You will also be part of a global organization that you can tap into to drive your consulting career and to get a global perspective on the latest industry trends and technologies. We offer a great and fun place to work at!

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Testimonial given when Johan worked as a Vice President in our Financial Services industry, at Capgemini Invent.