THE BUSINESS CHIEF INTERVIEW
The sacred nature of work Work at Bayer is built around culture and purpose as much as it is anything else. Anderson regularly talks about the sacred nature of work— the idea that, because we give so much of our lives to it, work ought to mean something.“ We dedicate much of our lives to work,” he says.“ People should be able to do things that count, and that contribute to our mission every day. Whether teams are working on cell therapies that could change the course of Parkinson’ s disease, or developing corn varieties that can withstand extreme conditions, the focus is always on impact. Our mission is Health for all, Hunger for none – that purpose is what makes the work meaningful.” More than any structural argument, it explains why DSO matters to Anderson beyond the balance sheet— an attempt to reconnect people to the consequence of their own work, to clear the layers of process and permission that stand between a scientist or engineer and the reason they joined Bayer in the first place.“ Leadership isn’ t about me,” he says.“ It’ s about the team and our customers— solving problems, removing obstacles, staying clear on the mission. For me, leadership means shifting from making decisions to helping others succeed. It’ s less about having the answers and more about helping the team do its best work.”
Leadership, empowerment and the future Two years into Anderson’ s tenure, and Bayer already looks different. Full-year 2025 sales reached € 45.5bn( US $ 53.64bn), free cash flow came in at € 2.1bn( US $ 2.48bn) and net financial debt was reduced to € 29.8bn( US $ 35.13bn). Nubeqa and Kerendia, the company’ s two flagship pharmaceutical launches, grew to a combined € 2bn( US $ 2.36bn) in sales in 2024. However, Anderson knows there is a long way still to go. At the company’ s most recent AGM he said Bayer is“ leaner and faster” and that“ no corner of the company is the same as it was”. The four core priorities he named when he arrived haven’ t changed: a stronger pharma pipeline, debt reduction, containing litigation risk and stripping out bureaucracy.“ There’ s still a lot of work ahead. But compared to two years ago, Bayer today is a very different company. I want the business to become the leanest, fastest life science company in the world,” he states,“ a place where great science doesn’ t get stuck, but moves freely and reaches patients, farmers and customers faster. If we’ re closer to that, and better able to deliver on our mission of Health for all, Hunger for none, then we’ re doing the right work.”
80 May 2026