Uwe Raschke and Dr. Michael Bolle will be leaving the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH on June 30, 2021, following decades of successful work for the company. Raschke will be retiring, while Dr. Michael Bolle is stepping down in order to pursue opportunities in the high-tech and startup sectors.
The shareholders and the supervisory board are grateful for their many years of dedicated service. “Uwe Raschke has made a number of vital contributions both within and outside the company. On one hand, he was a pioneer of new management methods and agile ways of working. On the other, he made consumer expectations an early focal point in product and service development, thus cementing user experience as an important success factor in the company,” said Dr. Volkmar Denner, chairman of the Bosch board of management. “The very positive development in the Consumer Goods business sector as well as the considerable expansion of business in the regions he oversaw were also due in large part to him. In addition, he was responsible for the successful integration of the former joint venture BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte into the Bosch Group.”
Uwe Raschke has been a member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH since July 2008 and was initially responsible for the Asia Pacific region while being based in Shanghai. Since 2013, he has been responsible for the Consumer Goods business sector with its Power Tools and Household Appliances divisions, as well as for the coordination of activities in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He joined Bosch in 1984 and can look back on more than 35 years with the company.
“As CTO and CDO, Michael Bolle systematically drove forward the company’s digital and technological transformation and closely aligned its technology and product strategy with its IT strategy. In doing this, crucial groundwork was laid to turn Bosch from an innovative IoT company into a leading AI company as well,” Denner said. “This includes the establishment of the Bosch Center for Artificial Intelligence, the construction of our new AI campus in Tübingen, our AI training program for 20,000 associates, and the introduction of the Bosch AI code of ethics, which is also contributing to the important public debate around AI.”
Dr. Michael Bolle has been a member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH, as well as chief technology officer (CTO) and chief digital officer (CDO), since July 2018. Bolle, who has a doctorate in engineering, joined Bosch in 1992 and has been with the company for more than 25 years – interrupted only by the period he spent as founder of a high-tech startup from 1999 to 2003.
Franz Fehrenbach, managing partner of Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG and chairman of the supervisory board of Robert Bosch GmbH, added: “The supervisory board and shareholders express their thanks to Uwe Raschke and Michael Bolle for their decades of valuable service to the company. With their foresight and tremendous dedication, they have played a major role in taking the Bosch Group forward and helping the company to thrive. For this, they have our utmost appreciation.”
Restructuring on the board of management effective July 1, 2021
Tasks will be redistributed within the board of management: Dr. Volkmar Denner will be taking over the position of CTO from Bolle, which he previously held until mid-2018, as well as responsibility for the chief digital office. Responsibility for corporate quality management, which Bolle also currently has, will be assumed by Dr. Stefan Hartung, member of the Bosch board of management and chairman of the Mobility Solutions business sector.
Dr. Christian Fischer will be assuming responsibility from Raschke for the Consumer Goods business sector with its Power Tools and Household Appliances divisions, as well as for the coordination of activities in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as in Southeast Asia and Australia. The PhD economist is the board of management member responsible for the Energy and Building Technology business sector. He is also chief performance officer of the Bosch Group.
New chief digital officer
Effective July 1, 2021, the Bosch Group’s chief digital officer will be Dr. Tanja Rückert. The PhD chemist has been with the Bosch Group since July 2018 and currently successfully heads the Bosch Building Technologies division. She is an internationally recognized expert in the domains of software and IoT as well as Industry 4.0. In her new function as president, Tanja Rückert will report to Volkmar Denner. Her future areas of responsibility will include the corporate sector Information Systems and Services, the corporate function Internet of Things and Digitalization, and the Bosch.IO Connect, Bosch.IO X, Residential IoT Services, and Software and Digital Solutions business units.
