Governance & ESG

Find out more about our policies & statutes, our boards, the AGM and our sustainability efforts

Policies & Statutes Executive Board Supervisory Board Annual General Meeting Sustainability & ESG

Policies & Statutes

Exasol AG’s Corporate Governance

Exasol AG understands a responsible and transparent Corporate Governance as a central challenge and indispensable prerequisite for the creation of sustainable value for all relevant stakeholders (shareholders, customers, employees, business partners and the public).

Corporate Governance Structure

Exasol AG is a German stock corporation and as such has a two-tier management and oversight structure consisting of a Executive Board and a Supervisory Board. The third central body of the company is the General Meeting of Shareholders. The areas of responsibility of these three bodies are regulated in the German stock corporation law and by the statutes of Exasol AG.
In addition to the statutory responsibilities and the internal and external control and monitoring mechanisms, the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board also believe that effective corporate governance includes upholding and respecting our values, guidelines and corporate principles.

Articles of Association of Exasol AG, version dated 4. October 2022

The basic conditions framing Exasol AG’s set-up in corporation law terms are contained in the Articles of Association, f.ex. definition of the corporate purpose, the amount of capital stock, the share class, the organization of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board etc. Only the General Meeting of Shareholders can amend the content of the Articles of Association, and any changes must be carried by a majority of the votes cast as well as a majority of the share capital represented when the resolution is adopted.

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Rules of Procedure for the Supervisory Board of Exasol AG

The Supervisory Board conducts its business in accordance with the provisions of the law, the Articles of Association, and its Rules of Procedure.

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Code of Conduct for Employees

Exasol strives to approach all of its business activities responsibly, ethically and with integrity.
At the heart of good corporate governance are our key corporate principles – maintaining a culture of integrity, transparency and compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, resulting in good corporate governance.
Exasol has developed a Code of Conduct for all employees and managers to turn these principles into action. It describes the basic commitments and expectations that should be reflected in our daily work to keep Exasol compliant and successful. This Code of Conduct is part of all employment contracts and has to be confirmed by every employee.

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Code of Conduct for Supplier and Business Partners

Exasol takes compliance with global standards and best practices very seriously and expects its suppliers and other business partners (e.g. contractors, consultants, partners) to commit to the same high standards and best practices of ethical business conduct as defined in this Code of Conduct for Suppliers and Business Partners. This Code of Conduct is part of the internal risk-based (sector, size, type of work etc.) third-party management, which includes risk assessments and documented approval and selection processes for suppliers and business partners. Employees involved in procurement are especially trained on these standards.

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Internal Guidelines and Principles to Strengthen Ethical Business Practices, including Whistleblowing Process

Exasol has, as part of its Compliance and Risk Management System and Integrated Management System, established internal guidelines and policies that all employees have been informed about, trained on, and must agree to. These include, among others, anti-corruption and bribery, handling of gifts, benefits and potential conflicts of interest, handling of data, IT security and related topics. Exasol regularly conducts audits of its ethical standards (Code of Conduct, Anti-Corruption and Bribery Policy etc.).
There is also a clearly defined and communicated whistleblowing process that allows employees and externals to report compliance incidents (also) anonymously and with ensured non-retaliation.
Access to be requested via compliance@exasol.com.

Executive Board

Get to know our Executive Board

Joerg Tewes

Joerg Tewes

Member of the Executive Board and CEO

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Year of Birth: 1964

Nationality: German

Initial Appointment: January 2023

Appointed until: December 2025

Function: Member of the Executive Board and CEO

Professional Career: Joerg Tewes spent the first 12 years of his career at data management software company Poet Holdings – today part of Actian Corporation – supporting the company through its early growth stages to its IPO at the German stock exchange. He relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2007 and continued to pursue his career in general management roles at Avid Technology Inc. and Logitech International. In 2014, he joined video and augmented reality start-up Avegant as CEO, where he raised $50M in venture capital funding and strategically expanded the company’s product offerings. From 2018 – 2022, Joerg Tewes held senior leadership roles at Amazon, driving the development and commercialization of its tablet, e-reader and video communication technologies. Joerg Tewes is a member of Band of Angels, serving as an angel investor and mentor to technology start-ups.

