The Westhive Board of Directors

Our Board Members

Martin Bosshardt has been a member of the Board of Directors of Open Systems AG since 2020. He has been CEO of Open Systems AG since 2002 and has implemented the company’s investment and growth strategy. Open Systems is the leading security and SD WAN-as-a-Service provider with a service presence in more than 180 countries and offices in the USA, Germany, Austria, UK and Switzerland. Prior to joining Open Systems, Martin joined ABB and then took on a management role at Futurecom Interactive AG. In 2010 he was awarded the SVC Entrepreneur Award. He is a member of the Advisory Board of PwC Switzerland.

Martin studied at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich and at Todai University in Tokyo and holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the ETH. Martin is married with two sons and lives in Zurich.

Gerhard E. Walde is Chairman of the Board of Directors of WALDE Immobilien AG.

The company he founded in 1985 is one of the largest brokers and marketers of residential and investment properties as well as new construction projects.

WALDE Immobilien AG is active in the greater Zurich area, the canton of Aargau and central Switzerland and employs over 60 people.

Michael Widmer is Managing Director of Brino Group AG, a family-owned holding company with a number of shareholdings and sits on the board of several privately held companies. He was CEO of Bank Gutenberg for several years. Prior to that, he was on the Eurex Executive Board and supervised Eurex’s U.S. business. Prior to joining Eurex, he worked in private practice as a corporate lawyer in Zurich.

Michael Widmer holds a doctorate in law from the University of Zurich and an Executive MBA from the University of Rochester. He is also admitted to the Zurich Bar Association.

Michael is married, has one daughter and lives in Küsnacht.

Casper Studer is Chief Real Estate Strategy Officer at Fairway Family Office AG. In his function, he is responsible for the global strategic orientation and investment advice of the Family Office in the areas of Real Estate, PropTech and Hospitality. He is also acting as an external advisor to several global investment vehicles.

Casper Studer holds a Masters in Real Estate Management from the University of Applied Sciences in Zurich and a Doctorate degree with a specialization in Finance from the University of Southern Queensland. He is also a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS).

Casper Studer is married, has one daughter and lives in Zollikon/ZH

Birgit Meier-Hobmeier is Head of Human Resources and a member of the Executive Board of the Migros Aare Cooperative. In addition to implementing the strategy of Migros Aare, she is responsible for the entire area of Human Resources, including training and development. In addition, she is a member of various foundations and associations.

Birgit Meier-Hobmeier has many years of experience in the retail sector, including as a member of the management team at Globus and Charles Vögele, and holds various degrees in HR-specific further education.

She is married, works in Bern and lives in Uitikon/ZH.

Claus Bornholt started his professional life in consumer goods marketing. In 1996, he became co-founder of a startup: an internet-based music promotion and distribution service based out of Hamburg, Germany. While it certainly was the right product at the right place, it certainly was not the right time. In 1998, Claus joined Futurecom interactive, where he met Andreas and Bruno. He became a member of the Futurecom board in 2002 and a member of the group executive board of the newly formed Y&R Group Switzerland that was founded in 2008, bringing Futurecom together with the Swiss branches of its internationally renowned sister companies Wunderman and Y&R.

In 2017, he founded Westhive together with Andreas and Bruno. Claus has over 25 years of experience in marketing strategy and in leading multidisciplinary teams. He holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, is a member of the Communication Council of ks/cs Communication Switzerland and has a seat on the advisory board of the Internet Advertising Bureau.

Bruno Rambaldi worked as a research assistant at ETH before joining Futurecom interactive AG in 1996, one of the first Swiss Internet startups, where as head of software development he helped to profitably grow the company from 5 to 100 employees. After his first startup experience, Bruno worked as a Consultant for OC Oerlikon in several Asian countries. With the experience gained, he founded a company that offered the integration of Auto-ID solutions for logistics applications with enterprise systems and still exists today. He later worked in various general management and supply chain management functions in high precision manufacturing. He was driving initiatives to increase competitiveness by applying lean management methods, digitizing manufacturing processes and building up manufacturing partners in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. Prior to cofounding Westhive in 2017, Bruno joined Y&R Group Switzerland as CTO.

Bruno holds a Master of Science degree from ETH Zürich and an MBA with distinction from INSEAD.

Andreas Widmer founded his first company in 1996. After his studies of sociology, he created Futurecom interactive AG, one of the first interactive agencies in Switzerland. Futurecom quickly became one of Switzerland’s largest digital consultancies. In 2003, Andreas took also charge of Futurecom’s sister company Wunderman, and in 2008, he became CEO of the Swiss branch of Y&R, one of the world’s largest communications agencies. This was the birth date of the Y&R Group Switzerland AG, merging Futurecom’s digital prowess with the communications expertise of Y&R and Wunderman. Andreas headed Y&R Group as CEO until 2017, leading it to be one Switzerland’s most successful and renowned digital marketing consultancies.

In 2017, he founded Westhive together with Bruno and Claus. Andreas is president of the Swiss Chapter of the international Advertising Association IAA and holds various board of directors’ mandates, among them the MCH Group/Art Basel and renowned real estate broker Walde & Partner.