- Discussing why the traditional command-and-control operations management model is no longer viable in a post-pandemic world characterized by unpredictable supply and demand
- Highlighting a new operations management model emerging, focusing on optimizing response to threats and opportunities as well as sustainability efforts by dispersing decision-making throughout the organization
- Taking a deep dive into the key enablers for this shift include trust, talent development, transparency, and exploring the integration of IoT, AI, and machine learning to optimize production processes
- Nestlé’s “operator-centric organization” exemplifies this new model, empowering operators with data and skills while maintaining clear decision-making boundaries to further reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing operations
Magdi Batato
Fmr. EVP, Global Head of Operations
Nestlé
Magdi Batato has extensive experience in the manufacturing and technical area, combined with business experience in both developed and emerging markets. He is working to make Nestlé’s supply chain and production better and more sustainable, day by day.
Magdi is passionate about sustainability and quality. In addition, he has a strong drive for societal engagement and an interest in a diverse and inclusive workplace.
Before starting his career at Nestlé in 1991 as Engineer in Industrial Services, Energy & Environment, Magdi worked as Assistant Professor and Lecturer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and Technicom in Bienne (Switzerland) as well as Project Engineer in an engineering consultancy firm in Lausanne (Switzerland).
His factory and production management experience took him to Germany (1995), Lebanon (1997) and South Africa (2001). In 2004, he was transferred to Malaysia as Executive Director of Production. In 2009, he moved to Nestlé UK & Ireland as Head of Group Technical. In May 2012, Magdi was appointed CEO of Nestlé in Pakistan and Afghanistan, based in Lahore.
In October 2015, Magdi became Executive Vice President of Nestlé S.A. in charge of Operations. He is responsible for Procurement, Nestrade, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Safety & Health, Quality Management, Engineering, Agriculture, ESG, as well as Sustainability and Operations Strategies.
Magdi is a member of the Supervisory Board of Carlsberg A/S and a member of its Audit and Remuneration Committee. Since 2018, he is a member of the Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences and as of 2020 he is Chairman of IDH, the Transforming Markets Initiative.
Magdi, a Swiss national, is a mechanical engineer and holds a PhD in Energetics of the human body from the EPFL. He completed the Executive Development Program at IMD Lausanne and an International Manufacturing with INSEAD.
