28 Sep 2016 Esa Tihilä retires from Basware as Vesa Tykkyläinen takes the helm
Earlier this week Basware announced that Esa Tihilä has stepped down as CEO. He will be succeeded by Vesa Tykkyläinen, who took up his new position on September 26, 2016.
At an analyst briefing this week the timing of the move was raised. It must have been the question on the tip of everyone’s tongue. It seems that succession plans had been discussed and agreed during the summer and I sensed, based on the background of Esa’s successor, that this change in leadership is a reflection of the changed nature of Basware over the last few years which has moved from being a software company to a cloud services business.
Vesa Tykkyläinen was previously Senior Vice President of the Network business area and a member of the Executive Team at Basware, having joined the company in January 2016. Prior to joining Basware, Vesa Tykkyläinen was Vice President of the Liquid Core Business Line at Nokia Networks and he has over 25 years of leadership experience in the technology industry.
“Vesa brings extensive experience of managing large teams in the global technology industry across international roles comprising business management, product development and sales and marketing positions. While leading the Basware Network business area he has proved effective at executing Basware’s strategy and is a skilled team builder. Therefore I believe that Vesa is the right person to lead the company forward as Basware transitions from strategy development into its implementation phase”, stated Basware’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Hannu Vaajoensuu.
“Basware is the global leader in networked purchase-to-pay and e-invoicing solutions and services, with enormous further growth potential. I am very excited to have the opportunity to lead the company and its experienced and capable management team as it goes into the next phase of strategy execution”, added Vesa Tykkyläinen.
Basware ‘s Board of Directors and Esa Tihilä jointly agreed that he will step down from his position of Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect and will retire from the company.
“Under Esa’s leadership, Basware has developed from a software company into a cloud services provider with huge growth opportunities. On behalf of the whole Board, I warmly thank Esa for his committed work and contribution to the company and wish him all the best for the future”, says Hannu Vaajoensuu.
I’d like to add my best wishes to Esa who I always found to be both charming and highly professional and also to wish Vesa success in his new role.
Pete Loughlin can be found on twitter @peteloughlin
