Michael Kolk

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Managing Partner

Global Practice Leader, Technology & Innovation Management

Michaël helps clients in the chemicals, life sciences and technology-intensive industries to identify, realize and sustain innovation-based growth and value creation.

Areas of Focus

Technology & innovation management

Education

Radboud University

PhD Physical Chemistry

University of Amsterdam

M.Sc. Biochemistry

Past Experience

Shell

Workgroup Leader

Michaël is a Partner who joined Arthur D. Little in 2000 and has been based in the Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur offices. He leads our Global Technology & Innovation Management Practice and coordinates as well our Global Chemicals Practice.

His consulting focus finds itself in the areas of Growth and Innovation performance enhancement, primarily in the chemicals, life sciences, and other technology-intensive industries. He is a regular speaker at innovation conferences.

Michaël’s mission in his professional life is to help clients find and capture opportunities for sustainable growth and value creation. Very often this involves the “what” (strategy creation, opportunity scouting, business-case creation, etc.) alongside the “how” (innovation management, organization and process redesign, capability building, change management, etc.).

Before joining Arthur D. Little, Michaël worked for Shell Chemicals as a workgroup leader in its Amsterdam Technology Center, providing technical support to internal customers in downstream oil and chemicals.

Michaël holds an MSc in biochemistry from the University of Amsterdam and a Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from Radboud University. In addition, he has attended the Executive Education program of Insead, France.

Michaël is married and has three young daughters. His other interests are literature, world politics, and popular science. In his spare time, he likes to run (regularly) and travel to the world’s more distant places (occasionally).

Automotive

Opening the urban mine

Creating circular supply chains is essential to the green transition, particularly when it comes to recycling and reusing rare materials. Yet, while many circular economy initiatives may be sustainable, they are not profitable, which hampers their wider development and holds back the achievement of sustainability goals.

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The people-centric lab of the future

As the world grapples with global mega-challenges, innovation[1] has never been more necessary. We need breakthrough innovation to solve pressing issues around energy, the environment, and social and health challenges. At the same time, and equally importantly, companies have to deal with a business world typified by increased complexity and accelerated time frames. Together these mean innovation must deliver more breakthroughs, rather than only incremental improvements, with more flexibility and responsiveness and at greater speed.

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Big data? Big security!

The revolution introduced by the digitization process has made it possible to generate and collect increasingly expanding volumes of data. As a result, public and private organizations must define new strategies, design and implement protection systems, adapt their operational models, and learn to manage information by mitigating the risks linked to cyber threats — while remaining in compliance with the provisions of the main regulations in force. In this Viewpoint, we describe the measures organizations must take to mitigate risks.

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Staying ahead of the curve

The future is no longer predictable. Businesses constantly face the challenge to interpret and plan for the impact of overarching trends, such as sustainability/climate change, geopolitical instability, resource scarcity, digitalization, and disruptive new technologies. Today’s CEOs must master resilience and growth in a world of uncertainty to ensure that they stay ahead of the curve. In this Viewpoint, we describe a systematic five-pillar approach to address this complexity.

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HARNESSING EXTERNAL DATA SHARING TO UNLOCK TRANSFORMATIVE COLLABORATION

Data is at the heart of business success, enabling better decision-making, new business models, and underpinning effective artificial intelligence (AI). Sharing data across ecosystems creates more valuable data sets and delivers strategic benefits. However, external data sharing is still new to many organizations, leading to concerns about protecting data, loss of related intellectual property (IP), and ensuring regulatory compliance. Organizations can overcome these through a combination of regulatory/legal understanding and the right strategic/technology decisions.

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Eyes in the sky: Opportunities from earth observation

Earth observation (EO) — combined with developments in cloud infrastructure, big data, and artificial intelligence (AI) — enables data-driven decision-making to address societal challenges like city development planning, land management, and climate issues. Higher data resolution fostered by technology enhancement, increased access to free low-/medium-resolution images, easily accessible computing power, and accelerating data-driven organizational transformation have enabled steady growth in EO market.

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ESG: Last call to take effective action

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From good to great: Enhancing innovation performance through effective management processes

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Chemicals

Digital technologies for sustainability in the European chemical industry

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Navigating the sustainability journey

Sustainability is one of the few topics that is high on the agenda across all companies, sectors, and countries. Eighty percent of companies in a recent global ADL study[1] had a sustainability strategy in place, and a further 12 percent were developing one.

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Effectively managing the sustainability transition in an ambiguous world

Michael Kolk, Martijn Eikelenboom

The need to transition to sustainable business models is a key topic for every senior manager. However, prioritizing sustainability is challenging due to its complexity, competing priorities, and uncertainty around legislation and technology progress. Despite the challenges, it’s crucial for companies to understand the necessary actions they have to take to meet long-term demands and targets. Adopting scenario-based planning is essential to gain this understanding.

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Time to renew your pilot’s license?

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Excelling in a software-driven future

Agron Lasku, Michael Kolk, Martin Glaumann, Michael Papadopoulos

Software is rapidly becoming a critical asset as industries converge and perception of value shifts from hardware to software. Surgeons, for instance, can perform lifesaving surgeries via virtual reality (VR). But such a revolutionary procedure demands zero risk for error or downtime in connectivity, leading to new network requirements. Retail and commerce has also conjoined with computing, logistics, and finance for seamless online shopping.

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Chemicals

Why the bio-based materials market is finally poised for growth

Trung Ghi, Phil Webster , Daniel Monzon, Michael Kolk

This is now changing rapidly, reinvigorating the market. Demand is growing, driven by increasingly environmentally conscious consumers and governments’ Net Zero targets requiring consumer-focused product companies to achieve sustainability. Finally, technology breakthroughs are bringing down production costs for bio-based materials, while improving their performance to make them comparable or superior to fossil-based counterparts.

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Waste, Water & Circularity

European battery recycling: An emerging cross-industry convergence

Rodrigo P. Navarro, Dr. Philipp Seidel, Michael Kolk, Alexander Krug

The rise of electric vehicles (EVs) and associated battery gigafactories is pushing forward the creation of a European closed-loop battery recycling value chain. Increased recycling demand, intensified EU regulations, and a strong desire to localize supply chains and safeguard critical raw materials is driving multiple opportunities. In this context, as we explore in this Viewpoint, new ecosystems are emerging, and players interested in scaling need to act quickly to take advantage of the current environment.

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Automotive