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Leadership and learning through four decades at NIRAS – Anniversary interview with Carsten Toft Boesen
After 40 years at NIRAS – including 25 years as CEO – Carsten Toft Boesen reflects on his journey in this anniversary interview. He shares his thoughts on leadership and workplace culture in a knowledge-intensive company, a defining merger – and why trust and autonomy are essential.
October 1, 2025
Globalisation, digitalisation, the financial crisis, the Paris Agreement and the sustainability agenda, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine. A lot of water has passed under the bridge during Carsten’s time at NIRAS – and especially over the quarter of a century in which he has led the company through strong growth as well as consolidation.
Freedom with responsibility – and the project at the centre
When Carsten joined NIRAS in 1985, the consulting engineering company had about 250 employees and was strongly shaped by its origins in Greenlandic infrastructure projects and the establishment of the Danish natural gas network.
As a newly graduated hydrogeologist, Carsten quickly gained responsibility for his own projects, built client relationships, and developed his professional expertise within a company culture marked by openness and trust in employees’ judgement. These cultural traits remain alive today – both in the company and in its CEO.
“I truly believe we were right to preserve these cultural elements, even though the company has grown nearly 15-fold. NIRAS is characterised by trust and freedom with responsibility – the company culture has always been important to me,” says Carsten Toft Boesen.
On Wednesday 1 October 2025, Carsten celebrates his 40th anniversary at NIRAS. For many, work becomes an identity, and Carsten admits that NIRAS has often taken up most of his energy and waking hours. Yet he hopes and believes that those who have known him for a long time can still distinguish between the person and the company.
How does NIRAS stand out from other consultancies?
“We have more flexibility and inclusiveness in our culture and processes – and also a humility regarding the limits of our own competencies. That has advantages and disadvantages. One downside is that our processes may be slightly more expensive than those of other consultancies. On the other hand, our culture provides flexibility and the ability to do the right and necessary thing in the moment. That helps create motivation and job satisfaction. We can see that our employees tend to stay with us longer and are more satisfied being here. Ultimately, it’s about striking the right balance between efficiency and a good working culture.”
"I believe people have the right intentions and want to do the right thing. I’m willing to accept some risk on that basis, because trust brings far greater benefits compared to its opposite, which is control."
Carsten Toft Boesen, CEO.
A leadership principle – or two
Autonomy is a word often heard at NIRAS. According to Carsten, it is a declaration of trust. A mindset that allows the company to respond faster and more agilely to opportunities and challenges, rather than rigidly following predefined systems and processes whenever something unexpected arises and a decision is needed.
“I believe people have the right intentions and want to do the right thing. I’m willing to accept some risk on that basis, because trust brings far greater benefits compared to its opposite, which is control. I’m told I often use war metaphors, but I truly believe that the people in the trenches usually know best what needs to be done.”
“This approach requires the ability to let go and not be involved in every decision – to live with an unknown, but trust-based risk. That doesn’t mean I won’t sometimes step in – or happily help – and in those moments I can certainly come across as detail-oriented and controlling.”
"I sit across from employees and managers who have at least the same level of knowledge and capacity as I do, but who bring different perspectives and insights. That leaves only one way to communicate."
Carsten Toft Boesen, CEO.
Mutual respect and integrity
After 25 years as CEO in a company full of highly educated people with expertise in many different disciplines, Carsten has a deep perspective on how the role of corporate leadership has evolved over time.
What does it mean to be a good leader in a knowledge-driven organisation?
“I sit across from employees and managers who have at least the same level of knowledge and capacity as I do, but who bring different perspectives and insights. That leaves only one way to communicate: to say things as they are – or rather, as you see them. It comes down to mutual respect and integrity. At the same time, as a leader you must also be willing to learn from good questions and arguments – and be prepared to adjust course accordingly. That doesn’t mean everyone gets their way – on the contrary, I encounter broad recognition of the need for decisions to be made.”
What has shaped you as a leader?
“Perhaps most of all, the managers I have worked under myself. After five years as CEO, I reached a point where I saw the need to set a new direction for the company. I had succeeded a very strong predecessor, Ole Føgh, from whom I had observed and learned over many years as part of the executive team. At first, when I took the helm, I actually thought it was surprisingly easy. But after a few years, I decided to take an MBA to gain a more fundamental and evidence-based approach to leadership and strategy, and to learn how to further develop the company. I realised that self-taught leadership, intuition, and hard work were not enough. More was required.”
“Merger of equals”
It was during his MBA studies at Henley that Carsten truly realised how transformative it can be to merge with an equal consultancy rather than focusing solely on acquisitions of smaller companies. The advantage of the latter is, of course, that you retain most control – but the advantage of the former is that the outcome can be even stronger when more people contribute to the decisions.
In 2017, these ideas became reality when the two foundation-owned companies NIRAS and ALECTIA merged. Together, they took a major step forward, creating a larger, stronger consultancy with several market-leading positions and strong synergies.
“It was incredible – the market position and the boost we gained overnight. We couldn’t have achieved that otherwise. It was especially in building and process industries that, by joining forces, we found ourselves in a completely new position,” Carsten recalls, adding:
“Many others – not least ALECTIA’s former management and my fellow executives – deserve more credit for this than I do. But we truly succeeded in the cultural integration between the two firms, so that we came to stand as one unified company. That has been the case for quite some time now – it was and remains a milestone.”
Looking ahead
Carsten’s anniversary comes at a time when the global outlook is painted in rather dark colours. The international order we have known and benefitted from is faltering, and where societal strategies – and hence the positioning of major consultancies – until recently focused on sustainability and green energy transition, today they are increasingly directed towards defence and resilience, both in relation to supply chains and to climate.
“There will continue to be strong demand for our competencies, though it will be for different kinds of tasks – but security and resilience against climate change are certainly also worth striving for,” says Carsten, and continues:
“I am truly happy with the NIRAS we have today. It’s amazing to see the projects we develop with our clients. Ever more complex tasks taking shape and rising from the ground. It’s deeply fascinating and inspiring – whether it’s a hospital, a production facility, new infrastructure, a water treatment plant, or a combined nature and climate adaptation project.”
He is convinced that consulting engineers will continue to play a crucial role in delivering key societal projects in the future. For NIRAS, the hope is to maintain the balance between efficient processes and systems and a high degree of employee autonomy.
“I look back on my working life with joy, and I feel I’ve been given every opportunity to shape my own career and to work with motivating projects and highly talented people,” concludes Carsten Toft Boesen.
"I look back on my working life with joy, and I feel I’ve been given every opportunity to shape my own career and to work with motivating projects and highly talented people."
Carsten Toft Boesen, CEO.
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