Technology Executive
Nikola Kovačević.
I build technology organizations that scale, cut cost, and deliver under pressure. I specialize in regulated enterprises navigating carve-outs and cloud transitions.
I help regulated enterprises (GxP, FDA 21 CFR Part 11, EU MDR, pharmaceutical serialization, NIS2) navigate technology transitions that other leaders avoid: carve-outs, cloud modernizations, and identity migrations at scale. If your company is navigating a carve-out, cloud migration, or infrastructure scaling challenge, I can help make it predictable.
Leading an enterprise carve-out at scale
When Sanofi spun out Opella as a standalone company, I was tasked with isolating the entire infrastructure estate: 53+ manufacturing and commercial sites, 16,000 users, and hundreds of applications across four cloud landing zones. The business could not afford downtime. Regulators could not afford gaps. And the timeline was non-negotiable.
I built the migration governance framework, isolated Opella infrastructure from Sanofi, and led the identity modernization to Azure AD with SCIM provisioning. The result: zero business-disrupting incidents, 70% risk reduction on carve-out deliverables, and EUR 1.5M in annual run-cost savings through cloud rationalization.
This is the work I do best: taking messy, high-stakes technology transitions and making them predictable.
EUR 1.5M
annual infrastructure cost reduction
53+
sites isolated with zero downtime
16,000
users migrated to modern identity platform
70%
risk reduction on carve-out deliverables
Key Initiatives
Full career →Sanofi Digital Factory 4.0
Dec 2021Led the Web Application Platform and architected manufacturing applications for Sanofi's global smart factory initiative, delivering batch genealogy, control tower, and observability solutions.
36,000 hours saved annually
Opella Infrastructure Carve-Out
Jun 2025Led the infrastructure separation for Opella's spin-off from Sanofi, isolating 53+ manufacturing and commercial sites across four Azure landing zones with zero business disruption.
EUR 1.5M saved, zero downtime
Opella Identity Carve-Out
Mar 2026Led the delivery of a completely new identity foundation for Opella, migrating 16,000 users from Sanofi's corporate directory to a standalone Azure AD with modern security controls.
16,000 users, zero downtime
How I lead
Build teams that outlast me
I hire for autonomy and invest in platform engineering and internal tooling so teams self-serve. I built an agentic AI coding platform serving 200+ developers and moved to infrastructure-as-code, cutting provisioning time by 85%.
Tie engineering metrics to business outcomes
I run engineering on DORA metrics and business outcomes, not vanity metrics. I cut infrastructure costs by 50% while improving operational reliability by 20% through KPI-driven performance management.
Make the complex predictable
Regulated enterprises have constraints most startups do not: compliance, audit trails, zero-downtime requirements. I have spent 15 years turning those constraints into operating advantages through observability, automation, and governance.
Let's talk.
Available for executive technology leadership and speaking engagements. Based in Barcelona, open to relocation and hybrid roles globally.
I typically respond within 24 hours. Initial conversations are informal and confidential.