In today's post, we're pulling back the curtain on the very beginning of the Siemens Xcelerator Community. Every great initiative starts with one or many sparks, and for us, one of those sparks came from two visionary 'early birds': Mathias and Vanessa. Join us as we explore their individual journeys and how their insights converged to ignite the idea of an Innovation Club for what would become our thriving SXC.
Mathias Oppelt: Throughout my career, I've sought to optimize industrial processes. My experiences quickly showed me that isolated efforts rarely deliver results, leading me to the Future of Industrial Operations Project. It became clear: true digital transformation requires collaboration. We need a vibrant community pooling strengths and ideas to develop innovative solutions beyond individual capabilities. My background in engineering and diverse roles across startups and corporations, always bridging virtual and real worlds, reinforced this. My mission is to unlock technology's, organizations', and people's potential through inspiring and empowering leadership. I believe fostering knowledge exchange within a community can help overcome digital transformation challenges, leading to sustainable success – this conviction drives my work and ignited the Innovation Club idea.
Vanessa Ramster: After earning an Industrial Design degree, I joined Hyve, an innovation agency, where I experienced the transformative power of working directly with users and expert communities. Witnessing how true inclusion in the innovation journey leads to faster learning, better products, and genuine excitement left a profound impression. This solidified a core belief: early innovation phases are critical for a true value generation. Without a comprehensive understanding of user needs, a deep dive into existing problems, and the potential for broad scalability, genuine value remains elusive. Armed with this conviction, and enriched by training in psychological coaching, I joined Siemens. My mission: to cultivate user-centered innovation from within.
Our Shared Vision: Our paths converged when the "Future of Industrial Operations" project evolved. We realized that our individual visions aligned perfectly to jointly develop the concept of an Innovation Club. From Vanessa's profound belief in user-centered, collaborative innovation and Mathias's vision of unlocking sustainable business value from an entire ecosystem, a powerful shared idea emerged: to create a dynamic space where collective knowledge, creativity, and feedback flourish, fostering genuine connection and collaboration across all boundaries. Beyond our professional alignment, we discovered a shared passion for meditation. This practice served as a grounding force for both of us, fostering clarity and interconnectedness. It also subtly influenced our vision for the Innovation Club – a space for ideas, human connection, and shared growth – and compelled us to join forces with David Erhard to truly bring this idea to life as the SXC. We are incredibly proud that this shared vision found its home, where it has truly come to vibrant life.
Mathias & Vanessa
