Ralph interviews Patrick Eigenmann, Deputy Vice President Program Management at dormakaba, about leadership, innovation, culture, and managing transformation in a global organization.

1. What shaped Patrick’s approach to innovation
Patrick highlights three core principles that guided him over more than two decades at dormakaba:

• Listening deeply to customers

• Having the courage to pioneer, especially when the path forward isn’t clear

• Understanding that culture drives lasting change

He emphasizes that innovation isn’t just about technology — it’s about mindset and long-term cultural alignment.

2. Lessons from building operations in the Middle East
Patrick describes his time setting up operations in the Middle East (2004–2014) as the most formative period of his career. Key learnings include:

• Diversity as a strength: Success required adapting to different cultures, languages, and business norms.

• Context matters: Products that work in Europe don’t automatically resonate in Dubai or Riyadh.

• Relationships build business: In the Middle East, credibility and long-term trust are as important as technical excellence.

This experience reinforced a people-first, trust-centered leadership approach.

3. Managing digital transformation at dormakaba
Upon returning, Patrick helped drive dormakaba’s shift toward digital and cloud-based access solutions — while the traditional mechanical business still generated most revenue.

He explains the challenge of balancing:

• The legacy core business, focused on efficiency, margins, and standardization

• The new digital world, which requires experimentation, agility, and different capabilities

The discussion centers on how to manage these “two worlds” simultaneously without undermining either — ensuring innovation while protecting the company’s financial foundation.

Overall, the conversation explores leadership in transformation, cultural adaptability, customer-centric innovation, and how large industrial companies successfully transition into digital business models.