The Board of Directors of Luxinnovation, the national innovation agency, has unanimously decided to appoint Mario Grotz as CEO from 1 March 2025. He will succeed Sasha Baillie, who will take up her post as Marshal of the Court on that date.
Jean-Michel Gaudron
Mario Grotz, First Government Counsellor, was head of the Directorate-General (DG) for Infrastructure and Technology of the Ministry of the Economy between 2009 and 2012. He then took over the ministry’s DG Research, Intellectual Property and New Technologies, which in 2021 became DG Inter (Innovation, New Technologies and Research). He has also chaired the Board of Directors of Luxinnovation since 2018, a position he will hand over on 1 March. He will be seconded from the Ministry for his new role as CEO.
Throughout his professional career, Mr Grotz has contributed to the development of the government's data-driven innovation strategy. This strategy has, among other things, led to the development of reliable and interoperable data infrastructures and services. As part of this strategy, Luxembourg has strengthened its position as a European data hub, notably through initiatives such as the MeluXina supercomputer and the Luxembourg National Data Service (LNDS). These efforts are essential for the development of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, which require clean, standardised and interoperable data to be effective and reliable.
This appointment ensures the continuity of the work of strategic alignment with the economic development objectives pursued by the government and the transformation of the agency's organisation, carried out since 2018 under the aegis of Sasha Baillie.
Lex Delles, Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism
"This appointment ensures the continuity of the work of strategic alignment with the economic development objectives pursued by the government and the transformation of the agency's organisation, carried out since 2018 under the aegis of Sasha Baillie," comments Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles.
"The Chamber of Commerce is a long-standing shareholder of Luxinnovation and our two institutions work hand in hand to support companies in their innovation needs," adds Carlo Thelen, Director General of the Chamber of Commerce. "We salute all the work done over the past six and a half years with Sasha Baillie and look forward to continuing this productive cooperation in perfect continuity with Mario Grotz."
Sasha Baillie expressed her satisfaction with the appointment of Mario Grotz: "Since my arrival at the head of Luxinnovation in May 2018, I have worked to put in place a strategy and a vision for the agency to support Luxembourg companies in strengthening their competitiveness through research and innovation. The internal reorganisation currently underway will allow Mario Grotz to continue this formidable challenge. He will be able to count on a multidisciplinary team of almost 100 people.”
Photo credits: Luxinnovation/Michel Brumat
