Executive Profile

Daniel Schmidt is a seasoned executive in strategy and corporate transformation, combining analytical precision with interdisciplinary breadth. With a background in engineering (Dipl.-Ing.), strategy and finance (MBA, MSc), as well as the humanities (philosophy and Catholic theology), he brings both structural rigor and contextual intelligence to complex business challenges – drawing from both analytical disciplines and philosophical frameworks to approach strategy from first principles and with lateral clarity.

As Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Strategy Functions at a global chemical company, he leads the design and governance of strategic frameworks that align functional ecosystems with corporate goals. His remit spans functional strategy development, operating models, executive capability building, and strategic reporting. He integrates financial acumen, and a systemic perspective on transformation to enable effective and executable strategy.

Daniel is known for reducing complexity to its essentials, facilitating clarity, direction, and momentum where others reach their limits. His leadership combines structured governance with facilitative authority, empowering leadership teams to internalize and own strategic change. Beyond the corporate context, he draws from his experience in teaching, martial arts, and interdisciplinary research to cultivate reflection, and adaptability – and to challenge established patterns through principled, yet unorthodox thinking.

Highly regarded as a sparring partner to senior leadership and boards, he contributes where conventional strategy tools end: bringing structure to uncertainty and guiding decisions from insight to action – in corporate, cross-functional, and advisory board settings. He is valued where execution requires not only stability and alignment – but critical perspective, courage, and conceptual originality. This is reflected in the development of a proprietary strategy concept through his own consulting firm, implemented in group-wide executive trainings and workshops across sectors for over a decade – combining philosophical clarity with financial and corporate practice to enable transformation through structured executive thinking. His impact lies in strategic architecture, systemic clarity, and enabling structured transformation – less in operational control or administrative oversight. He is most effective where strategic renewal and intellectual synthesis are required – and where leadership is grounded in human insight and the ability to connect across levels. A trusted mentor to executives and young talents alike, he translates transformation not just into systems and strategy, but into people and practice.