Kari Kapsch, CEO
Kari Kapsch, born in 1964, studied physics at the University of Vienna and obtained his doctorate in 1992.
From 1982 to 1989 Mr. Kapsch was active at the Kapsch Group as Head of Hybrid Manufacturing. He then worked at ANT, a member of the Bosch Group, in Germany for one year. In 1990, he returned to the Kapsch Group as Head of the Road Telematics Solutions division and developed the road tolling business segment. During the following ten years Mr. Kapsch led several divisions within the Kapsch Group and became a member of the Managing Board of Kapsch Group in 2001.
Mr. Kapsch currently holds the following positions in the Kapsch Group:
- COO, Kapsch AG
- President of the Board, Kapsch CarrierCom AG, CEO
- Member of the Supervisory Board, Kapsch TrafficCom AG
- President of the Supervisory Board, Kapsch BusinessCom AG
In his position as Kapsch CarrierCom CEO Mr. Kapsch is responsible for M&A, Business Development, Marketing & Communications, Corporation Management and HR.
Mr. Kapsch was a Chairman of “Young Industry Vienna” and Vice-Chairman of “Young Industry Austria” until 2002. In 1999, he became a Member of the Board of the Federation of Austrian Industry, Vienna (Industriellenvereinigung Wien).
Kari Kapsch, father of two sons, is an enthusiastic sailor, a passionate horse breeder and enjoys skiing in the Austrian Alps.
Thomas Schöpf, COO
Thomas Schöpf, born in 1968, attended an engineering school, majoring in electronics. After graduating, Mr. Schöpf studied economics at the Vienna University of Economics, finishing his studies in 1992. He also participated in the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at INSEAD, Fontainebleau in 2005.
Mr. Schöpf started his business career as a trainee in the Kapsch Group and was responsible for several marketing, acquisitions and customer service projects. In 1995, he became Account Manager for mobilkom austria and was later appointed as Account Director. In 2002, Thomas Schöpf was appointed as Member of the Board at Kapsch CarrierCom, being mainly responsible for sales and marketing, as well as managing the international subsidiaries of Kapsch CarrierCom.
The main responsibilities of COO Thomas Schöpf are Sales and Sales Support & Customer Solutions Management.
Thomas Schöpf is married and has one daughter. In his leisure time, he enjoys travelling and sports such as skiing, golf and tennis.
Ingolf Planer, CFO
Ingolf Planer, born in 1972, started his career at the Industry Federation Austria after finishing his business economics studies at the Vienna University of Economics and graduating as MBA at the University of Chicago, USA. At the same time he was Managing Director of the „Junge Industrie“ in Vienna.
In November 2001, Mr. Planer joined the Kapsch Group, where he started as an assistant to the Board. In 2002, he was appointed as Managing Director of Kapsch Components KG and Kapsch Components GmbH. In May 2006, Ingolf Planer was appointed as Managing Director of Kapsch Consulting Beteiligungs GmbH and its foreign subsidiaries, and in 2007 as Director International Subsidiaries of Kapsch TrafficCom AG.
Since January 2008, Mr. Planer was responsible for the departments Finance & Administration, Legal & Partner Management, as well as Business Development and HR at Kapsch CarrierCom. One of his main goals is the continuation of the internationalization of Kapsch CarrierCom.
Currently, in his role as CFO, he is responsible for Integrated Management Systems, Finance, Supply Chain Management and Legal.
During his spare time Ingolf Planer is dedicated to his family, in particular to his children. He likes to practice sports such as football and skiing.
Michael Kleinhagauer, CTO
Michael Kleinhagauer, born in 1966, was appointed as Chief Technical Officer (CTO) and Member of the Kapsch CarrierCom Board of Directors effective March 1st, 2011. He brings more than 15 years of international management leadership experience to Kapsch CarrierCom.
As CTO, Michael Kleinhagauer is responsible for Operations, Development and Product Support.
Prior to joining Kapsch CarrierCom, the native of Vienna was the Country Director of Nokia Siemens Networks in Switzerland where he successfully managed the merger of the Nokia Net and Siemens Com business units. Since NSN’s creation in April 2007, Michael Kleinhagauer also led the service department for Central and Eastern Europe, and most recently he was responsible for the direction of Customer Service in West South Europe as Head of the Transformation Office.
Prior to Nokia Siemens Networks, Michael Kleinhagauer held various management positions at Siemens Schweiz AG from 1997 to 2007. In addition to his education at the HTL Vienna engineering school, Michael Kleinhagauer completed a post-graduate degree in Business Studies with special focus on Service Marketing at the College of Engineering and Architecture in Bern. Before moving to Switzerland, Michael worked on various projects in Latin America and Asia on behalf of Siemens AG Munich.
Michael Kleinhagauer is married and has one daughter. In his leisure time, he enjoys spending time with his family and traveling to Latin America. He is also a Godparent of 'SOS Children's village' in Honduras.