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Executive Series Episode #2 - Martin Schmid
96 Plays8 months ago
Welcome to The Gens & Associates Podcast: Executive Series. This new series will feature Steve Gens, G&A Managing Partner, conversing with key senior executives that represent the software and services sectors. These informative one on one conversations will explore how they are guiding their organizations to effectively support key industry initiatives and technology advances.
In Todays episode, host Steve Gens is joined by Martin Schmid (CEO of Extedo) to discuss the transition to new investors and the bright future for Extedo!
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast Series
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Gens and Associates executive podcast series where I have one-on-one conversations with leading executives that represent the regulatory software and services sector to learn more about how their organizations are supporting and innovating in this critical space.
Guest Introduction: Martin Schmidt
00:00:16
Speaker
My name is Steve Gens, managing partner of Gens & Associates, and I'm happy to be speaking with Martin Schmidt, CEO of Extido. So Martin, I've been really looking forward to this conversation. I know we talked earlier in this year about some very interesting things going on for Extido and its customers, both on industry and the health authority side. So I'm really happy that you could spend some time today exploring that ah further with our listeners.
00:00:45
Speaker
So before we get started, can you just do a brief introduction of yourself and Xtito, and then we'll get into the discussion.
Martin Schmidt's Career Journey
00:00:54
Speaker
Sure. Thanks, Steve. ah First of all, thanks for the invitation and having the chance to have such a conversation with you. It's an exciting moment, as well exciting times for for me, but also for the company. But maybe I will start with a short intro. My name is Martin Schmid. I've been the CEO for Xtido for almost 14 years now. And before I started working in the life science industry, I held various positions and roles in software and consulting companies, mainly in the automotive industry.
00:01:32
Speaker
And what I learned there, however, are topics that are becoming increasingly important in the life science industry as well, and that we want to deliver as a service provider
Extido's Global Expansion and eRegulatory Focus
00:01:45
Speaker
as well. So value-added solutions that provide companies in pharma and life science with sustainable benefits and efficiencies, gains to help patients even better and with a faster time to market. And maybe also a short intro to Extido. Founded over two decades before, Extido quickly expanded across the world, bringing the very best in eRegulatory services and so solutions. And today we are focused on optimizing our clients' eRegulatory business processes and provide solutions covering the entire regulatory landscape.
Integration into Bertelsmann Group
00:02:28
Speaker
And over the years, I would say, Xtido also become the trusted solution provider for regulatory authorities worldwide, ah which is, I think, a quite nice improvement in developments a company made over all the years. And yeah, you mentioned it already, Steve. Since February 2024, Xtido is now part of the battlesman group. and becoming part of this company and within this company in the digital health division area this marks definitely a significant milestone in advancing operational excellence and this acquisition presents for us a fantastic opportunity to expand
00:03:17
Speaker
our global footprint further and also enhance synergies within the Battlesman Group, enabling us better to meet future needs of global life science solutions regulators and now also ah forward to the patients directly.
Excitement with Burlington Investment Group
00:03:35
Speaker
So ah thanks for that introduction, Martin. and And certainly, I think that's where we want to start off with. and And the reason why you reached out in the beginning of the year, besides you know wishing a you know happy new year to each ah you know each other.
00:03:51
Speaker
is the Burlington Investment Group. You were very, very excited about what it meant, you know not only for your current customers, but also prospective customers. And I know I benefited from you know the charts that you showed me, the different parts of this investment group that could be ah leveraged.
Extido's Role in Digital Health
00:04:12
Speaker
So, um and and and having the mantra, you know, of digital health, because we've always thought about Xdido yourselves. It's a very, very small, you know, community on the provider side that has excellence with the digital interchange between industry and the health authority. So that it's just the beauty of your company having, and I think a lot of people don't know this about Xdido, having a lot of clients that are the health authorities and also industry. So it's that that digital,
00:04:41
Speaker
interchange. But back to your new investment ah group. So what does this mean for Xdito? And your customers both in the short and longer term. And I think in the longer term with some of the other capabilities you're looking to leverage, it's going to get really interesting at Xdito.
