An expert in transition and transformation

NNIT’s new CFO, Pernille Fabricius, is a change management enthusiast: “I welcome and embrace change, and I enjoy leading an organization through a transformation process to stimulate growth and lasting value across the board. That’s what I’ve been doing throughout my career, and it’s what motivates me”.

Pernille Fabricius is three months into her role as CFO at NNIT. She moved back to Denmark in the Summer of 2020 to join NNIT, following a 16-year long international career in chief executive roles in Haag, Dubai, Gothenburg and London.

For Pernille Fabricius, it’s the “uniqueness of NNIT” that attracted her to her new challenge; the fact that the company was originally the corporate IT department of Novo Nordisk and has since gone through a huge transformation, carving out a market for itself as an independent company, through to an IPO and today’s standing as an international Group in its own right.

“The Novo Nordisk and life sciences roots and the Nordic values are very clear and present. NNIT’s journey so far is impressive, and I see a significant growth potential for NNIT in the future, not least within IT for life sciences. I am looking forward to contributing to the journey ahead,” she says and adds:

“As an organization, we need to identify and understand the near-term goals as clearly as possible and then strive to get there together. I love teamwork and setting the bar high, to have fun and to work with the dedicated, skilled and motivated people throughout the Group.”

Life Sciences and Winning Solutions

Pernille Fabricius very much believes in NNIT’s dual focus on International life sciences and Nordic/Danish enterprise customers combined with a zeroing in on offering standardized “Winning Solutions,” launched with the revised NNIT strategy in January 2020:

“But we need to ensure that we are structured in such a way that we are agile and can execute on the strategy. This requires continuous openness to change.”

She concedes that change can be a difficult process – even more so if the why, the what and the how, at times, have been slightly unclear within the organization. In a business such as NNIT, it starts with the people, she says, referring to CEO Per Kogut’s motto: “Happy employees create happy customers who buy more.”

“At this point, we need to ensure we communicate the strategy internally as well as externally, to all stakeholders, to get everyone onboard and press on – making sure we have the right organization and teams to support it properly.”

She firmly believes that the best team is a diverse team transcending traits and skillsets. She is looking for the dynamic and creative, the fresh and the hip, which comes naturally when you have a great mix:

"I still have my outside-in perspective, and I see a company culture characterized by a great history and tradition, but IT is a fast-moving business, and I think NNIT would benefit from bringing in new talents and profiles to challenge our old ways. Part of this, we are helping with our recent M&A activity, bringing both new products, cultures and talents to the NNIT Group.”

Evolution not revolution

Pernille Fabricius also wants to look at business systems and processes – to map and review the existing setup in a structured way complete with solid recommendations for the future.

“I want to make sure that our business is supported in the most optimal way. We must identify both strengths and weaknesses and always look for ways to improve, to do things better and more efficiently”.

This goes not least for financial systems and processes where transparency is a prerequisite for knowing the state of the business in terms of profit and loss and where NNIT needs to focus its attention and efforts.

Pernille Fabricius has her work cut out for her, but she is not fazed. “I’m used to it, and it’s what I enjoy doing. I’ve always been a hard worker, and this is a great challenge for me – to kickstart the evolutionary process that will lead to growth and lasting value.”

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On a personal note

Pernille Fabricius holds an MSc. in Accounting and an MBA from Copenhagen Business School and has completed several prestigious Finance, Law and Leadership programs at University of Leicester, DIEU, IMD and Harvard Business School, respectively.

She started her career as an accountant at Arthur Andersen in 1988, advanced to SVP Corporate Finance at ISS in 1994 and then began her chief executive career at GN Store Nord in 2001, before moving abroad in 2005 and embarking on her international career. She freely admits that her career achievements have been “a lot of very dedicated and hard work,” hinting at her strong work ethic and belief that anything worth having never comes easy.

Currently, Pernille Fabricius is the member of several Board of Directors. She lives in Hellerup with her husband with whom she has six grown children. In her spare time, she enjoys music and spending time with family and friends.