Utimaco appoints Axel Deininger as Chief Innovation Officer
8 Apr 2026
Aachen (Germany), 8 April 2026 – Utimaco, a leading global provider of IT security solutions, today announces that Axel Deininger joins the company as its new Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) and member of the management board.
This appointment reflects Utimaco’s focus on innovation as one of the key drivers of its strong growth and position in its core markets. As the ongoing transition to cloud-based security services and dynamic developments in AI reinforce the need to stay ahead of the curve, innovation, market awareness and trust, Utimaco’s essential values, are more relevant than ever. Axel’s vast experience in hardware and software development will help the company to sharpen and boost its innovation power and accelerate its ongoing transition into a more cloud and services-based business model.
Axel Deininger has extensive experience in the mobile security, card payments and cyber security industry. Having started his career at Siemens AG, Axel went on to serve in various senior and executive management roles at Infineon, Samsung Semiconductor Europe and Giesecke + Devrient. Prior to joining Utimaco, Axel held the position of CEO at secunet, a longstanding Utimaco customer and partner, from 2019 to 2025.
“I am very excited to join Utimaco as CIO. Security in critical – often mission-critical – environments has been my career focus for many years. Being able to apply my experience and vision for the next level in security technology now to the Root of Trust is a great opportunity, and I look forward to working with Utimaco’s global team to drive innovation, open up new markets and enable digital sovereignty in multi-cloud environments” said Axel Deininger, Chief Innovation Officer at Utimaco.
Stefan Auerbach, CEO of Utimaco, said: “We are very happy to welcome Axel to our board. Having worked with him closely in the past, I highly appreciate his deep product and market knowledge, can-do attitude and forward thinking. Axel is a great addition to our strong leadership team, and we look forward to shaping the future of Utimaco with him.”
About Utimaco
Utimaco is a global platform provider of trusted Cybersecurity and Data Protection solutions and services with headquarters in Aachen (Germany) and Campbell, CA (USA). Utimaco develops on-premises and cloud-based hardware security modules, solutions for key management and data protection as well as Public Warning Systems. Utimaco is one of the world's leading manufacturers in its key market segments.
400+ employees around the globe create innovative solutions and services to protect data, identities, citizens and digital assets with responsibility for global customers and citizens. Customers and partners in many different industries value the reliability and long-term investment security of Utimaco’s high-security products and solutions. Find out more on www.utimaco.com.
Media contact
Utimaco
Silke Paulussen
+49 241 1696-150
pr@utimaco.com
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