Strategic Investment by Bertelsmann
00:04:58
Speaker
So for our listeners, could you say more about that? Sure, sure, and yeah, um I try to ah con convey this exciting journey we just started now. So um maybe before I step into battlesman, um
00:05:14
Speaker
One thing which is maybe ah quite useful to understand why we went into this direction, because usually if you say, hey, you're having a new investor, this brings up a picture of someone looking to maximize the value of a company as quickly as possible. ah only to sell it off a few years later and this common scenario where investors focus on short-term gains ah pushing for rapid growth and quick exits and they come in shake things up and before you know they are are out cashing in on their investments and for us
00:05:53
Speaker
With Battlesman, it is a path where the investor is not just interested in a quick turnaround, but this is genelessly invested in the long-term growth and sustainability of the companies they support.
Cultural Alignment with Bertelsmann
00:06:09
Speaker
and Bertelsmann is a kind of strategic investor ah who believes in growing beyond limits, brings together a selection of companies that will build something bigger than the sum of its parts and
00:06:25
Speaker
Honestly, nothing else would have been acceptable for us, Xtido, for us as a management team ah because our company, um our people, our teammates and also our clients are way too important to us to be a quick sale. so And in addition to this, ah Battlesman is a privately owned company. ah They are established on the market since more than 180 years, which is really a good indicator for sustainability and for long-term business.
00:07:01
Speaker
But they are also reinventing themselves always for growth, for continuous improvement for a business which is which has a long-lasting purpose and also success. And a it's a moment where we stood well in front of the decision to say, okay, with whom we want to go into more detailed discussions. Well, besides the fact that our previous shareholder had also a quite important voice here. um So the way or the path towards battles man was a reason because we have now a strong financial background to invest.
00:07:45
Speaker
in growth and in innovation. And we also have, I would say, the insurance of stability. And especially in our industry, ah you do not decide for a short-term software solution. You will need a partner that supports you in the long term. And this is exactly what we do for our customers for already yeah more than two decades.
AI-driven Solutions and New Alliances
00:08:10
Speaker
And well, we want to do it at least for the next 100 years as well. So maybe not with me as CEO, but ah maybe then the other ones. So luckily with Bertelsmann, we also found the perfect match when it comes to company culture and and values.
00:08:31
Speaker
And even that they are 83,000 people um and we are only 120, we have a very similar um perspectives on these these topics. So integrity, stability, long-term relationships, entrepreneurship, and also ah constant innovation. So well thanks for that, ah ah Martin. So it kind of sets the you know kind of why the the cultural fit. I didn't know 100 years how they've been around, which is amazing in this new chapter focused on digital health.
00:09:10
Speaker
So I have one follow-up question on this. And as you know, before I went into consulting, I was with Johnson & Johnson. And Johnson & Johnson on any given year is about 180 companies. You know, they're buying, they're selling. and um and trying to collaborate in different ways. So many, many ah decades ago, some of the people on the pharma side got tobe together with some of the folks on the device side, and they came up with that with the first J&J stint. So that that that that whole innovation about what we call combination products. So I know you're still fairly new. This is just, I think, six months into the new relationship with your
00:09:54
Speaker
ah new investment group, but is there anything that really excites you, you know, for our listeners, because you've talked about one of the other companies, kind of peer companies, like unstructured content authoring, there's different things in the digital health. So anything for our listeners about, you know, what you see more in the shorter term that you can leverage from the the new family that you're part of.
Product Portfolio Integration
00:10:18
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's that's that's a good one. So um we we see these, I would say, well, let me phrase it it, new alliances we are having now with Otolister, which is a company for um ah medical product information or information distribution to healthcare providers or even to patients.
