Format: Guest lecture as part of the CBS Guest Lecture Series.
Speaker: Johanna Heyden.
Position: Head of Future Business and Cooperations.
Company: Vodafone.
Focus topics: Innovation strategy, customer-centricity and artificial intelligence in the telecommunications sector.
Core message: Innovation requires clear use cases and consistent alignment with real customer needs.
Practical relevance: Direct insights into strategic decision-making within an international corporation.
Corporate integration: Guest lectures complement the real-world business experience integrated into the curriculum at CBS.
Learning from Leading Industry Experts
Practice-oriented projects with external partners are an integral part of all study programmes at CBS University of Applied Sciences. In the business programmes, this practical focus is further strengthened through regular guest lectures by executives from management, consulting, and entrepreneurship.
On April 2, 2025, Johanna Heyden, Head of Future Business & Cooperations at Vodafone, visited CBS. In her role, she is responsible for strategic innovation fields and corporate partnerships, bringing extensive experience in developing future-oriented business models.
Her lecture provided insights into how innovation processes are structured, prioritized, and implemented under real market conditions within an international corporation.
The Lecture: Innovation Requires Clear Use Cases
The focus of the session was Vodafone’s innovation strategy and the question of how technological possibilities can be translated into viable business models.
One key message stood out: technology is often available — the real challenge lies in defining clear use cases and consistently aligning innovation with genuine customer needs.
Johanna Heyden emphasized that investments in infrastructure and technology within the telecommunications sector can quickly reach billions. This makes it all the more critical to evaluate innovations strategically and ensure their market viability.
Among the key innovation fields at Vodafone are:
Drone solutions for medical logistics
XR technologies such as Virtual, Augmented, and Extended Reality
Rich Messaging Services
Mobile payment solutions
Artificial Intelligence as a strategic lever in the telecommunications market
Particularly in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Vodafone sees enormous transformative potential. At the same time, Heyden emphasized the importance of industry-wide standards in order to develop scalable and future-proof solutions.
Direct Exchange with Practice
Following the lecture, students had the opportunity to ask questions and gain concrete insights into decision-making processes at Vodafone.
A key takeaway for the students was that innovation is not merely a matter of talent — it is a capability that can be systematically developed and trained.
When asked which competencies today’s students and future graduates should bring, the answer was clear:
The right mindset
Openness to continuous learning
The ability to consistently think from the customer’s perspective
The lecture impressively demonstrated how strategic thinking, market understanding, and technological expertise must work together to enable sustainable innovation.
Real-world business experience systematically integrated into the curriculum
The guest lecture by Vodafone exemplifies CBS’s structured commitment to practice-oriented learning. Corporate collaborations are not occasional add-ons but an integral part of the study programmes.
In our business programmes, the integration of real-world business practice is systematicallyembedded through:
Business Projects tackling real strategic and operational challenges from partner companies.
Regular Guest Lectures by senior executives and industry experts.
Conventions providing a platform for interdisciplinary learning and hands-on leadership experience.
Case Studies and Simulation Games designed to solve typical corporate problems.
Mandatory Internships to apply specialized skills within a corporate context.
Dual Study Formats ensuring continuous integration into corporate structures.
A Network of over 1,300 Partner Companies across a wide range of industries.
This structured integration enables students not only to analyze economic challenges but also to develop well-founded decisions under real market conditions.
With initiatives like this, CBS reinforces its commitment to closelylinking business and academia and preparingstudents specifically for leadership roles in a globalized and sustainability-oriented economy.
Conclusion: Understanding Innovation Before Shaping It
Johanna Heyden’s guest lecture provided impressive insights into the complexity of innovation processes within a global telecommunications company and highlighted the importance of customer centricity, strategic thinking, and technological expertise.
For CBS students, the session offered more than just an inside look at Vodafone. It provided a realistic understanding of the mindsets and capabilities required in today’s corporate environment.
