Occam Global Recruits Former CSO of Novo Nordisk to Advisory Board of Cradle
March 6, 2026 – New York City-based executive search firm Occam Global has placed Marcus Schindler as a member of the advisory board at Cradle, the enterprise-grade AI platform for protein engineering. He will help accelerate the platform’s scientific impact and drive broader adoption of AI-powered protein engineering across the life sciences industry.
“Marcus is renowned for modernizing drug discovery at some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies,” said Stef van Grieken, co-founder and CEO of Cradle. “He has been transformative in building thriving cultures that turn technology into a genuine competitive advantage, disrupt drug discovery to deliver better outcomes and adopt AI solutions at larger scale. We’re excited to work closely with Marcus and draw on his deep experience driving R&D innovation to apply AI in practical, meaningful ways across biologics discovery and development.”
Dr. Schindler previously served as executive vice president for research & early development and chief scientific officer at Novo Nordisk, where he oversaw a broad pipeline spanning multiple therapeutic areas and modalities, advanced numerous programs from discovery into clinical development, and strengthened external collaborations to expand access to emerging technologies and scientific capabilities.
“I’ve seen over the course of my career that a major challenge for large pharma is to integrate AI solutions directly into complex, established R&D workflows in a way that actually empowers and augments scientists and advances programs,” said Dr. Schindler. “Cradle’s team stands out because they appreciate the reality of complex drug discovery and are driving robust, reliable and repeatable results for scientists at the bench.”
“I’ve seen firsthand how their platform can go beyond pilot programs to scalable applications,” he continued. “Due to the nature of their business model this enables the simultaneous building of complementary state-of-the-art AI capabilities internally and I believe this represents the future of AI-powered biotech solutions.”
Related: Occam Global Fills Senior Post for Variant Bio
Cradle’s mission is to make engineering biology easier, quicker and more cost-effective. Its enterprise-grade AI software platform currently serves six out of the top 25 global pharma companies, and is used across over 50 R&D programs. With Cradle, scientists can engineer better proteins, faster and more successfully, speeding up the development cycle of new therapeutics and bio-based products such as antibodies, enzymes, and bio-based materials. Cradle is based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Zurich, Switzerland; and the United States with a team of machine learning and biotech research specialists with experience at many of the world’s leading technology and biotech companies, including Google, Novartis, Meta, Zymergen, Uber, Deepmind and Generate Biomedicines. Cradle is backed by IVP as well as Index Ventures and Kindred Capital.
Building Out Management Teams
Founded in 2012 by William Holodnak, Occam Global is an international executive recruiting and leadership advisory firm specializing in building management teams for companies in the life sciences, AI, robotics, defense, technology, and venture capital sectors. The firm’s success is rooted in cultivating and valuing relationships, establishing trust with entrepreneurs, executives, and investors. The firm employs a disciplined and comprehensive method for the sourcing, selection, and integration of executive leaders, involving in-depth research and rigorous due diligence. In addition, Occam Global provides sophisticated advice on organizational structure and development at the C-suite and board levels.
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Mr. Holodnak established his reputation by starting, building, and running an international search firm servicing leading companies and entrepreneurial organizations in the asset management, financial services, global health and biotechnology sectors throughout Asia, North America, and Europe. Prior to founding Occam, Mr. Holodnak created J. Robert Scott, a multinational executive search firm under the umbrella of Fidelity Investments. He specializes in recruiting C-level executives and board of director searches for the financial services and healthcare sectors, with clients including MIT, Ameriprise, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, AstraZeneca, Venrock, New Enterprise Associates, and SingHealth.
John Holodnak is Occam Global’s president. He specializes in healthcare executive recruiting and technology executive recruiting, calling on nearly a decade of experience in C-level executive search and his extensive experience in the financial services sector. Mr. Holodnak previously worked as an equity analyst at Crédit Agricole, a fixed-income analyst at Western Asset Management, and a currency trader on Wall Street.
Related: Occam Global Places Leader of Gene Therapy Company Ensoma
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
