novomind founder Peter Samuelsen resigns as CEO

“I actually decided a while ago not to renew my contract as CEO,” says Peter Samuelsen. “Now is the right time to step back from operations and to hand over the helm to trusted hands.” The novomind Group, an independent, owner-managed company headquartered in Hamburg, develops intelligent omni-channel commerce and customer service software solutions for global use and is among the technology leaders in Europe. The company has been growing steadily for years and employs over 500 people at several locations in Germany as well as in countries such as Dubai and Egypt. In the fall of 2021, novomind also entered the South African market. Customers include many large retailers and brands such as C&A, Ernsting’s family, Globetrotter, Müller, OTTO and Puma, but also CTS Eventim, EnBW, Sixt, Volkswagen and others.

Peter Samuelsen is one of the European pioneers in the practice-oriented development of artificial intelligence (AI) for use in customer service and e-commerce. Launched in a (business) world without smartphones, Facebook and WhatsApp, but with avatars and linguistic dialog recognition software, novomind provided intelligent automation processes on the internet and laid the foundations for modern omni-channel communication. “We have always been committed to making the internet and the possibilities it provides a bit easier for businesses to use. The mix of AI and creative thinking is our DNA,” says Peter Samuelsen. “novomind is an internet company and has therefore been successful for over 20 years.” Samuelsen and his team were awarded the nation-wide title of “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2013; at a regional level, novomind has been on the list of “Hamburg’s Best Employers” twelve times to date.

New beginnings and continuity – Stefan Grieben to become new CEO

Stefan Grieben, the new CEO, has been with the company from the very beginning, joining novomind upon its inception in 2000. He was promoted to the management team in 2006 and appointed to the Management Board in 2012. The business IT specialist became CTO in 2019 and has since been responsible for Research & Development as well as Human Resources. He is one of the key innovation drivers in the company.

“With Stefan Grieben as the new CEO, novomind is in an excellent position. He will successfully lead the company together with his management team,” says Peter Samuelsen, adding that “Stefan Grieben stands for new beginnings and continuity at the same time. Drawing on his many years of novomind experience, he will continue the company’s success story.” As the new man at the top of the Board, he will also stand for a spirit of optimism after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and address and implement new ideas and visions.
“novomind will forever be associated with the name Peter Samuelsen,” says future CEO Stefan Grieben. “That’s why we are pleased to know that his wealth of experience will remain available to us going forward. My goal for 2022 is to successfully lead novomind into further new markets together with the management team and to aggressively drive our growth and international expansion.”

Besides Stefan Grieben, the now five-strong Management Board of novomind AG continues to be composed of Thomas Köhler (COO Global Delivery), Markus Rohmeyer (CPO Product Management), Stan Carstensen (COO Professional Services) and Mark Moeken (CFO).