Roland Busch

Roland Busch is the President and CEO of Siemens AG, one of the world's largest industrial technology conglomerates, with annual revenue exceeding $80 billion and operations spanning 190+ countries. Born in 1964 in Erlangen, Germany, Busch holds a PhD in physics from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and joined Siemens in 1994. He rose through the company's technology and digital businesses before being named CEO in February 2021. Busch inherited a Siemens that his predecessor Joe Kaeser had already significantly restructured — spinning off Siemens Healthineers, listing Siemens Energy, and divesting non-core businesses. Busch's mandate is to complete the transformation of the remaining Siemens into a focused technology company built around three segments: Digital Industries (factory automation and industrial software), Smart Infrastructure (building technology, electrification, and grid systems), and Mobility (rail systems and intelligent traffic management). The centerpiece of Busch's strategy is Siemens Xcelerator, an open digital business platform launched in 2022 that combines IoT-connected hardware, industrial software, and a curated partner marketplace. The platform embodies Busch's vision of Siemens as the operating system for industrial digitalization — the "digital twin" company that enables manufacturers to simulate, optimize, and automate physical processes in software before deploying them in the real world. Siemens's industrial software division — anchored by the Siemens NX design suite, Teamcenter PLM, and the MindSphere IoT platform — gives the company a unique position at the intersection of industrial hardware and software. Under Busch, Siemens is investing heavily in AI-augmented automation, positioning its factory automation systems to benefit from the Industry 4.0 trend of connected, self-optimizing manufacturing. His physics background and technology-first orientation distinguish him from the finance-oriented leaders common at large European industrials.