How to foster a one team mindset in digital transformation with Herman Herteleer
Our guest is Herman Herteleer, Group CIO of Interparking. He has vast experience in setting up and working with agile responsive organizations that continuously change and adapt to market needs mainly in the customer services and supply industry.
Together we discuss what is digital transformation about and if it really is “more about culture and people, than technology”. We also touch upon choosing the right partner to go through it and introduce the notion of rightshoring. Last but not least, we talk about the biggest challenges of building a high-performing team.
Michał Grela: Hello and welcome to another episode of IT Insights by Future Processing. I am Michał Grela, and my guest today is Herman Herteleer, a Chief Information Officer and business leader with extensive experience in setting up agile, responsive organizations.
Herman, it’s a pleasure to have you here; could you introduce yourself and your experience to the audience?
Herman Herteleer: Thank you for having me. I would describe myself as a “business CIO” rather than a technical CIO. My background is in the consumer industry, specifically telecommunications and energy, and I now work with an international group providing parking services across Europe.
Michał Grela: You mentioned the distinction between a business CIO and a technical CIO. How do you define those roles?
Herman Herteleer: Technical CIOs are often found in stable, inward-looking companies, like manufacturing or B2B, where they manage static systems like ERPs. In contrast, a business CIO works in dynamic, customer-facing markets. In these environments, the goal isn’t just rolling out a static system but doing the “next best thing” that creates value for both employees and customers.
We operate on the principle that “the better is the enemy of the best,” meaning we focus on doing “good enough” steps that provide immediate value rather than chasing a perfect, high-type solution.
Michał Grela: I really like that idea – that “done is better than perfect.” It sounds very people-centric, which leads to our topic today: building a “one-team” attitude when working with external partners. Before we dive into that, what is your specific approach to digital transformation?
Herman Herteleer: Digital is just a tool or a target; the real transformation is in changing how a company thinks, runs, and builds. Many companies are too transaction-focused and need to shift toward customer centricity. This is a profound culture change. For example, at Interparking, we are evolving from transaction teams to customer and product teams.
Digitalization accelerates this learning, but the starting point is the people and the cultural dimension. The goal is to become a “learning company” where, through small steps and early results, the ball starts rolling, and the company learns how to operate and build value iteratively.
Michał Grela: So, it’s about shifting the team’s mindset to constant change and an iterative “plan-do-check-act” approach. Is that right?
Herman Herteleer: Yes, and importantly, don’t do too much planning. Planning often leads to “planning paralysis” where you try to think through every risk because you’re afraid of doing something new. Companies often want expensive consultants to do a full assessment before taking a step, but I tell them we have to “act it out.” You almost have to trick yourself into thinking you’ve done it before.
By acting, you get your lessons from the field early on rather than from a book. You find out which employees fit this new way of working, you create value, and eventually, you become a learning company. It starts with a small footprint – just one reason to move.
Michał Grela: It’s a “learning by doing” approach. Some might call it “fake it till you make it,” but in today’s volatile times, we often don’t have the comfort of perfect planning.
Herman Herteleer: Exactly. You don’t have time to think it all through. The genius is in keeping the steps simple but value-oriented so everyone feels the benefit. We spend more time planning how to make things simple. For instance, two years ago at Interparking, we realized we needed a customer platform.
Instead of a years-long analysis of every solution on the market, we gave ourselves five months to build a “v0” platform. We broke open the transaction-oriented legacy systems, cheated a bit on integration to go fast, and rolled it out for three countries. Now, we have five countries on the platform, and we apply changes weekly in an agile way with small, mixed teams.
Michał Grela: That’s a great case study. How do external partners blend into this agile, fast-moving context?
Herman Herteleer: First, they must be “partners” rather than “suppliers.” A partner’s culture and people must be capable of blending into our company culture. We use small development squads made of people from different horizons. For example, a squad might have two people from a partner company working alongside our specialists.
Crucially, the squad must think as one team. If there is a problem, the partner’s people shouldn’t go back to their own office to complain; they should escalate issues jointly as a single unit.
Michał Grela: How do you find or evaluate partners with that mindset?
Herman Herteleer: It falls on our capacity to convince and motivate the people at the partner company. We share our challenges and what we don’t know yet. If an individual at a partner company sees the challenge as interesting, it’s going to work.
We aren’t looking for a “development sweatshop”; we want partners who understand we have a common objective to keep everyone motivated. We use the same “act, don’t plan” view: we visit them, sense their culture, and then do a small test to see if it works. This builds trust.
Michał Grela: Is this what you call “right-shoring” on your LinkedIn profile?
Herman Herteleer: Yes. To me, right-shoring isn’t just about geographical distance; it’s about a cultural fit. It’s about finding partners with a flexible, people-oriented mindset who care about their employees’ motivation just as much as we do.
We want people who are eager to hop on a plane to meet the customer face-to-face. This people-oriented approach is fundamental, especially for the younger generations entering the workforce.
Michał Grela: What is the biggest challenge in building this kind of team?
Herman Herteleer: It isn’t finding hard skills. These professionals are fast learners by trade. The real challenge is finding people with the right attitude – people who will go the extra mile and feel like they are part of one unstoppable team.
It starts with the culture of the company and the partner. Sometimes it doesn’t work, and you usually know after a few Sprints if there is a disconnect. If it doesn’t fit, you reorient.
Michał Grela: Thank you, Herman. To summarize: be a learning company, don’t over-plan, focus on culture and the right fit, and start by acting. It’s clear you’re passionate about this.
Herman Herteleer: It helps! It was a pleasure.