#FavoriteMoments with Valentina Greul

The #FavoriteMoments campaign by voestalpine is all about celebrating the meaningful ways our products and services shape everyday life. Here at the High Performance Metals Division, we’ve been exploring this through our talented managers across the Industrials segment.

While previous #FavoriteMoments interviews have focused on specific market segments within Industrials, such as as Food & Beverage and Mobility, in this interview we focus on how these are brought together to create a shared global perspective.

Helping make this possible is Strategic Portfolio Coordinator Valentina Greul. We recently sat down with Valentina to learn more about her career journey, the development of the Industrials segment, and the work involved in connecting teams across different markets and regions.

Valentina, can you tell us how you came to your current role as Strategic Portfolio Coordinator for the HPM Industrials segment?

One of the most important steps in my career was joining the voestalpine Foundry Group as a quality engineer. At the time, I had no background in steel production, so I went through a very intensive learning phase, spending time directly in production and learning the process from the ground up. Looking back, that experience gave me a solid understanding of how steel products are made and how different parts of the business work together.

Later, I worked closely with large international customers on technically complex projects, balancing customer expectations with production realities. Building trust and finding solutions that worked for both sides became a key part of my role.

After moving into sales and joining voestalpine High Performance Metals, I became involved in the development of the Industrials segment. For almost a year, my focus was on building new teams and creating the foundations for a completely new segment. Over time, that work evolved into my current role as Strategic Portfolio Coordinator

Strategy is central to your role today. How do you ensure that strategic goals are aligned across such a diverse global segment?

From my perspective, strategy only works if it connects top-down direction with bottom-up execution. You need clear goals that people understand and can relate to their daily work.

I work closely with the divisional strategy team to connect the Industrials strategy with the overall divisional strategy. The aim is to get all subsegment leads on the same page, aligned around common objectives and working towards shared targets.

Once those targets and KPIs are defined, the next step is transparency. We connect strategic KPIs to CRM data so that progress can be tracked using real sales data.

Ideally, strategy execution becomes a rolling process that doesn’t create additional administrative burden. Sales teams should focus on sales, not on maintaining internal systems.

Once a strategy is in place, how do you measure whether it is working?

At this stage, I work closely with Carina Weninger on CRM topics. A key question is always: how do we measure whether we are achieving our strategic goals?

One of the key strategic KPIs across all subsegments is expanding into new applications. Since we operate in a growth-oriented segment, a significant part of our effort is dedicated to finding new use cases for our materials, opening new markets, and supporting customers in developing innovative solutions.

Alongside these strategic KPIs, we also track funnel metrics on the global level. This allows us to see where we are winning, where we are losing, and, most importantly, why. The goal is not control, but learning: understanding market reactions and adjusting our approach accordingly.

Previously, this kind of analysis existed mainly at a local level. Today, we look at it globally. First, we establish transparency and understand the current situation. Then we set targets based on real data.

I work closely with the CRM team to ensure dashboards actually show what is needed, using lean, integrated tools that teams can really use.

What motivates you most in your role today?

What really motivates me is seeing people work together and succeed. One of the most rewarding aspects of Industrials has been building new teams, breaking silos, and seeing people actively collaborate across regions and applications.

It is especially rewarding when people realize they are contributing to something bigger, even in challenging market conditions. Seeing new customers, new developments, and real progress makes me proud of the teams and of what we have built together.

What excites you most about the future of the Industrials segment?

We see strong potential across several markets, including MedTech, Defense, and Mining. We have historically achieved significant success in these areas in specific regions and countries. Today, we are increasingly connecting teams across countries to exchange industry knowledge, application expertise, and lessons learned. This helps us bring proven approaches to new markets, accelerate business development activities, and unlock growth opportunities more efficiently across the globe.

What gives me confidence is the motivation of our teams and the progress we have already achieved. If we can achieve this level of progress under current challenging conditions, we will be very well positioned for future growth.

What has been one of your #FavoriteMoments at voestalpine High Performance Metals?

One of my #FavoriteMoments was contributing to the launch of the new Industrials segment. It meant moving from strong local teams to a shared global perspective.
Seeing teams come together, developing a common understanding, and feeling the excitement around new opportunities was incredibly motivating. Realizing the potential we were unlocking together was very rewarding.

A few of Valentina’s #Favorites:

• Favourite dish: All kinds of Seafood
• Favourite drink: Morning coffee preferably accompanied by a small piece of chocolate 😊
• Favourite way to stay active: Getting a solid eight hours of sleep
• Favourite place to unwind: The mountains (especially in spring)
• Favourite way to switch off: Escaping for a weekend to a beautiful European city. Wandering through historic streets, discovering local food, and soaking up a different culture is the perfect way to clear my mind and recharge
• Favourite music: Jazz (especially in autumn), Indie / alternative rock, electronic influences

Find out more

You can find out more about the voestalpine HPM #FavoriteMoments campaign by exploring some of our other videos: