Patrizia Niehaus is the CEO of KINTO Join Ltd. With over 20 years at Toyota, she helped drive its shift to a mobility provider, launching KINTO Mobility in Europe and advancing sustainable initiatives. Niehaus advises businesses on ESG-driven mobility, fleet optimisation, and transformation.
By Héloïse Chaudot
What are your main priorities and goals in your role?
My ultimate goal is to enable corporate decarbonisation strategies, ensuring resilience and prosperity for clients and partners. As such, I help to empower my team to deliver service innovation through state-of-the-art software and consultancy, while driving the necessary change within our corporate ecosystem to secure stakeholder and shareholder support.
What are your biggest challenges as CEO?
I’d say managing my time between performance management and revenue expectation. Evolving a start-up into a process-oriented, high-performance team does not happen overnight. For the team to own this journey, you need to take time to understand the dynamics, find the right moment and know when to intervene.
How do you keep your team/staff motivated?
I believe in ownership. If the team has accountability for tasks and feels responsible for achieving goals, they will be motivated. We set company targets at the beginning of each fiscal year – as well as visualising these in the office and following up on progress, we make sure to analyse failure and celebrate success.
What are the challenges facing the industry going forward?
We see that companies with a defined sustainability strategy are less affected by political uncertainty or inconsistent guidance. If you understand the competitive advantage of sustainability and implement a data-driven action plan, you can confidently drive growth and success for your customers, your team, and your organisation.
What new trends are emerging in your industry?
Through our ESG reporting platform KINTO zero, we see how expectations around sustainability consulting are evolving. At KINTO Join LTD., we have shifted from a simple ‘advice and reporting’ model to recognising that clients need tangible, measurable outcomes. That means being able to share data, collaborate, and deliver benefits across value chains.
Are there any major changes you would like to see in your sector?
I hope for a stronger commitment to climate protection and sustainability compliance from European governments. The overall communication is neither motivating nor highlights the opportunity for organisations. The idea of cross-industry collaboration is very powerful, and I think it can be fostered through positive communication.
As an employer, do you find any skill gaps in the market?
I work every day to understand the younger generation better. It’s easy – and unhelpful – to label certain skills as a ‘gap’ simply because they were common for my generation but are not common today. Everyone in today’s workforce should embrace these differences and listen to each other to enable personal growth.
How would you define success, and what drives you to succeed?
My role is to help the team succeed, so success is when they achieve targets. To see somebody turn feedback into action and reach their goals – that is what drives me.
What’s the best advice you’ve been given in business?
It’s not really advice, but it is a core principle of the Toyota Way: ‘consensus building’. It involves sharing ideas with different people to leverage their expertise and experience. In turn, we can refine ideas and increase the probability of success.
What advice would you give to others starting in business?
A common risk for those starting is considering your idea or brand as something that the world has been waiting for. While this mindset can create positive energy, you run the risk of appearing arrogant. I’d tell founders to be proud but humble, and focus more on listening than presenting.
What have been your highlights in business over the past year?
The launch of KINTO zero, which allows us to be an extensive sustainability partner for clients: simplifying ESG reporting, transforming data into actionable insights and implementing effective decarbonisation plans.
What’s next for your company?
Sustainable growth in the Irish and UK market, driven by the value we deliver for customers!
What is the best book you ever read (non-business) and why?
Of Walking in Ice, by Werner Herzog, 1978. Life is about dedication. We should all trust our instincts, perseverance and ability to achieve.
What is your favourite hobby and why?
Gardening! Sowing seeds, watering, discovering the first seedling, and watching it grow and bloom.
What is your mantra for life?
“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” L. Cohen.
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