Uploaded byFlorian Roscheck
Becoming a Modern Engineering Organization – Henkel
This presentation showcases the unique strengths of Henkel's digital unit, Henkel dx, and underlines how strong product teams with empowered engineers form the basis of successful data platform transformation. In combination with the Data Mesh, the strategy enables engineers to be successful in a well-established global powerhouse. This presentation was held at DATA Festival Munich by Florian Roscheck.
Becoming a Modern Engineering Organization – Henkel
- 1. WHAT GLUE ANDHAIRSPRAY CAN’T FIX BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION FLORIAN ROSCHECK, HENKEL, 2025-03-27
- 2. SLIDE TITLE, SEGOEUI, 24PT, MAX. 2 LINES WHO OF US WASHED CLOTHES LAST WEEKEND?
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- 4. WHO OF USUSED BEAUTY CARE PRODUCTS THIS MORNING?
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- 6. WHO OF USCAME HERE BY TRAIN, CAR, OR AIRPLANE?
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- 8. Sr. Data Scientist §Joined Henkel in 2021 One of first employees in Data & Analytics department § Applying data science in R&D § Leader of engineering culture initiatives Data & Analytics Blog, Henkel Data Club, Product Mindset Workshops § Online instructor for Apache Spark § Background: 7.5 yrs in USA in data science and engineering, studied wind engineering and mechanical engineering in Germany FLORIAN ROSCHECK LinkedIn
- 9. THIS IS US IN30SEC! BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION 9
- 10. WHO OF YOUHAS DIGITALIZATION IN THEIR CORPORATE STRATEGY?
- 11. COMPETITIVE EDGE BECOMING AMODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION HENKEL’S STRATEGY: PURPOSEFUL GROWTH WINNING PORTFOLIO FUTURE-READY OPERATING MODELS COLLABORATIVE CULTURE & EMPOWERED PEOPLE INNOVATION SUSTAINABILITY DIGITALIZATION 11
- 12. OUR SETUP 4 YEARSAGO BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION THE BUSINESS GENERATE AND CONCEPTUALIZE IDEAS IT MAKE PLANS CONSULTANCY IMPLEMENT CONSULTANCY IMPLEMENT HOW DO YOU CREATE A COMPETITIVE DIGITAL EDGE WITH THIS STRUCTURE? 12
- 13. BECOMING A MODERNENGINEERING ORGANIZATION A LEGACY SETUP HOLDING US BACK § High overhead due to fractured IT landscape § Inferior quality due to lack of implementation accountability § Incoherent user experience and security due to lack of domain expertise § Slow pace of development due to project-based execution Managing IT as a part of doing business. A MODERN SETUP PUSHING US FORWARD § Prioritize efficient use of resources § Provide reliable foundations for scaling tech innovations § Produce consistently reliable and secure digital products § Pivot effortlessly through fast and agile learning Embracing IT as a lever to business excellence. 13
- 14. BECOMING A MODERNENGINEERING ORGANIZATION SHIFTING NEEDS 14
- 15. BECOMING A MODERNENGINEERING ORGANIZATION A MODERN SETUP PUSHING US FORWARD § Prioritize efficient use of resources leveraging great talent § Provide empowering foundations for scaling tech innovations § Produce consistently reliable and secure digital products § Pivot effortlessly through fast and agile learning Embracing IT as a lever to business excellence. 15
- 16. BECOMING A MODERNENGINEERING ORGANIZATION 2020
- 17. OUR EVOLUTION IN 3WAVES BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION POCKETS OF GEEKINESS EATING THE PROCESS MONSTER LARGE-SCALE EMPOWERED TEAMS 17
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- 19. BECOMING A MODERNENGINEERING ORGANIZATION HOWTO ATTRACTGREATTECHTALENT? & RETAIN 19
- 20. HENKEL DATA & ANALYTICSBLOG § Goal: Attract and retain tech talent § Reflect our tech culture to the outside § Empower talent via thought leadership positioning § Document our tech medium.com/ henkel-data-and-analytics
- 21. BECOMING A MODERNENGINEERING ORGANIZATION HOWTOPROMOTE FAST LEARNING? & CUMULATIVE 21
- 22. BECOMING A MODERNENGINEERING ORGANIZATION WIDE E E P 22
- 23. BECOMING A MODERNENGINEERING ORGANIZATION E E P WIDE 23
- 24. BECOMING A MODERNENGINEERING ORGANIZATION HENKEL DATA CLUB COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE Why I’m getting this error during installation? Am I the only one facing this issue? How can I safely use Python? How can I access this data? Data practices often underdeveloped at most companies and employees feel isolated. 24
- 25. BECOMING A MODERNENGINEERING ORGANIZATION UPSKILLING ACROSS THE ORG HENKEL DATA CLUB Sharing of best practices around data use helps break down knowledge silos. 25
