Ruben, when did you join ERNI and how did your path lead you here?
I joined ERNI in 2017 with more than 7 years of experience in the MedTech area from a medical and diagnostics company. At ERNI, I started as a Scrum Master for a service of the company dedicated to Lab Drivers, working with 7 people to establish a more mature collaboration model for a customer.
What were your next steps?
We had some challenges at the start. We had to coach the customer on how to work in a Managed Service model. For instance, we did not have a knowledge transfer and management system, so I started from scratch and applied “learning by doing”. Even today, this project is a master’s table in Spain, making up to 15 to 25 percent of performance per year.
My career path took me through a senior role to becoming Service Manager for the Connectivity area of ERNI (3 projects) and later People Unit Leader ad interim. A little more than a year later, I have now taken responsibility for 9 projects and become People Unit Leader. I also act as the subject matter expert working on webinars and articles and I’m part of the account management.
What is your educational background?
I am a Telecommunications Engineer but have never worked in that area. I started doing applications development mainly as a backend .NET developer. My idea before I started working with people was to become an architect in .NET and C++.
What do you like most about working in MedTech?
The main reason I like it is that you get to do something that impacts our daily life and our health. I really like the industry domain as such. I also enjoy the quality and safety behind it. And the long tradition, as it is focused on medicine and healthcare devices.
What has been the most impactful project of your career so far?
It was the Lab Drivers, as it allowed me to learn a lot, e.g. what diagnosis means for patients and for doctors and hospitals. It provided a whole big picture to me which I appreciate very much.
What do you see as the major trend in MedTech?
It depends on the company, but I would say it is the move from cure to prevention. And the trend to be faster and more adaptive. MedTech companies in general have to take a step forward in order to become preventive instead of reactive. I think the industry is not technology-centric. The key is understanding real society’s needs.
How will this trend make itself visible in healthcare?
It will have a big impact on being agile, on the organisation, and process adaptation. Time to market will grow faster and faster with time. Every day, society and patient needs change, so the structures in the surroundings will have to become more flexible and more agile in order to be more adaptive faster.