Academic Career: Joerg Tewes holds a degree in computer science from the Technical University in Berlin, Germany.

Further Appointments and Mandates: No further appointments or mandates

As of January 1st, 2023

Jan-Dirk Henrich

Jan-Dirk Henrich

Member of the Executive Board and CFO/COO

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Year of Birth: 1977

Nationality: German

Initial Appointment: September 2021

Appointed until: August 2024

Function: Member of the Executive Board and CFO/COO

Professional Career: Jan-Dirk Henrich joined Exasol in September 2021 as Member of the Executive Board and CFO/COO. He leads all finance related departments including Accounting, Controlling, Legal/Compliance and Investor Relations as well as the Human Resources functions. Jan-Dirk brings along 20 years of professional experience in the areas of General Management, Finance and Strategy/M&A, thereof 4 years in deployments in Asia and the US. Prior to joining Exasol, he worked as Vice President Controlling and Business Intelligence at publicly listed NEW WORK SE, a leading provider of HR Tech and Professional Networking services in the DACH region.

Academic Career: Jan-Dirk Henrich studied Business Administration at Otto-Beisheim Graduate School of Management (WHU) in Vallendar, Germany (German diploma). In addition, he studied at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), London, UK, and was awarded a Master of Science in Economics.

Further Appointments and Mandates: No further appointments or mandates

As of September 1st, 2021.

Mathias Golombek

Mathias Golombek

Member of the Executive Board and Chief Technology Officer

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Year of Birth: 1979

Nationality: German

Initial Appointment: January 2014

Appointed until: December 2025

Function: Member of the Executive Board and Chief Technology Officer

Professional Career: Mathias Golombek has been with Exasol since 2004. He initially was Head of Research & Development. In 2014, he was appointed as member of the Executive Board and Chief Technology Officer.

Academic Career: Mathias Golombek studied computer science with focus on databases, distributed systems and development processes at the University of Applied Sciences in Wuerzburg, Germany (Diploma in Computer Science).

Further Appointments and Mandates: No further appointments or mandates

As of November 8th, 2022.

Supervisory Board

Get to know our Supervisory Board

Volker Smid

Volker Smid

Chairman of the supervisory board

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Year of Birth: 1958

Nationality: German

Member since: July 2021

Elected until: AGM 2026

Practised profession: CEO of Acrolinx GmbH

Professional Career: Volker Smid has more than 25 years of management experience in the software, internet, technology and media industry. At Acrolinx, Smid contributes his extensive knowledge in Content Marketing to drive the ongoing international expansion of the Berlin-based group. Before joining Acrolinx he served as CEO of Searchmetrics and EVP Digital & Technologies at the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. Prior to Holtzbrinck, Volker Smid was CEO of Hewlett-Packard GmbH, Vice Chairman of BITKOM, President EMEA and Asia/PAC at Novell Inc. in London, SVP Sales Midmarket Parametric Technology in Boston, Munich and Tokyo and SVP at POET Inc. in San Mateo, California. A decisive factor in his early professional development was his founding of a company with 3 partners that later grew to employ 200 persons. Volker Smid, who has a degree in Business Informatics, was also shaped by working with various major companies in all the world's key economic regions.

Academic Career: Business IT Specialist

Further Appointments and Mandates: No further appointments or mandates

Independence: In the opinion of the Supervisory Board, Volker Smid does not have any personal or business relations with Exasol AG or its group companies, the Executive Board of Exasol AG or any shareholder with a material interest in Exasol AG.

As of July 6th, 2022.

