Patrick Katenkamp, President, Software International at Cox Automotive Inc – and CEO at the incadea Group, is a seasoned automotive expert with an understanding of technology solutions and has a naturally embodied international mindset. Starting with a master’s degree in computer science, Patrick built a career that spans more than a decade of strategic roles in the automotive sector. One of the important things Patric has learned, is to be successful in very complex decisions, influenced by a fast moving industry and intercultural environment which leads to listening to his intuitive feeling and instincts than to analyze something to the conclusion.
His journey with incadea started as a General Manager for incadea Regions and was quickly promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2011. Within a short time of two years, he climbed the ladder to become the Managing Director for a year and then stepped into the role of CEO in February 2014. Patrick has expanded incadea’s international reach, and he’s now strengthening the presence of Cox Automotive’s retail solutions, globally. As CEO, his role is to drive incadea towards a very well established brand in the international automotive arena – with proven expertise and strong customer relationships across the globe.
Before joining incadea, Patrick held significant executive positions in which he led international teams, including seven years in General Motors Europe, where he was responsible for the Global DMS strategy. Then in 2008, he was appointed as a Head of Retail, CRM, and Digital Marketing Strategies and Implementation.
incadea: Leading enterprise solutions for the automotive retail industry
incadea, a Cox Automotive™ Brand has become a leading provider of enterprise software solutions and services in order to serve the needs of the international automotive retail industry from a team of automotive experts. Their proven industry focus and expertise have helped them become the vendor of choice for car manufacturers and their dealer networks around the world.
Continued investment and development, and incorporating valuable feedback from customers and partners around the world have enabled them to provide tools to drive efficiency and effectiveness. With Patrick at the helm, incadea has a presence in more than ninety countries, over 3,500 dealerships of market-leading car manufacturers and serving a growing community of approximately 92,000 end users. Over five years, revenue has become ten times what it was — from US$10 million to US$100 million — and growth only continues to increase.
On the other hand, Cox Automotive is a leader in the US – with revenues of $18 billion and approximately 60,000 employees – Their aim is now to strengthen its operations on an international level across Asia, Australia, Europe and Latin America. They are inspired to support their customers to digitalize their business in a very fast moving industry.
Concrete Vision Paved Way to the Top
In order to lead successfully, what one needs is to inspire, motivate and empower people, build a lean structure, and establish a shared vision, and that’s what Patrick always aimed for. He was able to build a shared vision, which a lot of organizations fail to commit, due to their imprecise goals.
Patrick knew having a bold but a concrete and measurable target does not let you drive away from your path. Either you make it or fail with it, but having a strong belief in the team is far important if one needs to succeed. Patrick understood it very well and thus, he combined a team of experts and drove it together towards a common goal.
Driving Technology Forward
The industry is moving tremendously fast and is accelerating, and if one is not equally fast, one cannot compete. Speed is perhaps the most important competitive advantage in today’s world, and Patrick knows it very well. He has embraced technology at its best and it only enables him to move faster.
Patrick and the team are focused on enabling their customers to remain successful in the long run through an innovative 360-degree product portfolio that incorporates deep industry knowledge – and at the same time act as their business consultants that will enable them to compete in a more and more digitalized world. They do not just sell software – but they offer business solutions as well.
Advising to the new entrants
Patrick advises new entrants to believe in what they are trying to achieve irrespective of what other people think. He also urges newcomers to not to be afraid of failures because he believes that nothing new and significant has been achieved without challenging the established, taking some risk and having some failure.
Patrick on Future of Automotive Industry
The future of automotive retail poses several challenges to traditional OEMs and dealers. Responding to consumer demand for a more satisfying and exciting car buying and servicing experience is a key. Shifting focus from the product to the customer needs and expectations – and investing in building customer relationships requires reshaping of the business strategy and utilization of innovative channels and technology solutions that will enable both manufacturers and dealers’ approach, win and retain the customer. Traditional business models and tools belong to the past. Those OEMs and dealers that do not manage to move ahead and adjust to the new rules of customer engagement could find themselves driven out of business in the mid to long run.
Source :- The 30 Most Innovative Business Leaders
