Swissair designed a software to manage its own share register as early as 1979. System programming was then done by an external provider. In 1982, a license was granted to Gebr. Sulzer AG, where Hansjörg Stucki first came across the software. Since then, he has been immersed in the world of stock companies and of shareholder solutions and services. He has witnessed the digitization of this world first-hand and has shaped it actively. In 1991, he founded Nimbus AG. The company is therefore celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

We had a personal interview with Hansjörg Stucki, a successful entrepreneur, founder and visionary.

Mr Stucki, you are very foresighted and a visionary, as well as a born entrepreneur. 30 years ago, you founded a technology business that is playing in the top league and boasts major SMI companies among its clients. What is the recipe of your success?

I think it is the qualities that are part of our company culture and the values we live: we are inquisitive, change drives us on and we see it as an opportunity to create something new. Nimbus employs highly qualified experts in various disciplines. This enables us to explore possibilities and turn them into projects.

Foresight is key for a software solution provider. Our ambition is to offer state-of-the-art systems and services to our customers at all times. This is why we all keep our noses in the wind.

Examples of our intuition can already be seen in 1993, when we linked up with SIX SIS AG’s securities processing system. Or in 1996, when we introduced the continuous usage fee to replace the single-use license. When the call for electronic voting devices came up (while nothing was available on the market), we decided in 1999 to develop and produce the NIMBUS Voting System, together with our partner GANTNER SOLUTIONS. NIMBUS AR has been available as a service via business process outsourcing since 2001 and as an application service from the secure Swiss Cloud since 2007. We implemented remote electronic voting six months before the Minder initiative was adopted, and are ready for hybrid Annual General Meetings thanks to DirectVoting today, before the revised Swiss company law has even been enacted.

I think we may consider ourselves courageous and visionary. The art is to catch the right moment. We therefore take up new themes early on and are ready when the time is right.”

As I see it, it is also the people in your company who make it unique.

We have classical values: it is a mix of our Swiss roots and an international broadmindedness that many of our staff have acquired during their early careers, just as I have. We are workhorses, profoundly honest and have the will and the skills to do a great job for our customers – in terms of technology, our services and our personal, individual support to each and every client.

People at Nimbus are united by a remarkable team spirit. They are ambitious and want to work exceptionally well. This refusal to give up before it fits, our personal involvement and of course also our receptiveness and availability are the things that make our clients happy. This fills me with pride.”

You embrace your principles fully and expect the same from the people around you.

Oh yes. I have a lot of self-discipline and try to be a good role model. I feel it is important to have clear opinions and to stand by them. I expect our people at Nimbus to stay involved, to cooperate actively and to assume personal responsibility. We have therefore introduced our network organization in 2006 and divided our responsibilities among many skilled people, including the necessary competences and creative freedom.

I also think it is important for a company to live up to its social responsibility. There are many aspects to an active approach to Corporate Social Responsibility: for me, these include being willing to pay a fair price for good services, decent behaviour that goes beyond legal requirements, environmentally compatible action, as well as the way we deal and interact with our staff. Independent management, marketing, communication and legal experts have been supporting us in the Board of Directors for 20 years; they guarantee we have a good Corporate Governance.

Our history of 30 years proves that this approach works well. At Nimbus, we live and work in line with a continuous improvement process and evolve permanently.”

Looking into the future, what is currently happening at Nimbus?

“We are implementing a change of generations – not only in terms of technology, but also in our business organization. Until recently, as a founder, I had the main responsibility, with an ownership-based management style. Almost two years ago, we created the Nimbus Leading Board, a team management. The directors share the divided leadership responsibilities that are clearly assigned. All managers, however, take care to also look outside their own area, to practice a holistic way of thinking and thus to enable innovation.

Hans-Peter Süess is our Managing Director, Daniel Stucki is Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Hanspeter Knill is responsible for Production Management, while Emil Aschwanden leads our Service Team. My experience and expertise are available to the team whenever it makes sense, especially in the area of change and innovation management. I am therefore largely relieved from the operational business. In this way, we make sure that Nimbus evolves constantly and will continue to count among the leading Swiss service and technology companies in future. Moreover, this approach reflects the way I like to collaborate with people: shared and participative thinking, speaking, creation, decision and responsibility.”

Thank you very much, Mr Stucki, for this inspiring interview!
Interview and text: Daniella Schori, TM Kommunikation GmbH