Ninesigma US

Akihiko Suwa

President and CEO, NineSigma Holdings and NineSigma Japan

Akihiko Suwa helped launch NineSigma Japan, a subsidiary of NineSigma, Inc., in 2006. Prior to joining NineSigma, Suwa was a Senior Consultant with the Research and Consulting Division of The Japan Research Institute, Ltd. There he developed an alliance with NineSigma and the Battelle Memorial Institute. He conducted numerous NineSigma projects for world-class Japanese companies primarily focusing on technology in-sourcing and new business development. Prior to The Japan Research Institute, Suwa was an Associate with McKinsey & Company Inc. in Japan where he conducted projects in automotive, energy, pharmaceutical, information technology, and other focus areas. He holds a B.S. degree in Applied Physics from Northeastern University and an M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Andreas M. (Andy) Zynga, Ph.D.

President and CEO, NineSigma North America and NineSigma Europe

Andy Zynga joined NineSigma in February 2008, establishing and growing the European company presence rapidly. In September 2009 Zynga was appointed the Global CEO of NineSigma Group, expanding business across all regions.

During his career, Zynga has built four high tech and service businesses successfully in both Europe and the USA. He also spent six years at KPMG Consulting (now Bearingpoint) in Germany and London where he successfully grew a division of the Information, Communication, and Entertainment (ICE) Consulting Practice into a major international player.

Prior to joining NineSigma, Zynga spent four years as a member of the Executive Committee of Telindus, a global network integrator and outsourcing company with more than $1B in revenues and 3,000 employees in 14 countries. While there, he turned around a region from loss-making to more than 10% of EBITDA, and growing revenues by more than 30% to over $150M.

He earned a doctoral degree in the field of Innovation Management from RWTH Aachen University, and a dual master's degree in Business Administration and Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Berlin, Germany. Andy grew up in West-Berlin, Germany, and immigrated to the United States in 1985.

Eiji Atsumi

Vice President, NineSigma Holdings

MSc., Electrical Engineering, University of Tokyo. Visiting Research Scientist at University of Maryland (USA). Brought into NineSigma his work experience with Mitsubishi Electric, NOKIA and Samsung. Appointed an executive team member since 2017. Play a promoter role of Finnish ICT business/startup community, KAATO, as his life work.

Experienced not only R&D but also business unit in global companies, where he executed Open Innovation projects with academia, established companies or startups. Launched the NineSigma Outreach Program to help established companies build bridges with startups globally. Lead NineSigma Holding’s new business development leveraged by IT system.