- 26. LONG-TERM MISSION BIG-TIME ENGAGEMENT BECOMINGA MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION Our geeky Henkel Data Club community is thriving. § Open to Henkel data professionals and enthusiasts § Meet once a month online for an hour, 2-3 talks from employees on various data skill levels § Grew to community of 1k people over 3+ years § Teams group has become platform for data-related exchange across all business units § Member quote: “I made a new contact through the HDC that has helped me with my efforts to learn Python for data visualization and analysis.” 26
- 27. BECOMING A MODERNENGINEERING ORGANIZATION WIDE E E P 27
- 29. FROM SMALL TOBIG FROM CHAOS TO STRUCTURE BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION Hackathons enabled us to templatize our data infrastructure. ”Standardization is about empowerment. When done right, standardization boosts developer productivity and lets data scientists focus on core business problems. But it requires upfront investment and can be hard to prove its value. Hackathons help by starting small while demonstrating scalability. Using Cookiecutter and infrastructure as code, we built templates that spin up full applications from scratch. As our library grew, so did trust in standardization— leading us to unify our templates into The Cookie Jar, giving our product and team a strong identity. Today, it continues to evolve, simplifying development while fostering a culture of best practices and collaboration.” – by Marina Gateva Marina Gateva As a Team Lead, Marina is guiding machine learning engineers in defining and exposing MLOps best practices on Henkel's central data platform. Her focus lies in enabling data scientists and engineers with scalable, secure, and standardized workflows while maintaining flexibility for innovation. 29
- 30. OUR SETUP GAINING IN-HOUSEIMPLEMENTATION CAPABILITIES BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION THE BUSINESS GENERATE AND CONCEPTUALIZE IDEAS IT MAKE PLANS TECH TALENT IMPLEMENT CONSULTANCY IMPLEMENT 30
- 31. OUR EVOLUTION IN 3WAVES BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION POCKETS OF GEEKINESS EATING THE PROCESS MONSTER LARGE-SCALE EMPOWERED TEAMS 31
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- 33. WHERE IS THE PROCESSMONSTER? BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION THE BUSINESS GENERATE AND CONCEPTUALIZE IDEAS IT MAKE PLANS TECH TALENT IMPLEMENT CONSULTANCY IMPLEMENT Unidirectional flow of work limits business-enabling IT potential 33
- 34. HACKING THE BUSINESS-IT INTERFACE BECOMINGA MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION THE BUSINESS IT FAST AND EFFICIENT VIA AGILE WAYS OF WORKING RELIABLE AND SECURE VIA BIZDEVOPS TEAMS EMPOWERING FOUNDATION VIA OUR DATA MESH 34
- 35. FAST AND EFFICIENT VIAAGILE WAYS OF WORKING BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION THE BUSINESS IT DISCOVERY SETUP DELIVERY Design Thinking Product Owner Scaling Agile AGILE TRAINING PORTFOLIO SCRUM WORKFLOW EMPLOYEE-LED INITIATIVES 35
- 36. BECOMING A MODERNENGINEERING ORGANIZATION DESIGN THINKING WORKSHOP WITH HASSO PLATTNER INSTITUTE Mutually upskilling the business and IT HANDS-ON LEARNING 36
- 37. RELIABLE AND SECUREDIGITAL PRODUCTS WITH BIZDEVOPS TEAMS BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION THE BUSINESS BIZDEVOPS TEAM BUSINESS OWNER DESIGNER DATA SCIENTIST DATA OWNER DATA ENGINEER SCRUM MASTER IT PRODUCT OWNER 37
- 38. AN EMPOWERING FOUNDATION WEAVINGOUR DATA MESH BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION DATA PLATFORM GOVERNANCE ENABLING TEAM IT THE BUSINESS DATA PRODUCTS BIZDEVOPS TEAM BIZDEVOPS TEAM 38
- 39. OUR SETUP DRYING UPTHE WATERFALL BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION THE BUSINESS GENERATE AND CONCEPTUALIZE IDEAS IT MAKE PLANS TECH TALENT IMPLEMENT CONSULTANCY IMPLEMENT 39
- 40. OUR EVOLUTION IN 3WAVES BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION POCKETS OF GEEKINESS EATING THE PROCESS MONSTER LARGE-SCALE EMPOWERED TEAMS 40
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- 42. BECOMING A MODERNENGINEERING ORGANIZATION WETRUST OURENIGINEERSWITH PROBLEMS TOSOLVE 42
- 43. OUR SETUP BUILDING ABRIDGE OF TRUST BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION THE BUSINESS GENERATE AND CONCEPTUALIZE IDEAS IT MAKE PLANS TECH TALENT IMPLEMENT CONSULTANCY IMPLEMENT ENGINEERS + BUSINESS COLLABORATE ON PLANNING 43
