Michael Nilles is executive member of the Board of Directors and Chief Digital Officer (CDO) for Schindler. Michael also serves on the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

Michael brings more than 20 years of experience spearheading digital innovation and large-scale digital transformations for multi-billion industrial businesses. As an early adopter of the Industrial Internet, he gained extensive knowledge in deploying smart, connected and data-driven capabilities at scale and developing new digital business models.

Prior to joining Schindler, he held various executive management positions at Mannesmann and Bosch Rexroth. As CIO of Bosch Rexroth, he digitized the entire value chain driving operational excellence. Michael began his career as software engineer at SAP. During international assignments, he worked and lived for several years in China and in the US.

He holds a master’s degree in business administration and computer science from the University of Cologne, Germany and is an alumnus of Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, USA. In 2015 he received the MIT Sloan Leadership Award.

On joining IOTA Foundation

The Industrial Internet of Things today is very powerful within individual industry sectors, but it lacks a decentralized and trusted machine-to-machine transaction layer to fully enable cross-industry ecosystems. The smart city of tomorrow for instance will require bridging autonomous mobility and intelligent buildings. IOTA with its Tangle based Distributed Ledger Technology is best positioned to fill this gap. I’m delighted to join the IOTA Foundation and become part of this transformational journey for many industries.

We are excited to have Michael Nilles join the IOTA Foundation as our efforts towards smart cities and infrastructure is being focused and prioritized. Michael’s thought leadership in the Industrial Internet of Things and deep experience in transforming industries will be of great value for the IOTA project as it continues to cement its leading role in the DLT space. Give him a warm welcome!