 

Karl Hopfner

Karl Hopfner

Deputy Chairman of the supervisory board
Member of the Audit Committee

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Year of Birth: 1952

Nationality: German

Member since: June 2018

Elected until: AGM 2026

Practised profession: Business economist

Professional Career: Karl Hopfner started his professional career as Commercial Director of a large German construction company before being promoted to the position of Head of Accounting and Human Resources. Mr Hopfner was full-time Managing Director of FC Bayern München e.V. between 1983 and 2002 and member of the Management Board of FC Bayern München AG from 2002 to December 2012, the last two years serving as Vice Chairman. He became a member of the Supervisory Board of FC Bayern München AG in December 2012 and was elected Chairman in September 2014. He held this position until his departure from the Supervisory Board in February 2017. Karl Hopfner was also President of FC Bayern München e.V., a member of the Board of Directors of Deutsche Fußball Liga and Deutscher Fußballbund, as well as serving on UEFA committees. From 2014 until March 2018 he was member of the supervisory board of Allianz Beratungs- und Vertriebs-AG.

Academic Career: Industrial Clerk / Business Economist

Further Appointments and Mandates:

  • Honorary Managing Director of a non-profit company
  • Member of the Advisory Board of Schmidbauer GmbH & Co KG.

Independence: In the opinion of the Supervisory Board, Karl Hopfner does not have any personal or business relations with Exasol AG or its group companies, the Executive Board of Exasol AG or any shareholder with a material interest in Exasol AG.

As of July 6th, 2022.

Linda Mihalic

Linda Mihalic

Member of the supervisory board

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Year of Birth: 1971

Nationality: German

Member since: July 2022

Elected until: AGM 2027

Practised profession: Chief Sales Officer, Degura GmbH

Professional Career: Linda Mihalic is an executive leader with more than 25 years of management experience in HR transformation and technology cloud sales in international corporations and start-ups. The graduate in business administration (FH) is Chief Sales Officer at Degura GmbH. There, she has headed sales since April 2022 and is responsible for the growth strategy of the Berlin-based start-up. Ms. Mihalic began her career at the US-based Oracle Group, where she successfully held several sales leadership roles in the technology sector, as Head of HR Oracle Germany and finally as Senior Sales Director EMEA Alliances & Channels Engineered System. She gained her founding experience as Co-Founder and Co-CEO at trueredo.com. Ms. Mihalic subsequently managed the sales of the cloud HCM solution Successfactors at SAP in Switzerland. Before joining Degura GmbH, she was Chief Sales Officer at Tandemploy GmbH.

Academic Career: Business Economist

Further Appointments and Mandates: No further appointments or mandates

Independence: In the opinion of the Supervisory Board, Linda Mihalic does not have any personal or business relations with Exasol AG or its group companies, the Executive Board of Exasol AG or any shareholder with a material interest in Exasol AG.

As of July 6th, 2022.

Petra Neureither

Petra Neureither

Member of the supervisory board
Member of the Audit Committee

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Year of Birth: 1967

Nationality: German

Member since: July 2022

Elected until: AGM 2027

Practised profession: Entrepreneur; Managing Director PEN GmbH

Professional Career: Petra Neureither is founder and managing director of PEN GmbH, a family office that focuses on small and mid caps in the IT sector in the DACH region. As a long-term entrepreneurial investor, PEN GmbH accompanies portfolio companies and supports them in capital market issues as well as in networking with various stakeholders. The graduate economist was co-founder of SNP Schneider-Neureither und Partner GmbH. As a member of the Executive Board, responsible for Finance & Controlling, HR, Marketing and Administration, she managed the various growth stages of the company and developed it into a listed company. As Group CFO, she executed numerous acquisitions and was also responsible for investor relations. Until 2011, she successfully represented the company to the capital market. Furthermore, she was a member of various committees and supervisory boards for many years and won awards for her extraordinary entrepreneurial achievements and her outstanding voluntary commitment.

Academic Career: Graduate Economist

Further Appointments and Mandates: No further appointments or mandates

Independence: In the opinion of the Supervisory Board, Petra Neureither does not have any personal or business relations with Exasol AG or its group companies, the Executive Board of Exasol AG or any shareholder with a material interest in Exasol AG.

