Maria Montenegro (Wolters Kluwer): ‘Steady, continuous transformation’

Maria Montenegro (Wolters Kluwer): ‘Steady, continuous transformation’
Portuguese Maria Montenegro has been chief strategy officer (CSO) at data supplier/tech company Wolters Kluwer ‘since Valentine’s Day 2022.’ Starting out with ten employees, she now leads a department of seventy people. ‘We are more than ever a tech company. I, together with others, work closely on fostering an innovative culture.’

It is the calm before the storm at Wolters Kluwer’s headquarters in Alphen aan den Rijn, a city in western Netherlands. The supervisory board meeting will take place in the week of this interview. That means that the top C-level executives are coming from far and wide to the green heart of the Netherlands. Maria Montenegro is one of them. The Portuguese national lives and works in Washington D.C., the city of her dreams. Growing up, she loved The West Wing, a series set in and around the White House. She visits Wolters Kluwer in Alphen about five or six times a year, usually for a week, for supervisory board meetings and strategy or budget meetings, or to visit team members who work in Alphen, she explains to Deloitte partner Jan-Piet Nelissen. She does not have much of a connection with the city of Alphen, ‘although McDonalds sometimes offers a treat,’ she jokes.

You are of Portuguese descent. What kind of family do you come from?
‘I was born and raised in Porto and studied in Lisbon. My parents still live in Porto. My mother is a doctor. Although she is seventy-three, she still works as a physiatrist and specializes in sports medicine and rehabilitation. My father is a retired economist who worked for the Portuguese government and the tax authorities for a long time. I also have two older brothers. One lives in Mozambique, where he and his wife are involved in international development cooperation; they have two daughters. And then there is my eldest brother, who is an architect and leads a very international life in Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Portugal.’

You worked at McKinsey for a long time. What did you learn there?
‘I always thought I would remain a consultant for the rest of my life, and I really enjoyed working at McKinsey. I loved it. I worked there for almost ten years and was particularly charmed by the teamwork, the non-hierarchical structure, the varied work, the insights into the different sectors and functions, and the work in emerging markets. I worked in Brazil, Angola, Sao Tomé and Principe, South Africa, the Netherlands, the UK, the United States and Portugal. I learned a lot. I also liked the culture, especially the obligation to dissent, or the obligation to speak up and question things. I am a big supporter of that, and I encourage it in my teams at Wolters Kluwer.’

And yet you succumbed to the temptations of Wolters Kluwer. Did you know the company?
‘No, I did not know Wolters Kluwer. Or not really. I had heard of it and was familiar with some of its brands, such as UpToDate. I invested a lot of time to research the company. And while I was doing that, I became captivated. By the transformation of the company, but especially by the breadth of its portfolio. Ultimately, a conversation with Nancy (McKinstry, CEO since 2003 and until February 2026, ed.) tipped the scales. She shared her vision and the opportunities she saw and really got me excited. So I said yes. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity Nancy has given me. The transition went smoothly. I started on Valentine's Day in 2022. I see it as the beginning of a love story.'

You just mentioned the obligation to dissent. The Dutch are known for their directness. Does that fit in with that?
‘I appreciate that Dutch directness. The Dutch do not care much for hierarchy. That suits me. But I also think the Dutch and Portuguese have even more in common. Maybe because the Netherlands and Portugal are traditionally seafaring nations. We are open to trade and open to the world. I really appreciate the Dutch culture. The directness, the openness, the willingness to challenge – I like that. I think it makes for a more interesting and healthier debate in the workplace.’

On the other hand: how Dutch is Wolters Kluwer really?
‘Wolters Kluwer is a Dutch company with strong Dutch roots. We are extremely proud of that. We have a significant presence in Alphen and elsewhere in the Netherlands, and Dutch values ​​are part of our culture. At the same time, it is indeed a company that operates globally with a huge diversity of activities and employees. That is another reason it suits me.’

The company’s history is a remarkable story of transformation …
‘This company breathes transformation. I love change. This is a completely different company than it was in 2003, when Nancy took over. We were a traditional publishing company, dependent on print. We have completely evolved from print to digital content. This was achieved through portfolio changes, through acquisitions and divestments, but also through large-scale investments in product development and innovation. We are now on a journey: from a supplier of digital content, we are becoming a tech company that provides expert solutions and software. Expert solutions currently account for around sixty percent of our revenue. Our transformation has led to a huge increase in recurring revenues, to around eighty-two percent today. Our activities have become scalable, enabling us to increase our margins over time. All this has led to enormous value creation – our share price is twelve times higher than when Nancy became CEO. And it is a story of continuous transformation. Steady. But continuous. ‘Make it better’ is one of our core values, ​​and we live by it every day.’

Looking back on your first few years here, what are you most proud of?

‘We have set a lot in motion. We have started the sales transformation and redesigning the pricing strategy, we have reorganized the portfolio, and we have established a new division, Corporate Performance & ESG. It had been quite a while since such a large-scale internal reorganization had taken place, so that was a major undertaking. We started developing a more systematic approach to strategy and market research, to enable us to make more detailed decisions about where we want to be active. As a result, we have also been able to make some attractive acquisitions in Europe and the US.
And there is more in the pipeline. My responsibilities have continued to evolve and expand. I started with a team of ten; now I have a team of around seventy people. So far, I would say we are doing well. It has been a fantastic journey, and I am looking forward to what is yet to come. With the new strategy, we can make a huge impact.’

