Management Board Announces CEO Stephan Gutzwiller Retirement and Succession Plan in Switzerland Market
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND — (September 29, 2023) auticon, a social enterprise that exclusively employs autistic adults as technology experts, today announced that CEO Stephan Gutzwiller will be stepping down from his position at the end of October 2023. auticon’s Board of Directors in Switzerland has appointed Iris Gallmann to succeed Stephan Gutzwiller as Chief Executive Officer beginning September 11, 2023.
Stephan joined auticon Switzerland as the CEO in 2019 when the business was still in its infancy. During his time as CEO, Stephan made significant contributions in building the business in Switzerland, connecting with the local autistic community, and enabling the company’s autistic IT experts to make an impact with clients. Stephan moved to auticon from SwissRe where he spent more than 18 years in Datawarehousing, Information Management, and Tech Enablement.
“His belief in auticon and our mission has been inspirational to all of us,” said auticon Group CEO Kurt Schöffer. “I am grateful for the excellent team that Stephan has built over the years and for establishing auticon as a valued partner in the autism community in Switzerland. I wish him every happiness and fulfillment in this well-deserved time for family and private projects.”
Iris Gallmann joined auticon Switzerland as CEO on the 11th of September. Iris joins auticon Switzerland from Salesforce where she led the sales team as the Regional Sales Director. In this role, she developed several global accounts for Salesforce and achieved multiple awards for professional contributions to the company. Iris was also named “Customer Advocate of the Year” (2021) for the strong business relationships and value-driven sales results she achieved. Prior to Salesforce, Iris worked in sales leadership roles with technology companies including Oracle and Autodesk. She has also lived and worked in Ireland, Sweden and Denmark.
“We are excited to welcome Ms. Gallmann to the auticon family as CEO in Switzerland,” said Kurt. “She is someone who creates meaningful customer relationships and holds a breadth of technical knowledge in the consulting space. We see her as a strong advocate for neurodiversity in Switzerland.”
“auticon is transforming companies from within, augmenting human capabilities and enabling new technologies. As someone who strongly believes that sustained profits are the fruits of equality and inclusion, this new chapter truly offers me the chance to provide lasting value for businesses, but also to society,” said Iris Gallmann. “I value this opportunity to equalize the balance and look very much forward to this new chapter.”
Globally, auticon employs nearly 500 autistic employeesand has become the largest autistic-majority company in the world. It is estimated that less than 29% of autistic adults are in any form of meaningful employment (Office for National Statistics, UK, 2022). Many autistic adults possess cognitive strengths that make them particularly well-suited for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Despite this, they are faced with barriers such as an exclusionary recruitment process, poor autism awareness, and employers feeling unprepared to offer support.
About auticon
auticon is an award-winning social innovation company. As an autistic-majority company, we’re a resource for talent. We integrate our technology experts into client organizations, performing as software developers, data analysts, QA engineers, and more. Clients experience our outstanding autistic professionals first-hand, opening minds and achieving diversity goals.
Our model improves the economic and social conditions of the autistic community with quality careers, unlocking opportunity, and empowering client organizations through actionable neurodiversity training and advisory services. Here, our employees build lifelong careers in technology, discovering personal autonomy and improved self-esteem.
Investors include Ferd, Autism Impact Fund, Ananda Impact Ventures, KOIS, Felix Porsche, Sir Richard Branson,Ferst Capital Partners and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. For more information, visit www.auticon.com/ch.
