Basler AG Announces Leadership Transition with Retirement of Longtime CEO Dietmar Ley

Longtime Basler AG (Ahrensburg, Germany) CEO Dietmar Ley will retire at the end of 2025, the company announced. However, he will continue to advise the company and will join Basler’s supervisory board.

Hardy Mehl—currently deputy CEO, chief commercial officer and chief operating officer— will take over as CEO. Mehl’s primary responsibilities will be sales, operations, human resources, and investor relations.

Ines Brückel, who began her tenure at Basler January 1, 2025, will continue in her role as CFO.

In addition, Kai Jens Ströder, will join Basler on January 1, 2026, as chief technical officer (CTO), a new position at Basler. He will be responsible for product generation and innovation. Ströder has held numerous positions at Carl Zeiss AG (Oberkochen, Germany). Most recently he was CEO of tooz technologies GmbH (Aalen, Germany), a startup focused on smart glasses for augmented reality systems. Tooz is owned jointly by Carl Zeiss and Deutsche Telekom GmbH (Bonn, Germany).

Ley's Career at Basler

Ley served as CEO at Basler for 25 years, beginning in February 2020. He spent the bulk of his career at Basler, joining the company in March 1993 as a project manager and then rising steadily through the management ranks.

Speaking about his tenure at Basler, Ley says in a press release, “After more than three decades at Basler, I look back with gratitude and pride on a varied and fulfilling time. We have developed the company from a startup to one of the world's leading providers of computer vision technology, mastering many challenges together, driving innovation and actively shaping the transformation of our industry.”

Meanwhile, Mehl, who joined the company originally in 1999 as a business development manager, has held a variety of management positions including director of marketing, business management director, and CFO/COO/CMO.

Founded in 1988, Balser AG produces about 5,000 different products for machine vision, including cameras, lenses, lights, and software. The company has 850 employees at 12 locations worldwide.