Consistency, courage, and change: Jan Hansen on what it takes to lead transformation in diagnostics

When Jan Hansen joined Unilabs in September 2025 as Chief Transformation & Strategy Officer, he did so with a clear ambition: to help shape the future of diagnostics in Europe and further strengthen Unilabs’ long-term impact for patients. 

In this interview, Jan shares how he is using his more than 20 years of leadership experience across the pharma, healthcare, and industrial sectors to drive transformation, operational excellence, and strategic growth across the organisation. 

How would you describe your role and purpose today? 

As Chief Transformation & Strategy Officer, I oversee Unilabs’ strategy, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), information technology (IT), and company-wide transformation agenda. Together, these areas shape how we grow, how we innovate, and how we deliver on our commitment to patients and healthcare professionals.  

The foundation of our business is to serve our patients and customers in the best way possible, by providing accurate, high-quality diagnostic results every day. This is of utmost importance and will always be our focus. My role is to ensure we are building an organisation that can evolve, scale, and strengthen its performance, so that we continue to be a trusted partner for the healthcare system well into the future. 

Describe your leadership approach. Have there been any stand-out experiences that have helped to shape this? 

My leadership approach is direct, open, honest, and curious. I’m always interested in understanding how things work, and why, because that insight helps us make better, more informed decisions.  

I’m always available for my team, and I also believe that, above all else, family and health come first. 

A defining chapter of my career was the time I spent working in China. Experiencing a different culture and getting to hear different perspectives, fundamentally changed how I see the world. It taught me to embrace ambiguity, to challenge my own assumptions, and to appreciate that there is rarely one “right” answer. Those lessons still shape how I lead today. 

What do you believe leaders often underestimate about leading people? 

The value of trust. I believe a big portion of trust is built from consistency and predictability—that’s people doing what they say they’ll do, making decisions in a steady way, following through on commitments, and behaving reliably over time.  

Other important factors are competence, empathy, and communication, but consistency is what creates credibility. When people know what to expect from you, they feel safe sharing ideas and challenging you in healthy ways. That’s where real progress happens. 

How would you describe Unilabs’ role in the diagnostic ecosystem? 

Diagnostics play a vital role in steering the journey a patient takes through the healthcare system. Our results inform the decisions clinicians make about prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. That gives us both an opportunity and a responsibility. 

Unilabs’ ability to provide multiple diagnostic modalities under one roof creates important opportunities to enhance patient care and expand innovative services. I believe there is significant potential to build on this in the future. 

What capabilities or ways of working do you believe are most critical to strengthen right now? 

The world around us is increasingly complex. We must be comfortable making timely decisions in ambiguous environments, while maintaining the highest standards of quality and compliance.  

We need to take this skill and use it to address short-term challenges with a long-term mindset – not just fixing issues quickly for now, but fixing them for good. 

What excites you most about the future of Unilabs? 

I am particularly excited by the further potential of responsible and clinically guided artificial intelligence (AI), especially in pathology and radiology, but also in the laboratory space. When used properly, AI can enhance accuracy, speed up workflows, and support clinicians in ways that ultimately benefit patients. 

If you could leave your colleagues with one idea or belief, what would it be? 

From my perspective, consistency, resilience, and persistence are essential traits for success and meaningful progress. As the Chinese philosopher Confucius said, “It does not matter how slow you go, as long as you do not stop.”