What are the important things on your agenda for the coming period?

‘We are currently implementing our new strategy, which runs until 2027. Its main pillars are scaling up our expert solutions, accelerating growth, and further developing our capabilities. Key to scaling up our expert solutions is continuing the shift to software as a service (SAAS) and accelerating the integration of (Gen)AI into our customers’ workflow. We have been working with AI for at least fifteen years through our AI Center of Excellence, and today around fifty percent of our digital revenue is linked to AI. GenAI has given this a new impetus, and we are investing in more product development to make even more possible. Wolters Kluwer has always been known for investing eight to ten percent of its revenue in innovation. We are increasing that percentage to around eleven percent. This is an important pillar underpinning the acceleration of our growth.
We will also continue to grow through partnerships and acquisitions. If you look at what drives value creation in our sector, revenue growth has a greater impact than margin increases. It has to be profitable growth. So that is what we are focusing on. We also want to continue working internally on developing capabilities. We cherish our corporate culture and working environment. We are immensely proud of that.’

And your department plays a key role in each of those areas?
‘Exactly. I work closely with our board of directors, which consists of Nancy, Stacey (Caywood, the future CEO, ed.) and Kevin (Entricken, CFO, ed.). And with the rest of the executive leadership team, especially our CTO Dennis Cahill. Wolters Kluwer is more of a tech company than ever before. Dennis and I work closely together to foster a culture of innovation.’

Do you see AI primarily as an opportunity, or also as a threat?
‘I am very positive about the opportunities AI offers Wolters Kluwer. It opens up many opportunities for us, especially given our proprietary content, and some of these opportunities have already led to results. Many of our customers rely on our in-depth expertise to make critical decisions for themselves and their customers, whether it is taxes, legal matters, or healthcare, for example. And I think it is going to give us a competitive advantage – we already have considerable expertise that we can leverage even better with AI. When it comes to AI, I really am a ‘glass half full’ kind of person.’

Wolters Kluwer is now a company with a distinctly American side. And there are significant shifts happening in the geopolitical arena, just look at the tariff war, for example. Is that something that affects Wolters Kluwer?
‘We do not really sell physical goods. We still print some books, but that is only a very small part of our portfolio. We sell software and information services, so we are not particularly exposed to import tariffs, which mainly target physical products. Furthermore, eighty percent of our income is recurring. So, whatever happens in the world, we would weather the storm. Of course, some of our clients may be exposed to certain turbulent economic forces. But we can help them weather the storm.’

What is the impact of Nancy McKinstry’s upcoming departure as CEO?
‘It is bittersweet. You know, Nancy is such an extraordinary CEO. Not only as a leader. She is also a wonderful person. She is a real role model for me. Let me put it positively, we are looking forward to the coming months with her.’

Stacey Caywood will take over as the new CEO. How do you feel about that?
‘I am very happy with Stacey’s appointment. She has been a fantastic mentor to me over the years, and she is an inspiring leader. She has also been with Wolters Kluwer for a long time, working closely with Nancy and the business operations. From a business perspective, it is a continuation of what we have been doing. Stacey encourages innovation. She has made major changes to the legal portfolio she led for many years and has greatly accelerated innovation in the healthcare portfolio. It feels like a natural choice. I was really pleased that the supervisory board appointed an insider. It means we have a significant talent pool, which is something to be proud of.’

How do you manage that talent?
‘Fortunately, there is a lot of diversity in the activities in our portfolio, which gives our employees many places to look around to develop and grow. Consider the management team. Several of my colleagues have rotated through portfolios and have seen different parts of the world and the company. I think it is important that people can gain a variety of experiences. We try to deploy our talent flexibly while also meeting the need for specialization. Even in my strategy team, we still maintain a certain degree of commitment to specific divisions. Ultimately, we need to have experts in every field, in all the different end markets in which we operate. It is a matter of finding the balance between flexibility and specialization. I think that is a healthy way to develop talent.’

How would you describe yourself as a leader?
‘I like an open culture, I like sparring, challenging the status quo, and raising ambitions. And I still like the obligation to speak up and to disagree. I want everyone to feel safe to share well-considered, fact-based thoughts. I really try to encourage that culture. I also enjoy a non-hierarchical culture. And I enjoy change, improving things, solving problems. That is how my department should operate: we are here to serve the company with the company value win as a team firmly in mind. That is how we achieve the best results. I also believe in a servant leadership style. I want to help, support, strengthen and serve my teams. And by that, I mean both my strategy team and the executive leadership team. I believe in openness, honesty, transparency, and collaboration.’

You saw yourself as a born consultant. Are you still glad that you said ‘yes’ three years ago?

‘One hundred percent. I especially liked the diversity of work as a consultant. I loved the intellectual stimulation of different tasks. But I find all of that here too, given the nature of our activities. I do legal work, tax work, healthcare, business software and digital content. And all over the world. It is so much fun. When, as a consultant, you switch to the other side, it is always exciting. You have to wait and see what you find, but I could not have asked for anything better.’

Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?
‘Oh, who knows? I really love this work, the strategic and M&A side of things. But the go-to-market side is also super interesting. Maybe I will eventually move more towards an operational role. There are so many opportunities. It could go in any direction. But I can also easily imagine staying in this role because there is still so much impact to be made. There are multiple paths here, all of which are super exciting.’

This interview was published in Management Scope 06 2025.

This article was last changed on 24-06-2025

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