Growing a culture of innovation at Enza Zaden

In the latest episode of our podcast, Jonathan Dijkslag, Global Manager of Data Insights & Data Innovation at Enza Zaden, one of the world’s leading vegetable breeding companies sits down with Ties Carbo, Principal at Rewire. With over 2,000 employees and operations in 30 countries, Enza Zaden has built its success on innovation, from pioneering biotechnology in the 1980s to embracing the transformative power of Data & AI today.

Jonathan shares insights into the company’s data-driven journey, the challenges of integrating traditional expertise with modern technology, and how cultivating a culture of trust, speed, and adaptability is shaping Enza Zaden’s future. Tune in to discover how this Dutch leader is using data to revolutionize vegetable breeding and stay ahead in a competitive, innovation-driven industry.

Watch the full interview

The transcript below has been edited for clarity and length.

Ties Carbo: Thank you very much for joining this interview. Can you please introduce yourself?

Jonathan Dijkslag: I work at Enza Zaden as the global manager of Data Insights and Innovation. My mission is to make Enza Zaden the most powerful vegetable-breeding company using data.

Ties Carbo: Can you tell us a little bit about your experience on working with Data & AI?

Jonathan Dijkslag: What made Enza very successful is its breeding expertise. We are working in a product-driven market and we are really good at it. Enza grew over time thanks to the expertise of our people. In the 80s, biotech came with it. And I think we were quite successful in adapting to new technologies.

Now we are running into an era where data is crucial. So I think that data is at the heart of our journey. We are a company that values our expertise. But also we are really aware of the fact that expertise comes with knowledge, and with having the right people able to leverage that knowledge in such a way that you make impact. And that's also how we look at this journey. So it's about how to bring new skills, new knowledge to people, and combine it all together to deliver real impact.

Ties Carbo: It sounds like you're in a new step of a broader journey that started decades ago. And now, of course, Data & AI is a bit more prevalent. Can you tell us a little bit more about some successes that you're having on the Data & AI front?

Jonathan Dijkslag: There are so many, but I think the biggest success of Enza is that with everything we do, we are a conscious of our choices. Over the past three to five years, we have spent quite some money on the foundation for success. So where some companies are quite stressed out because of legacy systems, we do very well in starting up the right initiatives to create solid foundations and then take the time to finalize them. And I think that is very powerful within Enza. So over the past years we have built new skills based on scalable platforms in such a way that we can bring real concrete value in almost all fields of expertise in the company.

Ties Carbo: Can you maybe give a few examples of some challenges you encountered along the way?

Jonathan Dijkslag: I think the biggest challenge is that the devil is in the details. That's not only from a data journey perspective, but also in our [functional] expertise. So the real success of Enza with data depends on really high, mature [functional] expertise combined with very high, mature expertise in data. And bridging functional experts with data experts is the biggest challenge. It has always been the biggest challenge. But for a company like Enza, it's particularly complex.

Another complexity is we have quite some people who for decades have used data heavily in their daily work. Yet the way we use data nowadays is different than compared to decades ago. So the challenge is how to value the contributions made today and at the same time challenge people to take the next step with all the opportunities we see nowadays.

Ties Carbo: I was a bit intrigued by your first response – bridging the functional expertise with the Data & AI expertise. What's your secret to doing that?

Jonathan Dijkslag: I think it really comes back to understanding the culture of your company. When I joined the company, I knew that it would take time to understand how things work today. I needed to show my respect to everything that has brought so much success to the company in order to add something to the formula.

Every company has a different culture. Within Enza, the culture is pretty much about being Dutch. Being very direct, clear, result-driven, don't complain. Just show that you have something to add. And that's what we try to do. And learn, learn and adapt. For instance, in the war on talent, we made some mistakes. We thought maybe business expertise is not always that important. But we learned the hard way that if you don't understand – or don't want to understand what our purpose is as a company, then you will probably not be successful. And that means something to the pace and the people you can attract to the company. So it’s all about understanding the existing culture, and acting on it. And sometimes that means that you need more time than you’d like to have the right people or have the right projects finalized and create the impact you want.

Ties Carbo: What advice would you give to other companies that embark on a journey like this?

Jonathan Dijkslag: This is the new normal. The complexity is the new normal. So we have to think about how we can bring every day, every week, every month, every year more and more change. And people tend to say “I'm busy, we’re busy, wait, we have to prioritize.” I think we have to rethink that model. We have to create a mechanism whereby we're not too busy. We have to create a change model where you can again and again adapt to new opportunities. And I think this is all about creating great examples. So sometimes it’s better to make fast decisions that afterwards you would rate with a seven or an eight, but you did it fast. You were very clear and you made sure that the teams work with this decision that’s rated seven, rather than thinking for a long period about the best business case or the best ROI. So I think the speed of decision-making close to the area impact. I think that that's the secret.

People talk a lot about agility. I think for me, the most important part of agility is the autonomy to operate. Combined with very focused teams and super fast decision-making and the obligation to show what you did.

Ties Carbo: How is it to work with Rewire?

Jonathan Dijkslag: For me, it's very important to work with people who are committed. I have a high level of responsibility. I like to have some autonomy as well. And to balance those things, I think it's very important to be result-driven and also to show commitment in everything you do. And what we try to do in our collaboration with Rewire is to create a commitment to results. Not only on paper, but instead both parties taking ownership of success. And we measure it concretely. That's the magic. We're really in it together and there's equality in the partnership. That's how it feels for me. So I think that that's the difference.

We work a lot with genetic data. So our challenges are very specific. Life science brings some complexity with it. And we were looking for a partner who can to help us develop the maturity to understand and work with confidence with the corresponding data. And thanks to their experience in the field of life science, they showed that they understand this as well. And that's very important because trust is not easily created. And if you show that you brought some successes in the world of life science - including genetic data - that helps to get the trust, and step into realistic cases.

Ties Carbo: Thank you.

About the authors

Jonathan Dijkslag is the Global Manager of Data Insights & Data Innovation at Enza Zaden, where he drives impactful data strategies and innovation in one of the world's leading vegetable breeding companies. With over 15 years of experience spanning data-driven transformation, business insights, and organizational change, Jon has held leadership roles at Pon Automotive, where he spearheaded transitions to data-driven decision-making and centralized business analytics functions. Passionate about aligning technology, culture, and strategic goals, Jon is dedicated to creating tangible business impact through data.

Ties Carbo is Principal at Rewire.