”Here I can combine my passion for animals, technology and business”

The next colleague to share her story is Cecilia Bågenvik, Vice President Animal Intelligence & Welfare Solutions, in the Product Management & Development unit.

When asked what the best things with working for DeLaval are, Cecilia says, “It is the close connection to the customers, our farmers and the animals. I am a cow person at heart and I can really combine my passion for animals, technology and business working for DeLaval – in a way I think is quite unique. I am also very proud of working for a company with such a long history, having created real difference in the dairy industry with all innovative solutions for farmers over the years. That would not have been possible without the culture we have in the company, and that we look ahead and invest in new opportunities to meet our customers’ demands in the future. Anyone with a passion for the dairy industry should consider DeLaval as a company to work for. If you don’t have the passion when starting? Don’t worry, you will for sure develop it through your colleagues and customers. At DeLaval we have a lot of competent and engaged people, so be open and curious and ask a lot of questions. People will be more than willing to help and share their knowledge.”

Throughout the years, Cecilia has worked in a number of positions in DeLaval. Her journey started in 2002 as she began working as a tester for the herd management systems ALPRO and ALPRO Windows. While having different positions in the company, Cecilia has always focused on automation, sensors and herd management. This means that she has worked a lot with products like ID, Activity Systems, Milk Meters, Herd Navigator, and more. Before taking the role as Vice President Animal Intelligence & Welfare Solutions, Cecilia was in the Technical Innovation team where they do early phase concept studies, and finding new innovation opportunities for DeLaval.

Cecilia is an agronomist in animal science. In her last year of study her class visited Hamra Farm in Tumba, Sweden, where they got to hear about the cool technology being used in a modern dairy farm, as well as learning more about DeLaval and the company history. This visit had a very positive impact on her, saying “I guess then and there, I knew already who my dream employer would be.”

Looking back at her time at DeLaval, she has many fond memories where she gained a lot of new experiences by working with our diverse global workforce. “The things that strike me the most are all the occasions where I had the opportunity to work closely with colleagues from different parts of the organisation and different parts of the world. I constantly learn and get new nuances to how I see things with the interaction of different people. We have an enormous treasure in the people working with so much dedication and passion for the dairy industry. Sometimes we have different opinions, or even different agendas, but at the end of the day when it comes down to it, we all share the same blue blood and the customer interest in focus. Then we always seem to find ways to work it out.” says Cecilia. How this has shaped her in her work, she says, “I think I am listening more, taking in different ways of looking at things, and always try to remember that even if we sometimes have different views, we most of the times share the same goals.”

In the near future, Cecilia is looking forward to seeing the development of the expansion at Hamra Farm. “It shows the dedication of the company to invest in the future and will give us a totally new opportunity to show a modern dairy farm to guests and colleagues, as well as present and future customers. There are also, as always, a couple of innovative and exciting development projects ongoing that we will bring to the market in the near future, which will be really interesting to follow.”

Thank you Cecilia for sharing your story and for your great passion for developing the dairy industry for future generations of dairy farmers!