50 AND FINALLY Arjan Paulussen, Managing Director, Western Europe and English-Speaking Africa at Lexmark 60 seconds with… What’s currently having the greatest impact on your business? The significance of sustainability remains a key driver for many of our customers, and its importance continues to grow. Businesses are actively looking to leverage technology to meet sustainability targets. Our commitment goes beyond our own goals of achieving carbon neutrality by 2035, for instance, Lexmark is focused on ensuring our technology supports our customers in introducing more sustainable processes within their print infrastructure, which in turn, allows them to make progress towards their own net zero ambitions. Many businesses plan to replace print devices every three to five years, suggesting manufacturers typically design products with this lifespan in mind. Lexmark’s intentional approach to engineering has raised the bar by delivering technology that operates productively and efficiently for much longer. Clearly, leaving devices in the field longer has a beneficial impact on not just the environment, but also the total cost of ownership for our endusers and channel partners. Where do you see the next big opportunity? In terms of technology, I expect IoT and AI to become increasingly important within our industry. Lexmark has consistently been at the forefront of this trend, having extensively integrated these technologies into our operations. We manufacture intelligent, sensorequipped devices that generate data to help make our products stronger, better, and even more reliable. This powerful application of big data analytics expedites problem resolution, reduces unnecessary service calls, and maximises uptime for our customers. Furthermore, Lexmark’s long-time leadership in managed print services allows us to leverage our cloud, IoT and connectivity technologies and expertise, to help accelerate digital transformation and realise business outcomes for our customers. What would make your day job easier? I find that I can make the biggest impact when working closely with our sales teams, engaging with our valued channel partners and end-users. However, travel is often inefficient, and consequently, we rely on technology to stay connected most of the time. Given that our customers are located as far north as Finland and as far south as South Africa, the invention of a teleportation device would prove to be very helpful. Until then, we make do with what we have: a combination of technology and plane travel. What’s the best bit of business advice you’ve been given? I often get this question: what advice would you give me? Typically, the question comes from people that are somewhat new in their professional careers. I always go back to the advice given to me many years ago, understand how you can drive the most value for your customers, and your company. This is the area where you should focus your attention. Do not think too much, or at all, about what your ‘next step’ will be in your career. Just keep your head down and drive the most value, you will find that good things will happen. What was your first job? When I was 15, I worked in a soup factory to save up for money for vacation. My job was to secure the lids to the soup cans with a rubber mallet. What would be your dream job? Manager of a Formula 1 team. Fine dining and good wine, or curry and a pint? It depends on the situation, preferably together with my wife, kids or good friends. How do you like to spend your spare time? I love golf and have played ever since I was 18. Other than that, spending time with the family, going to see new places on vacation. Favourite holiday destination. This is hard as we have lived abroad for a long time and have seen many wonderful places. If I had to pick, I would go for Sainte Marine which is a picturesque seaside village in Brittany, France. Money’s not an issue, what’s your perfect car… and where would you like to drive it? When we lived in the US, I used to drive a silver 1970 Porsche 911 Targa. Unfortunately, I sold it many years ago but have many fond memories driving it on the winding country roads in Virginia. If you had had a crystal ball, would you have done anything differently? I find that Lexmark is typically a bit ahead of the market anyway, and I named the example of our intentional engineering, the durability of our products, and the positive economic and environmental aspects of this strategy for our customers and channel partners. A crystal ball would have been helpful to help expedite some of those strategies even earlier. Describe your most embarrassing moment. There are many but I will not call out my most embarrassing one here, sorry. I prefer to talk about learning moments instead of embarrassing moments or mistakes. Arjan Paulussen
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