Roland Dietz

I started my study at EWI because I was attracted to biomedical engineering. Along the way I changed my emphasis to artificial intelligence: The application of Fuzzy sets to model human decision making. As a special project I got to work on an expert system to control the Oosterschelde storm surge barrier. My time in Delft was really enjoyable in all aspects. I was very active in the Electrotechnische Vereeninging as member of their board for a couple of years, and co-published the 1978 yearbook.

Currently I have my own consulting company advising and implementing projects in Digital Transformation for a wide variety or organizations. I also serve as board director for CABI, with headquarters in the UK, and operations world-wide. My career has been broad and deep, working for Philips, Elsevier, Tulip Computers and running several software companies in the USA and the Netherlands.  My specialty is on how to apply information as a strategic asset for companies, examples are: Customer Experience Management, Business model Innovation, Agile management and governance structures and the information technology dimension to enable all these key strategic business aspects. The most important project in my career was the transformation of Elsevier Science, the world’s largest science publisher from a print to a digital business, building a $734M digital licensing franchise. My work in the board of CABI is to coach the CEO and C-team in their efforts to provide services to farmers and governments around the world in agriculture, biosciences and environmental sciences.

I am a dual citizen of the Netherlands and the USA, live in Scottsdale, Arizona on the West Coast of the USA and have business activities around the world. I also serve as an executive coach for the MBA students at the WP Carey school of Business at Arizona State University.

Graduation year: 1983
Bachelor (Kandidaat): Biomedical electronics
Master programme: Computer Science (artificial intelligence sponsored by "regeltechniek" en Mathematics)
Current position: Chairman/Founder Focused Growth Partners, Inc en Commissaris (Board director at CABI (www.cabi.org and www.plantwise.org)
Previous companies: Philips Electronics Industries (ELCOMA and Consumer Electronics), Tulip Computers, Elsevier Science, Ticer, Scienceserver, Adonis, Endeavor, LawLogix
LinkedIn: 

www.linkedin.com/in/rolanddietz/