Thomas Gottschalk Email & Phone Number

Ludwigshafen, Rp, De

Responsible for Digital + IT at BASF Performance Chemicals. This division had 4bn€ sales in 2022 from chemicals businesses (plastic additives, fuel and lubricant solutions, oilfield and mining chemicals).We use digital to serve a strategic purpose, depending on what drives the specific business (e.g. realize growth opportunities, optimize positioning, enhance efficiency). My team builds tech and serves as a Center of Enablement, as digital revolves around people using technology with purpose. Our work is hands-on and results-oriented, its about launching things and iterating quickly. Additionally, I contribute to BASF's Digital Steering Council and other strategic boards shaping the group's digitalization program.Recently, I added the responsibility as "Divisional Lead Artificial Intelligence"We work on:Online customer experience: We created a customer portal based on extensive interviews, tailored to meet customers' needs. This digital channel includes streamlined business processes for quickly getting people what they need (e.g. technical information, regulatory support, quotes, or supply chain information).Digital Marketing: we introduced marketing automation technology and optimize how we interact with existing and potential new customers online and in a mix of online and personal touchpoints.Data foundation and enablement: we modernized our data backend and now run on state-of-the art cloud platforms and pipelines for data from all domains (controlling, supply chain, master data, marketing & sales, sustainability, R&D, manufacturing). We also modernized the frontends so that users across all functions have easy access to the latest data. We help people to incorporate more data-driven approaches into their work. Manufacturing: We created unprecedented transparency on our data. Modern analytics already contributed to significant savings. Digital business:

I ran a center of creativity. We achieved implementations that scaled and still run with impact today.With a team of about 30, we pioneered several initiatives:Digital Innovation: We combined deep chemical and engineering know-how with cutting-edge data science and digital technology (data processing in the cloud, machine learning, AI, modern user interfaces on the internet). Main goal was to enhance the outcome our customers get when using our chemicals in combination with the digital solution. This worked out really well and the applications we built still today excite customers in several businesses, e.g. automotive coatings and process catalysts.Digitalization of R&D: we took some early steps on a long journey to transforming BASF’s R&D Verbund to a data-driven working mode. We started with deep scientific data projects in chemical catalyst R&D and biotech research. This work showed remarkable benefit and generated relatively broad enthusiasm that led to the company forming a large, industry-leading department for digitalization in R&D. This remains a differentiator for the company until today.Value chain steering: BASF runs chemicals businesses with hundreds of interconnected plants and thousands of products along several value chains. We agreed calculation methodology and decision processes with dozens of businesses in these chains to optimize for the company’s maximum profit in specific ways. We built cutting-edge database technology to make these calculations at the speed needed for positive user experience. High profit increases resulted already after months of usage. The technology and calculation methodology became part of the standard controlling toolset BASF uses today.Commodity forecasting: We built models and applications to forecast commodity price development. We understood for what kind of products this can work.

I was a member of the 6 person leadership team of BASF 4.0. BASF 4.0 was a senior project reporting to the CEO of BASF. It evaluated opportunities and challenges of new digital technologies for the process industry. Target of the project was to develop a vision and roadmap for BASF's digital transformation covering all aspects of BASF's value chain and business processes. The interdisciplinary team consisted of experts and creative minds from marketing, sales, operations, engineering, innovation, supply chain, IT and HR. As the introduction of digital technologies such as IoT, Augmented Reality or Big Data Analytics into process industries was much more challenging than in a discrete manufacturing environment, the project entered uncharted territory. Over the first six months of the project, highly attractive opportunities were identified in almost every step of the value chain and more than 15 lighthouse projects were started to develop technical solutions and create digital business model prototypes. Implementation and roll-out started by 2016. The work on technical solutions was accompanied by a strong focus on cultural change and managing the impact of digitization on the work environment.

I was part of the early phases of what now is one of our prime R&D centers. I built up research teams for physical chemistry / formulation and mathematics (operations research, statistics, business analytics)

Ludwigshafen, De

Zürich, Ch

Obtained doctoral degree in the group of the late Prof. François Diederichhttp://e-collection.ethbib.ethz.ch/view/eth:31156

Dr. Sc. Eth Zürich, Physical Organic Chemistry

Dipl.-Chem., Chemistry, Political Science

Chemistry

Chemistry