00:10:40
Speaker
but also Duchovira, you mentioned it already with a structured component authoring, but there are also other um areas and divisions within battlesman, so like Arvato Healthcare. so and we We have now the possibility to build something bigger and that's that's quite that's quite exciting because following our vision of innovative and compliant end-to-end solutions, ah for information management in life science. We are now already working on integrating our product portfolios and exchanging expertise on various topics. And maybe there is for sure one topic coming up, which is very prominent currently, which is AI, so artificial intelligence. So, Bertelsmann, for example,
00:11:33
Speaker
has an entire workforce focusing on different use scenarios for ah artificial intelligence. And we as Xtido and our product portfolio are already benefiting from from their expertise. so And this is only the beginning, so you can definitely expect something more coming out of these alliances. And also the offerings we currently do see from both a lister providing to healthcare providers, but also to the industry and to the authorities, something which we can also position quite nicely to the authorities' network we are currently serving worldwide.
Innovation and Customer Satisfaction
00:12:17
Speaker
so
00:12:18
Speaker
That's definitely something um we we can, we have a very good chance to bundle these kinds of knowledge in all different areas and providing more and more and everything is running under one big roof, which is even smarter and nicer. Yeah, that's great having these new alliances because I know when you are sharing them with me earlier in the year and i and certainly have a much deeper understanding kind of of your kind of ah partners, you know, out there, ah there's just so many, so many possibilities. And it's all about adding value and quality, you know, with with customers.
00:12:57
Speaker
um I want to change gears because with us just finishing up our large world-classroom study we do every two years, we're always looking at the data and certainly with Greg and I, we focus on the advanced technology and the provider landscape. and And sometimes, you know, each cycle every two years, you know, when we do the study, a few things kind of pop out for us. So several things did on the advanced ah technology and also the provider landscape. And one, it was really great news for Xdido because for our listeners, we have a history of market share. ah But more importantly, what's the customer sat satisfaction faction trending we developed?
00:13:37
Speaker
Excuse me, in 2016, our innovation index. So it's innovation, you know, views. So as I, um and I have a copy of the data right here, like the Extido Innovation Index rating is, you know, pretty about they had the same from 2018 to 2022, but then it really popped. over the last two years. So it's really interesting with the innovation customer satisfaction scores increasing so much. What you believe this is attributed to, Martin, because certainly this is this is great news, not only for Xdida, but more importantly for your customers.
00:14:14
Speaker
Yeah, thanks for the question, Steve. And I completely agree with you. it's It's really something which is not even well recognized, so we really appreciate this development. And so we were also quite happy to see your your analysis in in your in your study. So, um and at the end, it's a result of what's a hard work we we started especially two, three years ago. And so therefore, we we for sure we want to continue this path and this direction towards success. But as I said,
00:14:58
Speaker
ah we it is It is something where we put a lot of i would say a lot of efforts in ah to have this kind of improvement. and so you know we have one One of our core values is um customer first. Over the years, we have always worked very closely with our agency and industry customers and partners to build so solutions that meet their needs and their demands and we are really trying to constantly improve this. So our entire team always goes really above and beyond for the customers. They are the main driver for everything that we do.
00:15:45
Speaker
And we've built with with this we've we've built strong long-term relationships with our customers. And at the moment, we also have some additional initiatives for the regulatory authorities, which makes us feel also kind of proud that we have these kind of feedback ah from from the from the regulator from the regulators as well. So um I think this is something that also maybe differentiates us from the others. So over the past two to three years, we have observed consistent movement in the market and a significant shift in the demand towards end-to-end solutions.
00:16:27
Speaker
and which is also your study showing. So with with our comprehensive su solution offerings, we are say well equipped to meet these evolving needs and deliver also the value to our clients, not only from the industry side, but also, as I mentioned, for the authorities. so um We have introduced a high number of new functionalities that especially help to reuse master data across our portfolio um or solution offering. And we we have the ability to automate processes allowing our clients to reduce not only their efforts, but also their error potential, which is also quite important, especially in our in our branch.
Future Expectations for Extido
00:17:17
Speaker
And we also received a fantastic feedback from our clients. So what you just mentioned from your study is something where we got the evidence from our own surveys with with our clients. And this makes us quite happy to see. Excellent, excellent. And I was just taking some notes here. um you know You can't go wrong with customer focus, just like we learned a decade ago that to have design sessions you know for our studies, because with the people that are going to take it, if they're part of the process and have that intimacy, it's just going to strengthen and get better. So so I'd say congratulations. Again, it's easy to say customer of ah first or customer focus.
