Miika Reinikka has been selected as the next CEO of Yaskawa Environmental Energy / The Switch to take over the role from Jukka-Pekka Mäkinen, current CEO and founder, from July 1, 2020.
“I am honored – and really excited and motivated,” Miika says. “I want to thank Yaskawa for giving me this opportunity, and I am going to do my best to serve the interests of our company and Yaskawa.”
After working at The Switch for more than 10 years and being in many positions within the various businesses, Miika feels ready and capable of taking on this next step. “I am looking forward to continuing this great ride with our people, customers and partners.”
Miika’s career has taken him through various director and VP-level positions in telecommunications businesses, one of which was the Finnish stock listed company Tecnomen. He then went on to explore new opportunities and found The Switch, where he began his new professional path as a Key Account Manager for several European customers. In his opinion, it was a good way to learn about the new technologies, business environment and customers. He was promoted a few years later to head up sales in Europe and later on as the Wind Business Unit Director.
“I’m practical, direct, hands-on and efficient by nature. And I aim to add value when continuing to make our operations world class. As a young company, our strengths were our agility and willingness to take risks. This is natural and important when growing. Now as part of Yaskawa Group, we will continue to mature and become more efficient while still keeping our special The Switch spirit,” he says.
“I’ve always been impressed with the company’s personnel and our customers. We have always been up for new challenges and adopted quickly to changes. As CEO, my aim is to become an even more unified company, operating in multiple sites and attracting the best talent. We will integrate closely with the rest of Yaskawa and aim to have the happiest customers in our selected business areas,” Miika states. “Markets will go up and down. But we will do our best to be a world-class supplier and partner, have great products and services – and have fun while doing it.”
Planning for the next wave of management has already started. His target is to finalize the top-level organizational structure and announce the new management team before summer vacation. The rest of the organization and new positions will be completed only after the vacation period.
“I want to thank our long-term management team members J-P, Dag, Reijo and Pertti for taking us on this ride with many interesting downhills and uphills over these years,” Miika sums up.