As of July 6th, 2022.

Torsten Wegener

Torsten Wegener

Member of the supervisory board

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Year of Birth: 1966

Nationality: German

Member since: July 2022

Elected until: AGM 2027

Practised profession: Member of the Executive Board of adesso SE

Professional Career: Torsten Wegener is the Executive Board member at adesso SE responsible for the Data & Analytics, Microsoft, Retail, Digital Experience, Salesforce and Customer Experience Management Solutioning business units. He is also responsible for the adesso investment Reachbird AG. Before the computer scientist was appointed to the Executive Board of adesso SE, he worked for the US global corporation Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH) in Germany. Here he was initially responsible for the data-driven business as Vice President Artificial Intelligence & Analytics. Later, as Vice President Digital Business, he was also responsible for the areas of digital strategy, interactive, IoT and digital engineering. He has many years of experience as a tech founder and managing director of his own successful IT companies in Germany and abroad (C:1 Solutions GmbH and DD SYNERGY AG).

Academic Career: Computer Scientist / Business Economist

Further Appointments and Mandates: No further appointments or mandates

Independence: In the opinion of the Supervisory Board, Torsten Wegener does not have any personal or business relations with Exasol AG or its group companies, the Executive Board of Exasol AG or any shareholder with a material interest in Exasol AG.

As of July 6th, 2022.

Dr. Roland Wöss

Dr. Roland Wöss

Member of the supervisory board
Member of the Audit Committee

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Year of Birth: 1966

Nationality: Austrian

Member since: July 2022

Elected until: AGM 2027

Practised profession: Management Consultant and Interim Manager

Professional Career: Dr. Wöss began his career with an apprenticeship as bank clerk and then studied international management. He is the founder and managing director of Wöss Consulting Group, a management consulting company that specializes in finance, interim management, sales, human resources & leadership, and strategy. He is also working as lecturer at Linz’s Johannes Kepler university. From 1995 to 1998, he was employed as country director of an Austrian bank insurance company, and from 1999 to 2000, he was CEO of bank insurance joint stock company in Hungary. After that, he served as a board member of an Austrian bank.

Academic Career: Doctor in international Management

Further Appointments and Mandates: No further appointments or mandates

Independence: In the opinion of the Supervisory Board, Dr. Roland Wöss does not have any personal or business relations with Exasol AG or its group companies, the Executive Board of Exasol AG or any shareholder with a material interest in Exasol AG.

As of July 6th, 2022.

Annual General Meeting

Find all relevant AGM information here

2022 2021 2020
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Virtual Annual General Meeting 2022

The virtual Annual General Meeting of Exasol AG will take place on Wednesday, July 6, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. CEST. Detailed information and related documents are available on this page.

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Voting results (German only)
Invitation to the Annual General Meeting 2022
Information pursuant to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1212 for the notification under section 125 AktG
Annual Report 2021
Annual Financial Statements 2021 of Exasol AG
Supervisory Board Report 2021
Short Curriculum Vitae of the Nominees for the Supervisory Board
Report of the Executive Board on agenda item 7
Report of the Executive Board on agenda item 8
Comparison version of the Articles of Association
Articles of Association of Exasol AG
Presentation of the Executive Board (German only)

Speech by CEO (German only)

Speech by CFO/COO (German only)
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The virtual Annual General Meeting of Exasol AG took place on Wednesday, June 30, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. CEST. Detailed information and related documents are available here.

Detail Download
Voting results (German only)
Invitation to the Annual General Meeting 2021
Information pursuant to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1212 for the notification under section 125 AktG
Annual Report 2020
Annual Financial Statements 2020 of Exasol AG
Supervisory Board Report 2020
Report of the Executive Board on agenda item 7
Report of the Executive Board on agenda item 8
Report of the Executive Board regarding utilization of the Authorized Capital 2020
Short Curriculum Vitae of the Candidates for the Supervisory Board

Articles of Association of Exasol AG

Presentation of the executive board (essential content) - The spoken word of the management shall prevail at the AGM. The report of the management at the AGM will be held in German (including presentation documents in German).
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The virtual Annual General Meeting 2020 of Exasol AG took place on Wednesday, July 22, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. CEST. Detailed information and related documents are available here.

