Jiří Koleňák: Welcome to another episode of the Úspěšní (Successful) podcast. In this special edition, produced in partnership with the Czech Management Association, we bring you conversations with inspiring leaders who are not afraid to take responsibility and transform the world around them. Today, we step into the world of technology, innovation, and leadership on a grand, yet deeply human, scale. Joining me as co-host is Olga Girslová, President of the Czech Management Association. Welcome, Olga!
Olga Girslová: Thank you, Jiří, for the warm welcome.
Jiří Koleňák: Please introduce our guest today.
Olga Girslová: Our guest today is Dr. Ing. Dalibor Kačmář, National Technology and Security Officer (CTO/CSO) at Microsoft Czech Republic and Slovakia. He operates at the forefront of technological innovation, advocates for the development of a digital society, specializes in cybersecurity, and actively connects the business sector with government, academia, and the broader public through popularizing technology.
Jiří Koleňák: Dalibor, I always start by asking what brought my guests the greatest joy in recent days. What was it for you?
Dalibor Kačmář: I could mention many things, but I'll share one from my personal life. My daughter is studying at the Faculty of Medicine at Charles University, which is an extremely demanding field, especially in the first year. She's doing very well, recently completed a major portion of her studies, and is preparing for an exam. Seeing her succeed brings me immense joy.
Jiří Koleňák: It shows! Few people picture a Chief Technology and Security Officer as someone who presents in the media, lectures at universities, and negotiates with government institutions. How did your career path evolve to this point?
Dalibor Kačmář: My career splits into two main chapters. The first was purely academic, working across various universities starting in the Czech Republic and expanding abroad to the UK, the United States, and Finland. During my academic career, I collaborated externally with Microsoft. After 12 years in academia, it was time to transition into the commercial sector. That was nearly 23 years ago when I joined Microsoft. I moved from purely technical software development roles through managing teams of various sizes, eventually reaching my current position as Technology and Security Director.
Jiří Koleňák: Microsoft bridges technology, business, and broad societal impact. What core values drive your career at Microsoft?
Dalibor Kačmář: Three key values stand out. First, transparency—a fundamental requirement I expect from the company, my colleagues, and myself. Second, reliability—in a global enterprise, nobody succeeds in isolation; team cohesion determines our collective success. Third, professionalism—an organization impacting millions of users worldwide must deliver world-class quality across all products and services.
Jiří Koleňák: You've been at Microsoft for 23 years. Where do you draw inspiration for continuous personal growth?
Dalibor Kačmář: Continuous learning is a top personal priority for me, which stems naturally from my academic background. Microsoft celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and as an industry leader, the rapid pace of technological innovation drives my continuous development. Furthermore, observing our organizational transformation over nearly a quarter-century keeps me engaged. When I joined, our local office had about 10 people. Today, including our R&D development center, we house 1,200 to 1,300 employees. Scaling from a garage-sized team to a major enterprise brings continuous operational evolution.
Jiří Koleňák: Your enthusiasm for technological evolution is contagious. While public debate often frames tech advances with anxiety, embracing technological transformation provides immense energy.
Olga Girslová: Dalibor, in your current role at Microsoft, you work horizontally across teams without having direct reports. How do you build trust, authority, and collaboration in that structure?
Dalibor Kačmář: In my previous executive roles, I managed large teams of direct reports. Managing horizontally as a "general without direct troops" might sound ideal to a traditional manager, but it actually demands higher leadership capability. When you cannot issue direct top-down commands, you must lead through influence, vision, active listening, and compelling direction so teams naturally align behind shared business objectives.
Olga Girslová: Do you ever feel isolated in that role?
Dalibor Kačmář: Not at all. My scope covers the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but I interact daily with global teams across Microsoft worldwide.
Olga Girslová: How would you describe your personal management style?
Dalibor Kačmář: Situational leadership. Rather than relying on a rigid, single management style, situational leadership requires selecting the most appropriate management approach—ranging from directive to permissive—based on the specific operational context and team dynamics. The true skill lies in accurately diagnosing which leadership style a given situation demands.
Olga Girslová: Microsoft places strong emphasis on corporate sustainability. How does Microsoft drive sustainable development in practice?
