The CSO Staying Ahead of the CDMO Curve

Stefan came across exactly as you would hope a Chief Scientific Officer would. Smart. Composed. Thoughtful. But also genuinely authentic.

What I liked about his story was the way he has deliberately navigated his career. He clearly loved the science, but recognised early on that he wanted to get closer to the business. That decision took him from Novartis into the CDMO world, then from technical roles into commercial leadership, and eventually across geographies including Japan, the US and Switzerland.

That takes ambition. Not in a loud or arrogant way. More a quiet, hungry desire to keep learning, keep stretching, and keep moving towards the kind of leadership role he wanted.

I really liked the way he talked about technical people moving closer to the customer. His line about needing to “excite the customer on the technical side” really stuck with me. In a CDMO world where everyone talks about being customer centric, that felt like a genuinely refreshing take.

It was not just about sales. It was about using deep scientific expertise to build confidence, solve problems, and win trust. That is especially important in a business like Siegfried, where scientific innovation, process development, scale up, and technical execution are all central to differentiation.

Stefan also spoke really well about the challenge of deciding where to place your bets as a CDMO. New technologies are emerging all the time, but you cannot chase everything. You need to understand the market, listen to customers, identify the real gaps, and then focus on the areas you truly believe in.

He was very honest that those long term technology bets are the kind of thing that can keep you up at night.

What also stood out was his self awareness. Towards the end, he talked about moving into the C suite and recognising that the more responsibility you have, the more people watch how you behave. Your mood. Your energy. Your composure. Your authenticity. That really resonated.

It is one of those leadership lessons that sounds obvious, but often only becomes real when you are actually in the seat.

Off air, Stefan was exactly the same. Respectful, self aware, easy to talk to, and with a great sense of humour. This was a conversation about science, strategy and innovation. But underneath it was also a really good career lesson.

Move when you need to move. Take the risk. Stay authentic.

And keep finding ways to get closer to the customer.

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As always, thank you to our sponsors Bora Pharmaceuticals and Lead Candidate for supporting Molecule to Market