Thomas Otter

Thomas Otter has had a diverse range of work experiences throughout their career. Thomas is currently a General Partner at Acadian Ventures and a Senior Advisor at PSG. Previously, they served as an Industry Advisor at Warburg Pincus LLC and held Non-Executive Director roles at Basis Technologies and immedis. Thomas also founded Otter Advisory and was a Non-Executive Board Member at Headhunter Group. Prior to these roles, they held various positions at SAP, including Global Vice President Product Management and Chief Business Solution Architect. Thomas began their career at Gartner as a Research Director and later became a Research Vice President. Thomas has a strong interest in HR/HCM technologies, analytics, and the impact of social software on business processes.

Thomas Otter's education history begins with their enrollment at Michaelhouse from 1982 to 1985, where they obtained a bachelor's degree in an unspecified field of study. Following this, they pursued a BA (Honors) degree in Politics, Economics, and Law from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, which they completed between 1986 and 1990. During the same period, they also earned a PDM degree in HR from the University of the Witwatersrand.

In 1999, Thomas pursued a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in IT Law from the University of Strathclyde, completing it in 2001. After a gap, during which their education status is unknown, they enrolled at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and obtained their PhD in compliance, enterprise software, GDPR, and accessibility in 2019.

Continuing their education in 2020, Thomas pursued a PGdip in Strategy and Innovation from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, which they completed in 2021. Thomas also obtained a Finance for Executives certificate from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in the same year.

Furthermore, Thomas obtained several certifications to enhance their professional skills. These include the Oxford Entrepreneurship: Venture Finance Programme from the University of Oxford in May 2022, the FT Non-Executive Director Diploma with Pearson SRF BTEC Level 7 Advanced Professional Diploma from the FT Non-Executive Director Programme in June 2020, and managerial finance certifications from LSE obtained in June and March 2020. Additionally, they hold a Higher Education Teaching Certificate from Harvard University, although the exact time of completion is unknown. Thomas also acquired the FBCS certification from the British Computer Society, though the time of attainment is unspecified.