Media Information

Cologne, 29 June 2023. Jürgen Schäfer (46) will become the new CEO of the management and technology consulting firm Detecon per 1 July 2023. Ralf Pichler, his predecessor, is moving to the parent company T-Systems and has been nominated for appointment to the position of chairman of the Detecon Supervisory Board. The Telekom Group’s own management consultancy supports national and international clients across all industries over the course of their digital transformation and serves as the consulting branch of T-Systems.

In recent years, Jürgen Schäfer has been responsible for transformation and business controlling at T-Systems where he has gained extensive experience in the areas of business transformation, corporate strategy, digital business models, and finance. His experience as a senior executive in the digital and cloud sectors as well as in strategic management consulting at Roland Berger and Telekom Strategy Consulting are strong evidence of his expertise in technology and consulting.

Growth and continuity are the focal points of activities. The new CEO will continue Detecon’s growth course in the non-group business and offer corporate clients holistic consulting on strategy, transformation, digital innovation, and business technology. Emphasis is on telecommunications and increasingly on the major industries of automotive and manufacturing, public services, transport and logistics, and health care. Potential synergies with T-Systems — in the areas of digital, cloud, and security, for example — may also come into play here, e.g., in the integration and operation of solutions. Detecon is the advisory pillar in T-Systems’ business strategy. 

“Detecon has developed successfully under Ralf Pichler’s leadership and is one of the leading consulting companies for digitalization,” says Jürgen Schäfer, designated CEO of Detecon. “Telecommunications and the transfer of technology potential to other industries are part of Detecon’s DNA. We want to continue to pursue this strategy while concentrating more and more on important future topics such as artificial intelligence and ‘digitainability,’ i.e. the employment of digitalization to promote sustainability.”

“Jürgen Schäfer brings with him tremendous experience from many successful projects in strategic consulting,” says T-Systems CEO Adel Al-Saleh. “In his various leadership roles, Jürgen has played a key role in the successful transformation of T-Systems.”

Ralf Pichler has been chief executive officer of Detecon International since August 2019; he has been nominated to assume further responsibilities as Supervisory Board chairman in future. Under his leadership, Detecon’s revenues in 2022 saw significant double-digit increases as market share rose. He will take charge of global business for the Deutsche Telekom Group as managing director and SVP at T-Systems effective as of 1 July 2023. In his new position, Ralf Pichler will bundle the expertise of around 1,500 experts who provide IT and digitalization services for the parent company Deutsche Telekom. He previously spent eight years at Ericsson, where he held various international executive management positions.

“Both emotionally and during the performance of my new roles, I want to remain closely associated with Detecon. My new duties and responsibilities will see me actively supporting T-Systems as it continues to develop and expand Telekom’s position as the world’s leading digital telecommunications group,” notes Ralf Pichler.