Dr Jörg Michael Funk was drawn to Hyphen by a simple but powerful idea: that combining senior expertise with real execution experience can deliver impact where it truly matters. He now brings that same approach to helping drive our next phase of growth.

Accepting a dual role as our new Senior Executive Partner and General Manager of our Saudi Arabia office, Jörg brings decades of experience across consulting, government and international business. Over the course of his career, he has worked at the highest levels of strategy and economic development, including senior leadership roles in global consulting and close collaboration with government institutions.

As a Senior Executive Partner, he will work with clients tackling complex and high-impact challenges where deep experience and strategic insight are essential. His presence in Saudi Arabia will also strengthen Hyphen’s footprint in a market undergoing rapid transformation.

For Jörg, the opportunity to help shape not just an ambitious and growing company but potentially also a country with a similar mindset is one he could not refuse. It is a chance to take on real responsibility while working on initiatives that genuinely motivate him.

In this Q&A, Jörg reveals:

• • How an informal exchange of ideas eventually led to Jörg joining Hyphen
  • Why hybrid teams combining consulting and operational experience are so powerful
  • What impressed him about Hyphen’s internal team and expert network
  • Why senior expertise helps organisations deliver meaningful change
  • How he assesses the opportunities for Hyphen in Saudi Arabia

Hyphen: How did you first become aware of the company and what led you to join?

Jörg Michael Funk: It happened through a connection of a friend in Switzerland who wanted to connect me to a friend of his who was often in Saudi Arabia – incidentally, he was one of the founders of Hyphen. What started as an introductory personal chat over dinner evolved into us exchanging ideas, and somehow, during that conversation, we reached a point where we said it could actually be interesting to work together.

I started loosely working with Hyphen – helping them with my connections and knowledge of the market and the region – and over time, that grew to the point where I have now joined fully.

Hyphen: What was it about the business model and service offering that resonated with you?

Jörg Michael Funk: I really like the concept of hybrid teams with high levels of seniority involved in projects, which Hyphen does so well. Bringing in people with dual careers – who have worked in both industry and consulting – means you can combine consulting’s structured analytical capabilities with real-life execution experience, which is very powerful, and that’s what attracted me to Hyphen. I strongly believe there is a huge market opportunity for that kind of offering in the market.

What also works very well is that it creates a natural alignment. We make it easy for very senior people to stay involved in relevant and interesting topics by bringing them the right opportunities, and that is a win-win. They remain engaged in meaningful discussions, and we bring that experience directly into client work.

We must be careful about what we take on, but we are punching above our weight. In Saudi Arabia, we are having discussions with very senior people. Also, the experts we have are extremely senior – we’re talking ministerial-level experts and former CEOs of very large companies, for example – and we are involved in important, substantive topics with people who have real impact and influence.

That’s what ultimately attracts me to consulting – I don’t want to consult on a small process change that makes something small 3% more efficient, because that does not really excite me. What excited me in my government role was reshaping the economy of an entire country, and that’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

To answer the question, it’s a combination of what is happening in Saudi Arabia at this moment and the ambition of their plans, and supporting key decision-makers through our very senior experts. There’s also the role itself – I am excited to be in a position of real responsibility with a growing company, rather than just being one of many elsewhere.

Hyphen: As a Senior Executive Partner, how do you see your role shaping the company’s broader strategic direction?

Jörg Michael Funk: Hyphen already has a strong value proposition and has delivered for important clients. There are huge additional opportunities to build on that, and I will work alongside Michael and the leadership team to identify where we can have the greatest impact.

I would say my role is about helping to guide where we focus as a business, based on what is truly relevant and impactful in the market. For me, consulting should be about two things – working on the right topics and actually having an impact. It is not enough to analyse; you need to be able to influence outcomes and help change direction where it matters.

I have worked on all ends of business – in classical consulting, in consulting firms with a comparable model to Hyphen, as an executive buying consulting both in the private and public sectors, and as a board member and entrepreneur. I can claim to understand the value of combining strategy with execution. That experience allows me to contribute to how we position ourselves and where we can differentiate most clearly.

I also see my role as supporting the broader leadership team and contributing at a strategic level. With my experience, I can take ownership of selected topics and client relationships, which gives the rest of the team greater capacity to focus on scaling the business and developing new opportunities.

Ultimately, it is about reinforcing what makes Hyphen distinctive: bringing very senior expertise into important discussions and ensuring that translates into real delivery and impact.

Hyphen: What have you made of working with our team so far?

Jörg Michael Funk: I have been very positively impressed. I have rarely seen a more international and varied team – we have people from four continents who live across the Middle East, Asia and Europe. The internal team is doing an excellent job, and there is a strong level of capability across the group. The junior team members I have worked with are very capable and able to get things moving quickly, which is critical in this kind of work.

At the same time, the senior team brings a high level of credibility and experience, which is important when you are working with clients at this level.

What I think works particularly well is how this internal capability connects with the broader expert network. The internal team provides the structure and execution, while the experts bring deep experience, and that combination is where the real value comes from.

Hyphen: As well as taking the title of Senior Executive Partner, you are the General Manager of our Saudi Arabia office. You mentioned your belief that Hyphen is well placed to support the ambitions of organisations within the Kingdom – what is it that gives you that confidence?

Jörg Michael Funk: Hyphen has already made some relevant inroads and has worked with important clients, and, in terms of brand, we already have a strong reputation.

Clients remember that Hyphen brought in a former minister or major CEO, so we have become associated with very high-calibre people. Clients understand our model and see these experts as ‘Hyphen people’, which is extremely valuable in terms of positioning and brand building.

The opportunity is huge, and there is still plenty of room to grow here, and that’s what attracted me. I worked for the government and know many senior government officials and other senior executives from the private sector personally, so that network should also bring value to Hyphen. In addition, given my previous roles, I don’t really need to qualify myself – there’s credibility, knowledge and experience, and from then on, we can talk about business.

Having lived in the Kingdom for years now and worked with the government, I have a fairly good understanding of how things work here – although I’m still surprised daily by all kinds of aspects of how things function! – and I think Hyphen’s service offering is particularly timely. The days of just producing papers are gone; now there is a greater desire and need than ever to deliver and make things happen. But we all know that delivery is easier when you have people who have done it in the past, and for that reason, I believe there is a huge opportunity for Hyphen in this market.

Partnering on complex, high-impact initiatives in Saudi Arabia

To learn more about how Hyphen can support the delivery of your most important projects in Saudi Arabia, contact Jörg directly.