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Voting results (German only)

Invitation to the general meeting 2020 (German only)
Supervisory Board report (German only)

Articles of association (German only)
Management Board report on agenda item 5 (German only)

Management Board report on agenda item 6 (German only)
Management Board report on authorized capital (German only)

Consolidated Financial Statements 2019
Financial Statements 2019 (German only)

Sustainability & ESG

What we do today determines what the world will look like tomorrow. (Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach)

At Exasol, we believe that it is possible to have a positive impact on the world and society if everyone does their best. That’s why we take very seriously the responsibility we have as a company. We aim to create more than just economic value through coordinated social engagement, an environmental and sustainability strategy that adapts to the circumstances, and responsible corporate governance!

UN Global Compact – Ten fundamental principles for Exasol doing business

Exasol considers the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact as a foundation for good and responsible business conduct. Therefore, we have decided to join the UN Global Compact and thus contribute to the fulfillment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Exasol fully shares the core values of the UN Global Compact in the areas of human rights, labor standards, environmental protection and anti-corruption and aims to make continuous progress in this regard. Hence, we are conducting regular internal assessments about our potential and actual impacts on those topics, especially on human rights and environmental protection.

Environment

Protecting our planet is close to our heart:

  • Exasol has established a task force to drive this cause forward. The so-called “Green Team” consists of Exasol employees (with the participation of a member of the Board of Directors) who implement proactive initiatives in the areas of e.g. business travel, green offices, education as well as procurement.
  • We have also calculated our carbon footprint for 2019 and 2020 in order to be clear about our share of CO2 emissions in this world and to find potential for optimization.
  • In addition to offsetting emissions, Exasol has committed in line with levels required to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, reducing its emissions by 42% for GHG Protocol Scopes 1 and 2. Furthermore, Exasol has also committed to continuous measurement and monitoring of emissions from scope 3 with a view to reducing these as much as possible. We have already taken several various measures to reduce them.
  • Among other things, the office building at our headquarters in Nuremberg and most of our smaller offices already use green electricity. In addition to the fact that some servers in our data centers already use green power, we want to further reduce the emissions of our core business through sustainable suppliers and service providers along our supply chain.
  • Besides that we are making our employees aware by giving training, events and setting up challenges to support the green initiatives also in their private life.
  • Overall, we are with our database part of the clean tech movement. For our competitors to achieve the same performance results, a lot more infrastructure and power would be needed. Thereby using our database leads to CO2 carbon emission reduction and saves natural resources.

For more information, please see our Environmental Report 2021 (download below), our Corporate Carbon Footprint Reports 2020 and 2019 and our CSR Webpage.

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Social

  • A very important aspect of life at Exasol for our employees is Learning and Development. We support our employees in an individual and structured way.
  • Another integral part of the employee journey is it’s start, our recruitment philosophy and procedure. We believe in hiring the best talent using our comprehensive recruitment process to support a fair and diverse selection process.
  • Employees are at the heart of what Exasol does, given this focus on our employees it is important to have a robust Succession Planning Process.
  • Continuously improving the employee experience is a cornerstone of our People Strategy. One of our tools used to measure engagement are our monthly pulse surveys

For more information, please see our People and Social Report 2021 and our CSR Webpage.

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Governance

  • For a comprehensive overview to our corporate governance structure and our policies & statutes, please refer to our Corporate Governance & ESG / Policies and Statutes page. There you will also find our internal Code of Conduct and our Code of Conduct for Suppliers and Business Partners.
  • For an overview of our current efforts in the area of Corporate Governance & Compliance (including strengthening of our training concept on the internal Code of Conduct and other ethical business practices, etc.) please take a look at the current Corporate Social Responsibility Report.

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