CV (Short)

As an engineer, he learned how to unleash traction power on wheel loaders. As an executive, he learned how to unleash transformation power in organizations. As a speaker, he inspires with his authentic personality, his hands-on knowledge, and his ability to humorously share personal stories from his own professional life. Touching the audience with goosebump moments.

Bruno Hartmann is a German executive, long-standing strategic thinker, and member of the supervisory board at Bosch Rexroth AG. He studied industrial engineering in Rosenheim, Germany, and completed his MBA in Clemson, USA. In over 30 years in the industry, he has repeatedly helped to advance the boundaries of what is technically feasible. He has experienced, survived and successfully helped shape a number of mergers and transformations. In the course of his career, he orchestrated a global sales organization, led a “S.W.A.T.” crisis team and, as head of strategy, dealt intensively with M&A and corporate governance.

He is a successful Springer book author and advocates maintaining the corporate soul as a force for sustainable corporate development, especially in times of digitalization and rapid market changes. His credo: “Leaders must be useful!”

More about Bruno

His Professional Journey

His professional journey started in application engineering for wheel loader transmissions at Mannesmann Rexroth. Right then, his company was merged with a sister company to battle a crisis. Several years later, when he returned to Germany after several years on assignment as a project manager in the USA, the world had changed once again: his medium-sized company had been taken over as part of big game. In the wake of the largest hostile takeover in history, the acquisition of the Mannesmann AG by Vodafone, Bruno experienced the dissolution of the Mannesmann Group and help shape the transformation of  Rexroth into a modern industrial group under the roof of BOSCH. Among other things, he orchestrated a global sales organization and led a “S.W.A.T.” crisis-turnaround-team. As head of corporate strategy and right-hand man to the CEO, he dealt a lot about with M&A, Corporate Governance, as well as new technologies.

As an active member of the executive team and a VP of  Technical Sales, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Bosch Rexroth AG, Bruno´s teams and he himself are right in the middle of digitalization, experimentation and learning with new forms of organization. Every day, they experience how important different perspectives and expertise, constructive friction, and discussions are for the continued development and success of a company.

Born in 1965, he studied industrial engineering in Rosenheim and completed his Master in Business Administration (MBA) at Clemson University in the USA. At Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, he learned the basics of “Cross-Cultural Management in Post-Merger Integration”. Darren LaCroix and Mark Brown, two of the world’s most renowned speaker coaches, helped Bruno on his way to the stage. He received the “Qualified Supervisory Board” certification from Deutsche Börse AG in 2021. He is also a successful Springer-Gabler book author, guest author for business magazines such as Capital, Wirtschaftswoche and Focus, as well as a member of the Association of German Engineers (VDI) and the German Speakers’ Association (GSA).

Some Private Insights

Over the course of many years, he could help Bosch Rexroth and their customers repeatedly to push out the boundaries of what is technically feasible. That was exciting for him! His first keynote he gave in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2002. To convey to his own American colleagues that it was actually quite easy to work with us “Germans” was what he tried. You will notice the irony!  It was there that he felt for the first time the power and impact that honest and respectful thoughts, clearly expressed and accompanied by a pinch of humor, can have. That was probably his true start as a keynote speaker. What makes him special? Most likely it is a combination of things. This powerful blend of international leadership experience, curiosity and the desire to inspire people to change their perspective. And one more thing: He likes to get to the heart of things.

The family time spent in the USA had a lasting impact on him and gave him a much more positive perspective on life. He enjoys working with people from other cultures: whether it’s being greeted with a warm hug in Sao Paulo, the constant head shaking of the audience in Bangalore, which drives oneself to helplessness, or the restrained reactions of negotiating partners in Tokyo, who demand the last reserves of patience. People are so different. That fascinates Bruno. When people treat others from above, he sometimes faces an allergic reaction. He see developing people as one of the most important leadership tasks.

Together with his wife he lives in Bavaria/Germany, close to the city of Ulm. He has two grown-up children of whom he is very proud of, because they are both doing things “their” way. And then there’s an overweight cat. He likes “dry” humor and loves cooking, preferably homemade pasta or something from the grill. Every now and then he picks up his Bruce Springsteen signature guitar and sings. Music is wonderfully relaxing.