00:18:04
Speaker
But to live it and have it embedded in your culture, you know, we we see the results in our study. Then it sounds like with your you know internal surveys too. So congratulations again on that. And finally, just one last you know thought, um and looking forward in the coming years, there there's so many exciting things going on with Expedo and being part of your new alliance. What should industry and the health authorities expect? um What are some of the interesting things in the coming years that you're excited about? Okay. Yeah. So what um this this could be a quite comprehensive answer. I will try it first in short.
00:18:45
Speaker
um So what can they expect? I think they can expect an offering of comprehensive process support, transformative tools for creating and matching content, as well as a network to integrate everyone involved in the pharmaceutical content lifecycle. And within this, we are, or we want to, or we are the trusted bridge between all involved parties, industry authorities, and health care professionals. And if i if you may allow me a look into the authorities area, which is really something where we are focusing on um more than ever, I would say, ah because what we see is that the health authorities under an immense pressure to manage a vast amount of information efficiently and deliver timely solutions to improve patient health. and
00:19:45
Speaker
This is where we come in with our, I would say expanded now end-to-end product portfolio, not only with the Extido portfolio, but also with the portfolio from Docovira and Rotilista. And we want to enroll this portfolio at the agencies to jointly work with them to further expand and and enhance it, especially when it comes Also to introducing, um and here we are again, artificial intelligence in in the agency assessment process. So that's that's something where we see currently really ah unique challenges. ah And so this is why ah we want to tailor our solutions ah to to meet those, I would say, specific needs.
00:20:40
Speaker
And on the other side, we want to be also as flexible as possible to ensure a fit that drives a real impactful results for for everybody. And finally, of course, we will also support our clients to introduce ECD 4.0, which look like that it finally will
Extido as a Digital Health Bridge
00:21:04
Speaker
come. So we we need to tackle these challenges as well. either on the agency ah or on the industry side. and And therefore we also put a lot of innovation in and we put a lot of thoughts in and we we created a kind of a forward compatibility for our clients in our solutions for ECD 4.0.
00:21:30
Speaker
coming from from the previous standards to solve, I would say, the major pains we are having with ECD 4.0. Yeah, that's ah certainly an exciting future, just more and more of this move into digital health, you know being the eRegatory experts. And I really love that phrase you shared. being the trusted bridge between industry and the health authorities. And that is, so as people understand in this space, that sacred ground and actually having having having clients on both sides in that collaboration, being in that sacred space is really, really exciting.
00:22:13
Speaker
So thanks so much for a very rich and insightful discussion. I think our listeners have learned a great deal kind of where you're at. ah More importantly, where Extido is going with its new alliance. They might actually have some questions for you, you know Martin, about you know yourself or Extido in general. So um how can they get a hold of ah you? this Is this through your website? What would you recommend? um yeah I think it's it's always useful to to follow us on our websites, but what is usually also quite quite good is to follow us on on LinkedIn, where we are always announcing new topics.
00:22:56
Speaker
ah We also have a very, I would say, comprehensive webinar series informing and keeping our clients up to date. And well, for sure, um there is of course a lot more to come. So maybe we we were a little bit too early already with our podcast. So maybe ah we can We can repeat it in in a couple of months again ah because there is a lot more to come. We want to provide to our clients and to the market and we are more than happy to talk about this in the future as well.
Conclusion and Follow-up Sessions
00:23:37
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. This is just, as you know, the start of our executive series. So we yeah you know look forward to follow-ups because there's so much going on and and especially really excited for you and the ah and the team at Xtido. So for our listeners, that's it for this session. If you do have any questions for the Gens team, please use our contact page off our website. you know Martin shared their website or LinkedIn to get a hold of Xtido. And certainly, please enjoy any of our other podcasts focused on our research, ah different subject matter experts where we explore key topics or other executive one and one sessions. So Martin, thank you again. Very insightful. And we'll definitely have that follow up later in the year. Thanks, Steve. Pleasure was on my side and I look forward to further conversations. Thank you.