- 44. MOHAMMAD’S EMPOWERMENT STORY BECOMING AMODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION ”We had blurry accountability and hardly clear ownership for our services.” § Problem: Data products on Henkel Data Platform broke and it was not clear who was responsible for fixing it. Ownership data was scattered across different places. § Solution: Mohammad – Created an initiative to solve the problem – Gathered customers and lead discovery – Identified Backstage tool as adequate solution – Gathered a team and kickstarted implementation! § ”I am passionate about solving important, not-urgent problems – it’s what we need to get to the next level!” MOHAMMAD SHARAF Data Platform Service Developer 44
- 45. BUILDING A DATAPLATFORM HOW WE STARTED BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION DATA PLATFORM LEAD BUSINESS-FACING TEAM DATA ENGINEERING LEAD DATA ENGINEER TEAM 1 DATA ENGINEER TEAM 2 DATA COMPLIANCE TEAM FRONTEND TEAM IMPLEMENTATION PARTNER 45
- 46. BUILDING A DATAPLATFORM ALIGNED, BUT THE WRONG WAY? BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION BUSINESS-FACING TEAM DATA ENGINEERING SOLUTION 1 DATA ENGINEERING SOLUTION 2 DATA COMPLIANCE FRONTEND THE TEAM THE PLATFORM WEAK INTERFACES! 46
- 47. BUILDING A DATAPLATFORM TROUBLES IN OUR APPROACH BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION BUSINESS-FACING TEAM DATA ENGINEERING SOLUTION 1 DATA ENGINEERING SOLUTION 2 DATA COMPLIANCE FRONTEND WEAK INTERFACES! Centralized decision making § Slow progress § Lack of integration § Lack of empowerment 47
- 48. OUR SHIFT TO PRODUCTTEAMS BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION USE CASES DATA ENGINEERING SOLUTION 1 DATA ENGINEERING SOLUTION 2 DATA COMPLIANCE FRONTEND DATA DISCOVERY ENABLEMENT UNIFIED DATA AVAILABILITY CORE DATA PLATFORM + more teams PRODUCT OWNER LEAD ENGINEER ENGINEERS PRODUCT TEAMS COMMUNITIES, QUARTERLY PLANNING 48
- 49. OUR SHIFT TO PRODUCTTEAMS BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION DATA DISCOVERY ENABLEMENT UNIFIED DATA AVAILABILITY CORE DATA PLATFORM + more teams PRODUCT OWNER LEAD ENGINEER ENGINEERS PRODUCT TEAMS COMMUNITIES, QUARTERLY PLANNING Product-aligned decision making § Quick progress § Improved integration § Autonomy 49
- 50. DATA PLATFORM GOVERNANCE ENABLING TEAM IT PRODUCT TEAMS BIZDEVOPS TEAMS THE BUSINESS BECOMING AMODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION 50
- 51. USE CASES EMPOWEREDTEAMS TRUST TO DO THE RIGHT THING COMPL GILE WAYS OF WORKING LEARNING THROUGH HACKATHONS CROSS-FUN RE TO SPEAK UP RELIABLE TECHNOLOGY SECURE ENVIRONMENTS DATA M -ON LEARNING LONG-TERM SETUP GEN AI USE CASES EMPOWER TO DO THE RIGHT THING COMPLIANT SECURITY AGILE WAYS OF WORKING LEA CKATHONS CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS DARE TO SPEAK UP RELIAB SECURE ENVIRONMENTS DATA MESH SYSTEM HANDS-ON LEARNING TUP GEN AI USE CASES EMPOWERED TEAMS TRUST TO DO THE RIGHT T IANT SECURITY AGILE WAYS OF WORKING LEARNING THROUGH HACKATHON ONAL TEAMS DARE TO SPEAK UP RELIABLE TECHNOLOGY SECURE EN MESH SYSTEM HANDS-ON LEARNING LONG-TERM SETUP GEN AI WERED TEAMS TRUST TO DO THE RIGHT THING COMPLIANT SECURITY AG EARNING THROUGH HACKATHONS CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS DA A PLATFORM CREATING OUR COMPETITIVE EDGE
- 52. YOUR DOUBLED POTENTIAL TOTRANSFORM BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION 52 DATA ENGINEER PRODUCT TEAM “DELIVER VALUE TOGETHER” § Cross-functional team § Bring your best practices § Discover problems § At most 90% of your time YOU ARE IN 2 TEAMS COMPETENCY TEAM “GROW AND LEARN TOGETHER” § Your line management organization § Develop best practices § Define learning paths § At least 10% of your time Data Platform Team Data Engineering Team
- 53. PRESENTATION TITLE 53 YOUR FUTURE CHALLENGES Improvedata platform component integration Strengthen product ways of working Adopt leading- edge data technology Provide consistent experience across 40k+ users § Story of product teams in global non-IT corporates still being written § Upskilling in product thinking (and doing!) will still take some time § Great shaper opportunity! § Uptick in AI use: New pressure for data standardization in central data & analytics team § Technical expertise needed § Unlock large-scale benefits! § Global corporate = diverse needs § New product teams still adopting new organizational setup § Integration still to be improved § Big potential to make an impact! § Since 2020: Inhouse tech talent brings in new technology from outside § Corporate software lifecycle is long § Lead us in tech!
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- 55. FOLLOW US & LEARNMORE @henkel @henkeltalent Henkel Henkel henkel.com/careers DARECAST Henkel @henkeltalent BECOMING A MODERN ENGINEERING ORGANIZATION 55 FLORIAN ROSCHECK