AI, sustainability and leadership
In The C-Suite, Top of Minds gives prominent senior executives from the Consumer Goods sector a platform. Janko Klaeijsen, Founding Partner of Top of Minds, distils insights from their experiences to inspire other managers and executives in the Consumer Goods field. In this edition: Adriaan Thierry of Bugaboo on AI, sustainability and leadership.
Adriaan Thierry was born in 1972 in De Bilt. His mother was a teacher of Classical Languages and his father an electrical engineer. "In terms of my work, I am truly a product of my parents: if you look at it from an alpha and beta perspective, I fall right in the middle. And the same goes for my two brothers: one is an IT consultant and the other a judge." Thierry lives in Utrecht with his wife and has three children, the oldest two of whom are now studying. Before taking up the role of CEO in 2020, he worked in various positions at Unilever, Red Bull, Albert Heijn and Sonos, after completing a degree in business economics in Amsterdam.
The state of play at Bugaboo
It is now almost twenty-five years since the first Bugaboo was developed as part of a graduation project. The company, founded by Max Barenburg, has undergone a remarkable development since then. From the moment in 1999 when Max saw his first Bugaboo pass by on the street while sitting in an Amsterdam café, to the global brand it is today. Bugaboos are now sold in more than fifty countries and the company has around a thousand employees. The revolutionary product has continued to evolve throughout this time, but its essence has remained unchanged and forms the foundation of its success: a pram that not only has a beautiful design, but is also flexible enough to take anywhere. The company was acquired in 2018 by American private equity investor Bain Capital and has been led by CEO Adriaan Thierry since 2020.
Why did you choose a career in consumer goods?
"It was a very conscious decision to start at Unilever, because I wanted to work somewhere where I could see tangible results from what I was involved in. That has always appealed to me about this industry and it still does."
And how do you see the future of this sector?
"Artificial Intelligence is going to radically change business. The AI revolution will change the world much faster than the internet did, and we will see that in our work over the next ten years. We cannot fully predict it yet, but many new skills will be required while others will become redundant. It will also have a massive impact on the business I run today, for example because certain things can truly be taken over by AI."
Do you have an example of that?
"That is hard to predict, but I think of customer service, for instance. The industry has of course been working with chatbots for a long time, but the quality is now improving exponentially, which will also change the role of customer service. This does not mean we will no longer have customer service employees, but the work will change drastically from reactively responding to customer queries to a much more proactive approach. Another example is consumer research. We do a lot of research into new designs and are experimenting with testing through AI instead of a consumer panel. Repetitive tasks will also be affected — think of financial administration, producing reports and forecasting. There is virtually no field that will not be impacted. The only question is how quickly and in what way it will change. Companies that do not adapt in time will disappear."
What role does sustainability play at Bugaboo?
"An important aspect of sustainability is that products last a long time. In fashion, the best thing you can do is buy a pair of trousers that will last eight years. Quality has always been a core value at Bugaboo, so it feels very natural that we have added sustainability as a key principle alongside that."
How have you approached that?
"We have started working with bio-based materials, for example. Traditionally, plastics are made from oil extracted from the ground, but we use oil derived from plants — and not from plants grown specifically for that purpose, but from plant waste. This reduces CO2 emissions. We have committed to being net zero by 2035. But what we do not do is offset. We are not busy buying certificates that fund the planting of trees — ultimately that is a dead end. We need to genuinely reduce, and we do that by using different materials, by working extensively with recycling and ultimately through circularity. We need to actively steer towards that, and that is exactly what we are doing. We are working towards an interim target of forty percent reduction by 2026. In this area, we are internationally leading within our industry."
As CEO of a global player, what do you think makes a good leader?
"There are a few things that are universal. You need to apply a certain structure to the way you work, and that often starts with listening well and having analytical skills. That does not necessarily mean you are always structured in a practical sense. I am not myself, but fortunately I have incredibly good people around me who help me with that. My way of thinking, however, is structured. You also need to be able to make strategic decisions and bring people along with you. That only works if they understand what you have in mind. You achieve that by connecting people, inspiring the team and consistently communicating your vision. Working in a structured way, choosing the right direction and then getting your people on board — those three elements are the most important building blocks of good leadership."
You have a commercial but multidisciplinary background. Does that make you a better CEO?
"It helps to have a few areas where you can think along with your team. I have had real functional responsibilities in sales, marketing and digital, which is useful because it allows you to act as a sparring partner. But you also need to know where you are not that person — for me that is product design. I find it fascinating, but I am not a product designer. Fortunately, I work with others who are very good at it."
What career advice would you give to young people just starting out?
"You are going to work for forty years, so do something you enjoy. That is the most important thing. After that, try to find work in that field. With the right drive, you will get there. That does not mean the work is always enjoyable — there will always be a terrible week that you just have to get through. But, and this may sound somewhat traditional, you also need to be willing to work hard. Sometimes you just have to push through. In general it should be enjoyable, but if you want to build a career you cannot let the first setback knock you down."
Three tips from Adriaan Thierry of Bugaboo
- Choose work you enjoy, otherwise you will never be able to excel at it.
- Develop a number of functional skills, so that you can later act as a sparring partner in those areas.
- Teach yourself to think in a structured way — analyse and listen carefully, make decisions and focus on execution.
