About

Martin Wagener ‘effortlessly combines business acumen and legal skills’ which enables him to successfully master the complex task that is heading the global legal department of car manufacturer AUDI. He also boasts ‘extensive sector knowledge’, always ‘feeling the pulse of the time in a fast-changing technology environment’, say observers, who also attest to his ‘outstanding strategic foresight’. ‘His department owes a great deal of the company’s remarkable success to him.’ Wagener has ensured the relentless development of the legal department by implementing a streamlined set up and the effective use of innovative IT systems, a feature that ‘has become the legal department’s hallmark way beyond the company’. The ‘equally enthusiastic as well as infectious personality’ Wagener is in charge of a team of 70 lawyers and has improved team work significantly by implementing an electronic file storage system, accessible worldwide, and by setting up a knowledge management system (Wiki-Law). He has put particular emphasis on integrating and involving young lawyers in strategic decisions while intensifying working with young talents overall. Noteworthy career highlights have been his pioneering work in China at the beginning of the 90s, a feat that still earns him market recognition as someone who is ‘a global player and arguably one of the first ones to set up shop in China, establishing the benchmark for an entire industry’. Not surprising, Wagener particularly values the ‘design freedom the company grants to me’. External advisors cannot underestimate the value of ‘knowledge about the company, its employees, culture, products and processes’.