Key Takeaways
Format: Guest lecture as part of the CBS Guest Lecture Series.
Speaker: Johanna Heyden.
Position: Head of Future Business and Cooperations.
Company: Vodafone.
Focus topics: Innovation strategy, customer-centricity and artificial intelligence in the telecommunications sector.
Core message: Innovation requires clear use cases and consistent alignment with real customer needs.
Practical relevance: Direct insights into strategic decision-making within an international corporation.
Corporate integration: Guest lectures complement the real-world business experience integrated into the curriculum at CBS.
Learning from Leading Industry Experts
Practice-oriented projects with external partners are an integral part of all study programmes at CBS University of Applied Sciences. In the business programmes, this practical focus is further strengthened through regular guest lectures by executives from management, consulting, and entrepreneurship.
On April 2, 2025, Johanna Heyden, Head of Future Business & Cooperations at Vodafone, visited CBS. In her role, she is responsible for strategic innovation fields and corporate partnerships, bringing extensive experience in developing future-oriented business models.
Her lecture provided insights into how innovation processes are structured, prioritized, and implemented under real market conditions within an international corporation.
The Lecture: Innovation Requires Clear Use Cases
The focus of the session was Vodafone’s innovation strategy and the question of how technological possibilities can be translated into viable business models.
One key message stood out: technology is often available — the real challenge lies in defining clear use cases and consistently aligning innovation with genuine customer needs.
Johanna Heyden emphasized that investments in infrastructure and technology within the telecommunications sector can quickly reach billions. This makes it all the more critical to evaluate innovations strategically and ensure their market viability.
Among the key innovation fields at Vodafone are:
Drone solutions for medical logistics
XR technologies such as Virtual, Augmented, and Extended Reality
Rich Messaging Services
Mobile payment solutions
Artificial Intelligence as a strategic lever in the telecommunications market
Particularly in the field of Artificial Intelligence, Vodafone sees enormous transformative potential. At the same time, Heyden emphasized the importance of industry-wide standards in order to develop scalable and future-proof solutions.
Direct Exchange with Practice
Following the lecture, students had the opportunity to ask questions and gain concrete insights into decision-making processes at Vodafone.
A key takeaway for the students was that innovation is not merely a matter of talent — it is a capability that can be systematically developed and trained.
When asked which competencies today’s students and future graduates should bring, the answer was clear:
The right mindset
Openness to continuous learning
The ability to consistently think from the customer’s perspective
The lecture impressively demonstrated how strategic thinking, market understanding, and technological expertise must work together to enable sustainable innovation.
Real-world business experience systematically integrated into the curriculum
The guest lecture by Vodafone exemplifies CBS’s structured commitment to practice-oriented learning. Corporate collaborations are not occasional add-ons but an integral part of the study programmes.
In our business programmes, the integration of real-world business practice is systematicallyembedded through:
Business Projects tackling real strategic and operational challenges from partner companies.
Regular Guest Lectures by senior executives and industry experts.
Conventions providing a platform for interdisciplinary learning and hands-on leadership experience.
Case Studies and Simulation Games designed to solve typical corporate problems.
Mandatory Internships to apply specialized skills within a corporate context.
Dual Study Formats ensuring continuous integration into corporate structures.
A Network of over 1,300 Partner Companies across a wide range of industries.
This structured integration enables students not only to analyze economic challenges but also to develop well-founded decisions under real market conditions.
With initiatives like this, CBS reinforces its commitment to closelylinking business and academia and preparingstudents specifically for leadership roles in a globalized and sustainability-oriented economy.
Conclusion: Understanding Innovation Before Shaping It
Johanna Heyden’s guest lecture provided impressive insights into the complexity of innovation processes within a global telecommunications company and highlighted the importance of customer centricity, strategic thinking, and technological expertise.
For CBS students, the session offered more than just an inside look at Vodafone. It provided a realistic understanding of the mindsets and capabilities required in today’s corporate environment.
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