Lukas Brenner is a Senior Partner in Zurich and leads the firm's Mergers & Acquisitions practice and its work in industrials. He has supported more than thirty transactions, from commercial due diligence through integration, mostly for chemicals, machinery and energy companies in German-speaking Europe. He led the integration of two specialty chemicals producers that delivered its savings target eight months early.
Lukas joined Vertex in 2012 after seven years in manufacturing, latterly as plant director for a components supplier in southern Germany. He trained as a process engineer and holds a doctorate in industrial engineering. He works in German, English and French.
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Webinar: scenario planning for the 2027 board calendar
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Event
Elena Marsh and Priya Raman
A one-hour online briefing for directors and executives on building scenarios, triggers and prepared moves into the board's regular cycle.
Scenario planning that boards will actually use
scenario-planning-for-boards
Article
Elena Marsh and Thomas Reid
Most board scenario exercises produce a thick report and no decisions. A lighter approach, tied to triggers and pre-agreed moves, makes them useful.
Making cost savings last: a breakfast roundtable for CFOs
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Event
David Okafor and Hannah Cole
A closed-door breakfast in London for finance leaders planning their next cost program, built on the findings of The CFO Cost Agenda 2026.
Operations AI Benchmark 2026: from pilots to the P&L
operations-ai-benchmark-2026
Report
Marcus Lindqvist and Priya Raman
How 286 operations leaders are using AI in maintenance, planning and quality, how much of it reaches production, and what the companies seeing returns do differently.
Zero-based organization design, done properly
zero-based-organization-design
Article
Hannah Cole
Designing an organization from a blank page sounds radical. Done well, it is the most practical way to remove layers and duplication without starting a political war.
The first 100 days after a merger
first-100-days-after-a-merger
Article
Lukas Brenner and Amara Nwosu
The first hundred days after closing set the pace for everything that follows. What to settle before day one, what to do quickly, and what to leave alone.
The CFO Cost Agenda 2026: why savings fade and what keeps them
cfo-cost-agenda-2026
Report
Thomas Reid and David Okafor
A survey of 412 chief financial officers on cost programs, how much of the savings survive, and the practices that separate durable results from temporary ones.
Making AI pay back in operations, not in pilots
making-ai-pay-back-in-operations
Article
Marcus Lindqvist and Kenji Watanabe
Most operations AI never leaves the pilot stage. The few use cases that pay back share a set of traits that have little to do with the model itself.
Pricing power after the inflation years
pricing-power-after-inflation
Article
Elena Marsh and Priya Raman
Companies raised prices faster than costs between 2021 and 2024. Customers remember. How to set prices now that the cover of general inflation is gone.
Why cost programs fail in year two
why-cost-programs-fail-in-year-two
Article
David Okafor and Thomas Reid
Most cost programs hit their first-year targets. The savings disappear in the second year, for reasons that are predictable and largely avoidable.