The executive team

Guido Van der Schueren has been Chairman of the Board since 2014 and has close to 50 years of experience in the graphic arts industry. In 1992 he co-founded Artwork Systems and served as Managing Director and Chairman of the Board from 1996 to 2007. He served as Vice Chairman of EskoArtwork Group from June 2007 until April 2011. He runs Powergraph, an investment company mainly active in graphic arts software and technology. He is also the Chairman of Congra Software, the holding company which owns a majority stake in Hybrid Software Group PLC.

Nick De Roeck, a computer science graduate from the University of Ghent, began his career at Artwork Systems NV in 1998. In 2000, he became Development Manager for Artwork Systems’ web-oriented products. In 2007, he founded NiXPS NV, an engineering company specializing in graphic arts software, where he led the development of PDF technology, web-based tools and automation software. NiXPS merged with Hybrid Software in 2013. As Co-President of Hybrid Software, Nick oversees the development of workflow solutions for both SaaS and on-premise deployment.

Mike Rottenborn became CEO in January 2020, having previously served as President and CEO of Hybrid Software Inc., which he founded in 2007. With 30 years of experience in the graphic arts industry, Mike began his career as an electrical engineer at DuPont Printing & Publishing before joining PCC Artwork Systems to focus on prepress workflow software for packaging and commercial printing customers. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and a Master of Science in Computer science from Villanova University.

Patrick Coussement’s career in packaging software began in 1988 as a developer for the Belgian company DISC Graphics. In 1993, he joined Artwork Systems as R&D manager, leading the team that created the first Macintosh-based pre-press editor for packaging. In 2012, he founded PACKZ Software and assembled a talented development team to once again challenge the status quo with an innovative native PDF editor for packaging pre-press, PACKZ. PACKZ Software later merged with Hybrid Software, and today Patrick serves as Co-President, overseeing the development of advanced pre-press tools and editing solutions.

Joachim Van Hemelen joined Hybrid Software in 2015 and was appointed CFO and company director in September 2022. He is responsible for the company’s global finance, treasury and corporate development functions.

Joachim’s earlier experience includes roles as a corporate finance advisor at Portolani, and a merger and acquisitions advisor at a mid-market M&A boutique. He began his career in 2010 as a financial auditor at BDO. Joachim holds a Master of Business Administration from Lessius Hogeschool Antwerp.

Since joining the company in 2009, Matt Gosnell has held roles in both engineering and IT management. In November 2021, he was promoted to Chief Information Officer. With a background firmly in IT infrastructure and support, Matt leads and manages an agile team responsible for the continuous availability, security, and integration of the company’s technology infrastructure.

Matt holds a BA in Photographic and Digital Media from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge.

Steven brings extensive experience in sales and marketing, with a focus on high-tech and IT sectors, particularly within the software industry. Over the course of his career, he has worked across multiple global markets, leading strategic marketing initiatives. At Nuance, a global leader in speech recognition, artificial intelligence, PDF, and OCR software, Steven led the Global Marketing Demand Center for many years, driving demand generation efforts. Before joining Hybrid Software, he served as Marketing and E-Commerce Manager at Igepa Belux. He holds a Master’s degree in Applied Economics from the University of Ghent and an MBA from the Management School of Antwerp.

Clive Ayling was appointed Managing Director of Meteor Inkjet in December 2016. He has been a specialist in digital print and, in particular, inkjet technologies for over 20 years. Together with Meteor’s Director of Engineering, he co-founded Meteor in 2006 and has led its growth to being a leading company in the field of industrial inkjet electronics.

Clive holds a degree in physics from the University of Cambridge.

Justin Bailey joined Global Graphics Software as Sales Director in 2013 and became Managing Director in 2017. He has over 30 years’ experience in the document imaging and print markets, having spent 17 years at Canon before founding eCopy’s EMEA business which grew to represent approx. 30% of the company revenue. During his time at eCopy he was involved in broadening the reach of its technology platforms so that most leading brands of MFP had eCopy solutions to sell via their channel. After eCopy’s acquisition by Nuance in 2009, and he took on broader responsibilities across imaging systems for MFPs and desktop applications for OCR and PDF.

In 1994 Christopher Graf founded PIC GmbH (Production Integration Company), which was acquired by Artwork Systems in 1998. Between 1998 and 2008 he was the managing director for the German-speaking territories for Artwork Systems and later EskoArtwork. Before starting Hybrid Software GmbH in September 2011, Christopher was managing director of DALIM SOFTWARE. As a founding partner of Hybrid Software he is responsible for the DACH region and Eastern Europe.

Karen Crews began her career at Xitron in 1986 as an accountant, later serving as VP, Finance and Operations. She played a pivotal role in Xitron’s growth, and in 2013 she became President. Karen has been instrumental in driving Xitron’s engineering efforts towards Digital Front End development and maintaining its leadership in Harlequin RIP® and workflow solutions to the commercial printing market. She joined the Executive Team following Xitron’s acquisition by Global Graphics in 2019.

Bert Van der Perre is head of Labels & Packaging division of Hybrid Software. With a career spanning technical roles in support, quality assurance, and product management, Bert successfully transitioned into sales. He began as the Benelux Sales Manager, progressed to Sales Director, and now leads the commercial strategy globally. His extensive experience in the software sector for packaging and labels underscores his passion and expertise in driving growth and innovation within the industry.

Igor Vandromme joined Hybrid Software in 2023, and is heading the BrandZ division.

He has a 30-year career spanning various managerial positions in service and delivery, consultancy, strategic initiatives,  business development and operations.

Before joining Hybrid Software, Igor spent 5 years at Barco Healthcare as VP Global Services. Previously, Igor was employed at Esko for 14 years where he had several roles, including VP of Services. He started his career with Artwork Systems in 1995 and worked both in Europe and North America.

Igor holds a degree in Graphic Management from Arteveldehogeschool in Ghent, and earned his Executive MBA at the ESCP Business School of Paris.

Floris De Ruyck joined Hybrid Software in 2021 as Group Legal Counsel, where he oversees legal affairs, human resources, and investor relations.

He launched his career as a business lawyer with a focus on commercial and corporate law, before moving into corporate banking at ING, where he held several commercially driven roles.

Floris brings an academic background with a Master of Laws from Ghent University and a Postgraduate in Corporate Finance from KU Leuven.