Lale Kof

Despite boasting a very different skillset to her counterparts, Croda’s CIO Lale Kof is a champion of diverse thinking and brings an added dimension to the speciality chemical business.

An engineer by training, Lale pioneers change in the way IT operates to leverage technology as a growth enabler and create value for Croda’s customers and stakeholders.

Lale started her career at multinational consumer goods corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G), where she spent more than 23 years working across Turkey, Belgium and Switzerland, eventually becoming CIO and Executive Director of Global Business Services in Turkey, Caucasia, the Balkans and Israel.

It's the rich IT experience gained here that she carries forward in her role as CIO at Croda — which she assumed in 2021 at what was a critical time for the company — utilising her extensive experience in defining and shaping IT, technology-enabled business models and leading transformation across technology platforms, data, analytics and processes.

“What really made me want to study engineering was the way I would be using technology to actually develop solutions,” Lale says. “I really like creating solutions for problems and making an impact in people's lives. That really drives me as a person.”

This very passion is evident wherever you look at Croda, especially within its technology function. As a company operating in the chemicals space, Croda promotes smart science — chemistry to engineer solutions that make a personal impact.

“I find this is a really good intersection,” she adds. “Although I'm not a chemist, we all give a notion of science. 

“I have a really quite different toolkit versus my colleagues, but that brings diversity and diverse thinking, not just diversity for diversity’s sake. We all share the same core goal and everyone has a different role to play in that matter.”

Lale’s role involves overseeing technology, data, cybersecurity and digital strategy, allowing the company to leverage technology to enhance customer experience and employee satisfaction. 

As technology rapidly evolves, Lale and her team focus on enhancing visibility and transparency in the value chain, anticipating and adapting to market changes and leveraging data and insights to prioritise customer and employee excellence.

“This is a very different kind of environment,” Lale says. “This is my second role in the chemical industry — it’s very fast moving and you're relentlessly obsessed with our customers and consumers that our customers are serving.

“What I find fascinating is, through the toolkit I have — which is technologically-driven analytical thinking — we directly impact the intel insight in the chemistry industry as well. I find it very exciting and I really enjoy what I do.”

This all circles back to Lale’s passion for human-centricity, as well as resilience and sustainability. Part of this is the ongoing revolution towards Industrial 5.0, which places emphasis on putting humans at the centre of technological advancements in a resilient and sustainable manner. 

This is why Lale is excited to be part of an industry that is mindful of its impact and strives to make a positive difference. 

She continues: “The whole chemical industry is all about creating products for a sustainable world. We are very mindful, especially at Croda, about the impact we create and the positive impact we can make. Therefore, sustainability — along with innovation — is really key for us.

“We don't only produce for our customers, but we really produce for the world. We improve lives through creating a better world to live in.”

Read the full story HERE.

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