Ingmar WaterlohContact

About

Advisor first, operator now.

For more than twelve years I advised on M&A and CFO topics at EY and Deloitte. Today I split my time between running GrowTechnology and advising clients on finance data and AI.

Career

  1. 2025 – todayIndependent consultantFinance, data & AI transformation for large and mid-sized companies across industries in Switzerland and Germany: finance data architecture, AI-ready data design and first AI use cases in finance.
  2. Sep 2024 – todayCOO and co-owner, GrowTechnologyFull-service distributor for indoor grow equipment, founded 2023 and based in Lauchringen, Germany. It brings leading grow brands to Europe, takes over the complete European market entry for manufacturers (import, compliance, customer service, marketing) and supplies specialist retailers from its warehouse in Germany. Operations run AI-first, across finance and daily work.
  3. Mar 2022 – Sep 2024Chief Data Officer, Deloitte SwitzerlandResponsible for data governance.
  4. Jun 2022 – Sep 2024Director, Strategic Finance & Analytics, DeloitteZurich.
  5. Oct 2015 – Mar 2022Senior Manager, Financial Advisory Analytics, DeloitteZurich. Co-founder of Financial Advisory Analytics.
  6. Jan 2012 – Sep 2015Senior Consultant, Transaction Advisory Services, EYDüsseldorf. M&A and CFO topics.
  7. 2008 – 2011BBA cum laude, Finance & Management Information SystemsThe George Washington University School of Business, Washington DC.

How it started

I got my first PC at ten and was soon upgrading it and modding my games: faster cars, better grip, my own race tracks. At twelve I was soldering the wiring for the points of my LGB garden railway and writing small scripts that told the locomotives how to run. Then I carried a friend’s computer over to network the two, and before long I was running LAN parties at school.

As a teenager I built a home phone system that loaded new call-by-call tariffs every week and picked the cheapest route by time of day. In my final year at boarding school, cameras and an alarm told me when the night watchman was on his way. Long before anyone said “AI”, I was using data to make things cheaper and smarter. That is still the job.

Off the clock

Planning the next trip, with China at least once a year; automating whatever I touch twice; and hunting for the best sushi in every city I visit.

How I work

I prefer concrete over conceptual. If a system does not survive the daily routine of a small team, it is not finished. The same lens shapes what I write: what works in a real company, with real examples and no hype.

Contact me if you lead finance or operations and want to run a lean company like a large one.