Mato Sauer is restructuring the sales department at UX&I.

Customer empowerment lead (this title didn’t exist at UX&I before). It’s based on a simple observation: Major clients rarely just want the next project; they want to be understood.

We spoke with Mato Sauer about his new role, about listening instead of pitching, about the coordination work he takes off clients’ hands, and about what he’s brought with him from one of Europe’s toughest IT markets.

You’re the Customer Empowerment Lead, a role that didn’t exist at UX&I before. What’s behind this, and how does your job differ from that of a traditional account manager?

I see myself as the “problem-solver.” I support clients throughout the many projects we work on together. In this role, I serve as the central point of contact and tackle issues across projects. I’m committed to helping clients achieve their goals, including by taking on a lot of administrative and organizational tasks. In other companies, this role would be a mix of customer success and key account management.

We don’t just want to successfully complete individual projects; we want to truly take care of our clients and give them the opportunity to use UX&I as an asset: Find the right people for the exact topics you’re currently working on. It’s about actively seeking answers. It’s about a very regular exchange of ideas. I interpret what I hear between the lines in conversations and figure out if we can help, how, and with whom. I understand our clients’ language: they don’t have to translate and explain things themselves every time.

The goal is always the same: to match UX&I’s expertise to the specific challenge. We don’t want to sell our portfolio, or even a solution, right away; instead, we want to connect clients with the right person. People are at the center of everything we do on both sides. Once I’ve found the right expert at our company, clients can jump right into a technical discussion with them.

Why do large clients today need someone to fill this exact role?

This is primarily for the sake of time efficiency. Clients can focus on their core work. We take care of vendor management. Many people underestimate the coordination effort involved with an external partner: coordination, approvals, follow-ups. That’s exactly what I handle. This way, our clients remain decision-makers and subject matter experts, and don’t have to coordinate the project on the side.

What did you do before you joined UX&I? And what’s different here: what surprised you?

Among other things, I helped build up sales for the DACH region in Germany for IT companies from Sweden, France, and the U.S., and supported their market entry from the very beginning. I held various roles in this capacity: account manager, country manager, and head of sales. These were always young, growing organizations that were new to the market, unlike at UX&I.

UX&I is giving me a new direction; it’s an established company with a broad client base that’s currently restructuring its sales operations. In the past, I always held creative roles and built sales organizations: that’s where I felt most at home. Now something new is taking shape here, and I can make my contribution. That’s what convinced me during the interview process. Everything was very professional and respectful. I immediately sensed the values: self-organized, sociocratic, everyone working together. This isn’t just marketing. Skills are specifically applied to solve problems. When new challenges arise, the deck is reshuffled. Open, transparent, responsible.

UX&I has a mission that resonates with me: design thinking, organizational development, and a human-centered approach. I’ve seen how badly things can go wrong. I want to work on software that not only works but that people can actually use. If a client is to be successful, they need to feel comfortable with this philosophy.

There’s plenty of room for personal growth here; the company tackles the challenges of today, such as AI. Within the team, there are very different approaches, but we always help each other, even when it comes to the specific challenges of a self-organized organization. Ultimately, this leads to a very positive outcome: you develop social skills. We push each other to grow.

You’ve also had some exciting experiences outside of Germany. What did you take away from them?

I was brought to Dublin by IBM to sell their cloud solution to German small and medium-sized businesses in a highly competitive market. It was a very dynamic environment; people were looking for opportunities, and there were interesting conversations. It was always about: How can we solve problems? It was like a little Silicon Valley in Europe. My mindset has changed: How can we make things better for people? How can we make things easier? I’ve developed a pragmatic approach. And I’ve made a lot of friends and gained many new perspectives. I’ve come to know Europe and its people in a completely different way. The Irish are extremely open, right from the very first moment.

When you think of clients you’ve really helped, what were those situations about?

One client had very loose processes and no structure on the administrative side of the project. There were many meetings, confusion, and dissatisfaction. I spoke with everyone to figure out where the problem lay. How could we centralize processes and reduce them to as few steps as possible? In the end, we successfully completed the project together and demonstrated what we’re truly capable of. That marked the beginning of a trusting, long-term partnership.

For large accounts, it’s rarely just about the next project. How do you figure out what clients really need when they can’t even articulate it clearly themselves?

I listen. I try to have as many conversations as possible to figure out the motivations behind things: why the project is being undertaken in the first place, what’s currently happening in the industry, what we’re doing at other companies, and how UX&I can make an impact. It’s all about relationships: What drives our contacts? What is their intrinsic motivation? How can products make an impact?

Finally, moving away from work: You speak Sorbian, a language that many people know only from the classic children’s book “Krabat.” What does that mean to you?

I speak Sorbian in my everyday life, with family and friends. It gives me a sense of connection; it’s part of who I am. I’m Sorbian, and my homeland has shaped me into a more complex person. I see other people differently and know that you can have many identities. Being Sorbian isn’t my only identity. And Europe is more than just its individual countries. It’s fascinating how many different worlds there are.