We welcome Executive Advisor Frank Hocke as a new member of the asvin Advisory Board.

 

  1. Since when have you been a member of asvin’s advisory board?

In autumn 2022, I met one of asvin’s investors during a small dinner for speakers at an event. He told me about his investment and I found asvin’s business idea of focusing on security in the logistics value chain very interesting. He, in turn, wanted to bring me together with Mirko Ross, as he thought we would complement and understand each other very well. Well, and now I have been on the advisory board since 27.1.2023.

  1. Why asvin? – What is the unique selling point and the esprit of this company?

I like asvin’s focus on security and the division into different products, which in turn interact with each other. As a “trained programmer” – today these people are also called “solution architects” – I am interested in the technology behind the product and the possible integration as well as the interaction with the existing products and processes of the customers. So far, I have also been impressed by the speed with which asvin is already respected in the “security community”. The investor was right, by the way: I get on very well with Mirko Ross and was delighted that he invited me to join the advisory board after a few discussions.

  1. What appeals to you about this collaboration?

I think that I can support asvin well with my knowledge of both the processes in the supply chain segment and the technical integration of the products. Cybersecurity has a lot to do with competence, but also a lot to do with moderation. I see my part as supporting not only asvin itself but also the company’s customers in extending existing processes with innovative solutions from asvin and improving integration into the customer’s processes. I myself have never stopped learning new things. You can’t do that in IT either. So I am looking forward to broadening my own horizons in cooperation with asvin and in dealing with this immensely exciting topic of cybersecurity. As I know, asvin expects active participation in working groups from the advisory board, which is something that also appeals to me, in addition to expanding my network.

  1. What have been your own professional highlights so far?

In the 90s, I was responsible for the worldwide rollout of an important subsystem of the supply chains in the Volkswagen Group on the IT side. The successful system deployments in markets such as Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, to name but a few, led to my development into management. My five years in the USA at the IT subsidiary gedas in Michigan were formative. At that time, the “Agile Manifesto” was just being created in the neighbouring town and we started to build the first WEB applications with new techniques like “XP/extreme programming”, when client server systems were still being developed in Germany. My four years in China were also exciting, where I was allowed to manage the entire IT, but also the processes and organisation with our Chinese partner in a joint venture. Back in Germany, I was responsible for the local sales IT for seven years as CIO. Highlights here: The complete retail integration, but also my excursion as CIO to Russia. And my last job for VW for the time being fits in well with the asvin theme of secure supply chains: I was allowed to pave the way for modernising the vehicle supply chain systems based on the latest technologies and processes.