Thomas Andrae
Director – 3M New Ventures, 3M
As Director of 3M New Ventures EMEA, Thomas Andrae is responsible for all aspects of New Venture’s European operations. Next to general management and supervisory functions, this includes strategy setting, due diligence, deal structuring, and post-investment collaboration with the respective ventures. Thomas Andrae brings almost twenty years of experience in consulting, strategic sales and marketing for major firms such as Andersen Consulting and Price Waterhouse. He spent a significant amount of his career in North America and Asia, leading complex supply chain and IT implementation projects for major clients from the banking, automotive and telecommunications industry.
Industrial applications, mobility, healthcare. And it will transform the insurance industry. A new range of fascinating consumer applications will arise, as well.
Equipping devices/ products with sensors and communication links is one thing – and in the process of being commoditized. The future value will reside in the layer that will transform the sensor data into actionable information.
IoT technology will become ubiquitous in a broad industrial context. The real value will depend on the quality of the above mentioned transformational layer. Consumers will see new contextual offerings from insurance companies, healthcare providers, etc. Consumers will see their personal environment becoming more connected and contextual, many new convenience focused applications will arise.
As I mentioned above: the transformational layer. And fresh and open minds to consider what’s needed and what’s not.
It certainly will. Just imagine a device/ a machine that is fully equipped with sensors, from left to right, from top to bottom. It will most certainly know when it is going to fail and will shut itself down. Does this device actually need insurance anymore? Imagine an aircraft engine detecting a turbine blade failure, sending this information to the destination airport where a new titanium blade is being printed (using laser sintering) and ready for installation before the plane even touches down?
Books:
- Age of Context: Mobile, Sensors, Data and the Future of Privacy by Robert Scoble
- Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (Incerto) by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- The-innovators by Walter Isaacson
- Zero to One by Peter Thiel
Sites:
Interview Partners: Thomas Andrae and Elise Orhan