Johannes Jakob took over the management of HK.DIGITAL GmbH at the start of 2026. As the new CEO, he is responsible for the team and strategy – and brings exactly the right mix that the company needs: many years of experience in both large corporations and SMEs, operational management experience and a clear focus on practicability in real everyday business life. His aim is to make IoT tangible and practical for customers and employees – out of theory and into real life.
From large corporations to SMEs – consciously
Johannes Jakob began his career at Siemens and Nokia Siemens Networks. For ten years, he worked in large international corporate structures, gaining experience in the mobile communications and network expansion environment – and got to know both sides: the advantages of clear structures, but also the downsides, such as a lack of flexibility.
After this time, Johannes made a conscious decision to continue his career in the SME sector, with a clear thematic focus: digitalization and new technologies. Over the years, he managed holistic projects in which mechanical engineering became increasingly intertwined with digital processes. This was followed by seven years of self-employment with cloud solutions and web applications – and regular projects with the HK Group during this time.
“The service provider role then turned into a move to the Group – because I was attracted by the potential and the paths we were taking. Today, as CEO of HK.DIGITAL, I particularly appreciate having a high degree of entrepreneurial freedom within the Group: I am allowed to shape things. With full responsibility – and at the same time with the positive support of the Group.”
Business administration as the basis – digitalization as the core
Johannes Jakob holds a degree in business administration. His career began with commercial topics, a lot of controlling and international corporate practice. But the focus has shifted. For him, business administration is the basis for understanding interrelationships. In the meantime, the topics of digital applications and digital solutions have become more and more important: business administration remains the basis – digitalization is the content. The decisive factor for him is not the supposedly correct solution, but the customer’s actual problem:
“For me, it’s about understanding customer problems so that we can find the right solution as a team – not necessarily the one the customer originally had in mind. I see my role as a kind of interpreter: I translate customer requirements for the IT and development team – and back again.”
A seamless transition – and a lot of trust
The change at the top of HK.DIGITAL GmbH was seamless. The previous CEO Joachim Müller is moving to the corporate holding company HK.SYSTEMS AG, to which HK.DIGITAL also belongs, as COO. This was an ideal start for Johannes Jakob:
“The transition from Joachim Müller to me was very good. Joachim and Ralf (Krippner, CEO of HK.SYSTEMS AG) paved the way for me, gave me a great deal of freedom right from the start and placed a lot of trust in me. It was a very structured, harmonious handover. And I’m looking forward to working together in the interests of the entire Group – a lot of things are already very well established. Joachim has given HK.DIGITAL and the entire Group a lot of important impetus. I not only want to continue these, but also develop them further in a targeted manner.”
The fact that he is no stranger to the employees makes the transition even easier: Johannes has worked for HK.DIGITAL before and knows the company, people and culture from his own experience.
Structure where it helps. Freedom where it works.
From his experience in large corporations, Johannes brings one thing above all: a deep understanding of structure and organization.
“Large corporations have to structure things very well, otherwise they collapse on themselves. SMEs sometimes lack this clarity – resulting in parallel processes, redundant solutions and unnecessary complexity.”
At the same time, however, he also sees the limits: rigid roles, strong silos, little room for interdisciplinary thinking. His approach combines both:
- Clear structures where they provide orientation
- Flexibility where it creates added value
- a generalist view across topics
Three phases for the further development of HK.DIGITAL
As CEO, Johannes Jakob pursues a clear roadmap that is divided into three phases:
Phase 1: Understand and explain
HK.DIGITAL has a very sophisticated but complex product portfolio. The challenge: to make its comprehensive capabilities even better known. The solutions, services and products are available, now they need to be made even more visible and presented in a problem-oriented way. Not only technically, but above all in an understandable way.
“Many customers need solutions without wanting to delve deep into the technology. Logistics companies, for example, don’t need to know how IoT works in detail – but what added value it brings to their fleet.”
Phase 2: Structuring and professionalizing
At the same time, the focus is on internal development:
- Standardization of topics
- Avoidance of duplicate structures
- Clear dovetailing of IoT, digital and HMI expertise
This phase fits seamlessly into the strategy of the entire HK.SYSTEMS Group.
Phase 3: Scaling with benefits
The third phase focuses on scaling options – a clear advantage of digital solutions. The aim is to use scaling in such a way that it provides the customer with an ideal combination of volume, speed and efficiency benefits and makes economic sense for HK.DIGITAL and the entire group of companies.
Leadership at eye level – with curiosity and trust
Johannes Jakob prefers to work with people who are intrinsically motivated, who want to make progress, are curious and want to shape things. Hierarchies play a subordinate role for him. Interaction at eye level – from trainees to engineers – is a matter of course for him. He likes to give freedom, but intervenes if results are not forthcoming. Then it’s not about control, but about mutual understanding and learning.
“If things don’t work out, I want to find out why – and then develop a solution together. This attitude also characterizes my work with customers: listening, understanding, being honest. I think it’s important to be able to say: We don’t cover that – but I know someone who can help.”
This creates trust, sustainable networks and long-term partnerships – especially in a field as complex as digitalization.
The person behind the CEO
Johannes Jakob has been married for almost 25 years and has three children – family is a central part of his life. He enjoys reading real books, is a fan of the feel of them, listens to podcasts and audio books with a historical or technical focus and is active in sports: skiing, cycling, athletics in the past, fencing and horse riding. A special experience last year: a theater role as part of a 1250th anniversary celebration – as the mayor.
“Working together on a project, getting better, immersing myself in a role – that gave me an incredible amount of energy. And there are definitely parallels to my position as CEO: I can set impulses, shape the mood, inspire people – always transparently and truthfully. Anything else contradicts my values.”