Say hello to our new CEO, Mikkel Drucker. Mikkel has worked in the tech industry for over 20 years and has extensive experience in the SaaS arena. Mikkel is no stranger to leading companies through their growth phases, and he joins Netigate during an exciting period of international expansion. In this interview, we get to know Mikkel and hear about his vision for the future of Netigate.
Tell us a little bit about your career background
My twenty years of experience in the tech space spans multiple large organisations, as well as working at a European unicorn and founding my own startup. Most recently, I was the Chief Growth Officer at Tacton where I was responsible for strategy, product management, marketing, and partner and business development. I’ve also held leadership roles at Trustpilot, Stykka, Telenor and Nokia.
What most excites you about joining Netigate?
I’m passionate about joining Netigate because we’re in a really fantastic space. There’s a lot of dynamic activity, acquisitions and various exciting things happening. Everything here is focused around bringing customers and employees a voice. Netigate is also full of passionate, skilled people who know the space well. These are all the ingredients one needs: A growing market, a great team, and a great product. I’m super happy to be here.
Why do customer and employee experience matter?
Customer and employee experience is central to a modern organisation. Companies win or lose when they deliver experiences. If you don’t act on the input and the experiences that your customers and employees have, then you’re out of tune with your market and your employees and you can’t grow. This is why experience management is such a critical competitive parameter in your company. It’s why every company is— or should be— taking it extremely seriously.
Customer and employee experience is central to a modern organisation. Companies win or lose when they deliver experiences.
How far do you think that the employee experience impacts that of the customer?
I think employee experience has a huge impact on customer experience. If you have happy employees, if you have a great environment in your company, then that energy and that passion is automatically transferred to your customer relations. If you neglect your employee satisfaction and your employees’ ability to thrive in a company, then you are very likely to have a worsened customer relationship. So I definitely think that happy employees drive happy customers.
How do you envision Netigate five years from now?
We have a great team here at Netigate and a great foundation on which to grow. There’s no reason why we wouldn’t be the next unicorn in Europe. So I expect to see continued high growth rates for the company, and I expect us to have a leading position in the markets that we pursue.
What is the first thing you will do at Netigate?
The first thing I’ll do is connect with all of our employees. That’s where everything starts. I have a lot to learn, and there are so many great people here at Netigate who have a significant amount of knowledge. I want to get their insights and their views on our customers, product and market.
We all need to spend more time with the customer and really understand them. When we do this, the sky’s the limit.
Another key priority for me will be to spend time with our customers. This is going to be a mantra for the whole company. We all need to spend more time with the customer and really understand them. What are their challenges on a daily basis? What are their challenges reaching their customers and communicating with employees? When we do this, the sky’s the limit. It means you can start to develop your product in new dimensions and continue to connect in relevant and innovative ways with your customers.
Who is Mikkel Drucker when he’s not at work?
My family and I live close to the woods, so I spend a lot of time in the garden and in the forest biking and running. I also enjoy keeping up with music— I’m a bit of a geek in that space! I used to have hair below my shoulders and I’ve played bass in the same band for thirty years. We’re pretty good (if you ask us!) and while the audience isn’t always packed, we love it. It gives us energy and we get to connect with each other. We’re old friends, we know each other, and it’s a bit of a safe haven for me.