Dalibor Kačmář: As Microsoft shifted from selling packaged software to hosting cloud infrastructure, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and hardware recycling became operational priorities. Rapid hardware lifecycle turnover generates significant physical footprints. Years ago, Microsoft committed to becoming carbon negative by 2030—actively removing more carbon than we emit—as well as water positive and zero waste. Today, we recycle the vast majority of silicon components across our global data center fleet to eliminate operational electronic waste.
Jiří Koleňák: What did it take for Microsoft to become the first certified cloud solution provider for Czech public administration?
Dalibor Kačmář: It was a two-step journey. First, we collaborated with industry peers to help shape cybersecurity legislation, establishing rigorous security standards for public sector infrastructure without creating bureaucratic barriers that would turn the national IT ecosystem into a museum. Second, we executed a rigorous two-year technical and legal compliance auditing process covering nearly 200 cloud services. The Czech Republic maintains some of the most stringent public sector cloud security standards globally. Achieving that certification was an intensive process, and keeping it requires continuous compliance re-verification as our cloud services innovate.
Jiří Koleňák: You are deeply active in educational initiatives. What motivates your commitment to tech education?
Dalibor Kačmář: Two drivers: passing on knowledge accumulated over decades, and translating complex technical realities into accessible human language. With rapid developments in AI, technical fields are growing increasingly complex. Without accessible education, society risks underutilizing powerful tools that could otherwise elevate human and economic potential.
Jiří Koleňák: Microsoft advocates for equal opportunity and empowering employee value creation. How do you instill a sense of higher purpose within teams?
Dalibor Kačmář: Beyond hitting corporate targets, I focus on how technology serves society. Early on, I helped launch Partners in Learning (Partneři ve vzdělávání) to integrate modern IT across Czech education. Later, during the initial wave of cloud computing 10 to 15 years ago, we helped propel the Czech Republic into one of the fastest cloud adopters globally. Furthermore, participating in non-commercial societal dialogues—such as speaking at the annual Forum 2000 conference on technology's impact on democratic preservation—aligns our technological capabilities with broader human values.
Jiří Koleňák: Microsoft supports initiatives like hackathons and the Microsoft Garage platform. Why is fostering hands-on creation so important?
Dalibor Kačmář: Hackathons transform individuals from passive technology consumers into active solution creators. Teams arrive with real challenges, using technology as an enabler to co-create solutions. Observing how creative minds apply cold technical tools to solve human problems is deeply inspiring.
Jiří Koleňák: Where do you draw personal inspiration, and how do you set priorities?
Dalibor Kačmář: I follow select global industry leaders, but my primary source of inspiration and grounded feedback is my family. When setting priorities, I rely on common sense alongside organizational directives.
Olga Girslová: How did your nomination for the Manager of the Year award come about?
Dalibor Kačmář: Following the success of my former colleague Violeta Luca (former General Manager of Microsoft CZ/SK), who won a category award the previous year, a new "CTO of the Year" category was introduced. Our Corporate Communications Lead, Karolína Křiženecká, suggested we present our technical leadership story, which resulted in the award win.
Olga Girslová: What is the primary value of participating in the Manager of the Year program?
Dalibor Kačmář: Beyond personal recognition, the award provides a year-long platform to share professional experience across universities, industry panels, and executive forums, mentoring the next generation of business leaders.
Olga Girslová: You recently hosted a student from Newton University as part of our executive job-shadowing initiative. How was that experience?
Dalibor Kačmář: Excellent. Microsoft runs internal student exposure programs, so welcoming an ambitious, well-prepared student for a full day of executive shadowing was seamless. Job shadowing provides students with authentic exposure to corporate dynamics and executive decision-making. Expanding this program across universities nationwide adds immense value.
Olga Girslová: What role should the Czech Management Association play in the public domain?
Dalibor Kačmář: Media coverage in the Czech Republic frequently focuses on negative narratives. ČMA plays a vital role by highlighting positive managerial benchmarks, celebrating economic progress, and promoting inspiring success stories that drive national confidence.
Jiří Koleňák: A powerful note to conclude on. Olga, Dalibor, thank you both very much for a fantastic discussion.
Dalibor Kačmář: Thank you, Olga and Jiří, for having me. Have a wonderful day.
Olga Girslová: Thank you, it was a pleasure.
Jiří Koleňák: To our viewers, thank you for watching, and see you next time as we showcase more finalists of the Manager of the Year awards!
