Dr. Bernd Bieker — M&A IT Separations & Integrations · ICS/OT Cybersecurity · IT Strategy & Transformation
Bernd Bieker

Technology Advisory & Interim Management

I lead the programs that make the hardest technology problems actually get solved.

M&A IT separations. Industrial cybersecurity. Large-scale transformation.

On time. Within budget. Audit clean.

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Problems I solve

Senior leaders call me when a program has too much at stake to get wrong — and too much complexity to manage with a standard approach.

  • A carve-out or IT separation is approaching Day-1 with no executable separation architecture and a fixed deadline
  • An M&A integration is at risk of TSA overrun, with no clear accountability for delivery
  • OT environments need securing with minimum impact to production — in a regulated, audit sensitive manufacturing site
  • A large IT portfolio has lost executive credibility and board-level transparency
  • A transformation program is stuck between strategy and delivery, with no one who owns both ends

Areas of expertise

01

M&A IT — Separation & Integration

Carve-outs, TSA design and management, Day-1 readiness, post-merger integration, M&A playbooks. End-to-end accountability from deal close through steady state — across regulated, multi-geography environments. I build the execution model that makes complex transactions close clean.

02

ICS/OT Cybersecurity

Securing industrial control systems and OT environments in regulated manufacturing without disrupting operations. Program design and delivery against IEC 62443, NIST CSF, and ISO 27001. Architecture defined from hands-on understanding — down to SCADA-level vulnerabilities — with audit outcomes that hold.

03

Program & Portfolio Governance

PMO build, portfolio transparency at board level, audit ready controls. Turning fragmented demand into governed execution — with the reporting structures that make large-scale investment defensible to the CFO and to regulators. Track record includes portfolios of €200M+ and 900+ concurrent projects.

04

IT Strategy & Operating Model

From business requirement to investment strategy. Operating model design, IT organisation structure, and governance frameworks that scale — across Life Sciences, Energy, and regulated environments where compliance and delivery speed must coexist. C-suite and board-level stakeholder management across complex, multi-geography organisations.

Delivered, not advised

Sandoz · Life Sciences / Generics · 2022–2025

One of the largest IT carve-outs in European pharma

Global Head Technology M&A Strategy & Separation. Full IT separation from Novartis — 400+ FTE, 50+ countries, 200+ sites, multi-hundred-million USD in scope. Day-1 and Day-X readiness delivered on schedule. Zero critical audit findings. Outcome required a repeatable execution model, a scalable M&A playbook, and a team operating at the intersection of strategy and delivery.

Novartis · Life Sciences / Pharmaceutics · 2017–2022

Group-wide OT security program across global GxP manufacturing

Built and led the ICS/OT cybersecurity program securing critical manufacturing environments across 60+ production sites in a GxP-regulated pharmaceutical environment. Security architecture defined hands-on — including network segmentation, access controls, and legacy system ring-fencing. Designed against IEC 62443, NIST CSF, and ISO 27001. Positive external audit outcome.

E.ON · Utilities · 2010–2015

€200M+ IT portfolio — from fragmented demand to board-level governance

Ran the IT Project Portfolio Office for a complex global energy group, governing approximately 900 projects annually and a €200M investment portfolio. Turned fragmented demand into governed execution with C-level transparency. Built accountability structures and investment governance — enabling, for the first time, strategic cross-divisional budget reallocation.

Industries

Life Sciences

Pharma, generics, biotech. GxP-regulated manufacturing environments, M&A-active sector, audit-driven governance. I know what "audit clean" means operationally — not just on paper — and what it takes to deliver in an environment where compliance is non-negotiable and a missed deadline carries regulatory consequences.

GxP pharmaceutical manufacturing

Utilities & Energy

Critical OT infrastructure, long-horizon transformation programs, regulatory exposure. Environments where operational continuity is the constraint, not a preference. Cybersecurity and IT transformation that fits around production — not the other way around. Track record across portfolio governance, infrastructure programs, and PKI transformation.

Industrial utilities and energy infrastructure

About

Dr.-Ing. Bernd Bieker. Two areas define the bulk of my senior work: M&A IT separation and integration, and ICS/OT cybersecurity in regulated industrial environments. Both require the same thing — deep domain knowledge, clean execution under pressure, and the credibility to hold a room from plant floor to boardroom.

On the M&A side: I have run IT separations and integrations at the scale most advisors only model. At Sandoz, that meant leading the full IT carve-out from Novartis — 400+ FTE, 50+ countries, 200+ sites — from deal close through Day-1 and beyond. The playbook I built there is designed to be reused, not reinvented for every transaction.

On cybersecurity: I built and led the group-wide OT/ICS security program at Novartis, securing 60+ GxP manufacturing sites against IEC 62443, NIST CSF, and ISO 27001 — with zero production disruptions and a positive external audit outcome. Securing industrial environments is not an IT security problem with a different name. The constraints are different, the failure modes are different, and the execution model has to reflect that.

Earlier in my career I held commercial roles — Head of Sales & Marketing, Director Business Development — which means I read an investment case the same way a CFO does. That matters when the conversation moves from technical architecture to budget committee.

Open to strategic advisory, board-level technology mandates, and senior interim or program management engagements in M&A IT and industrial cybersecurity.

Munich, Germany International German (native) · English (fluent)
Bernd Bieker

Let's talk

If you're working through a program challenge that matches this profile, or you are in the need of interim support, a short conversation is usually enough to know whether there's a fit.