When Fabian Schober took a day trip to Boston in 1999, he had no idea that 18 years later, he would be finding an apartment online, sight unseen, and moving there for good.
During the 1999–2000 school year, Schober spent a semester attending high school in Los Angeles. It was his first extended experience abroad, and it changed his outlook, exposing him to new cultures and perspectives. From then on, he actively sought out international experiences and started backpacking whenever he had breaks from school, ending up traveling to around 100 countries.
“In many ways, that early semester in Los Angeles planted the seed for everything that followed afterwards,” Schober said.
Originally from Salzburg, he moved to Vienna to study at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien) and later earned a doctorate from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland. He then spent ten years in Munich working in global roles for TÜV SÜD and moved with the company to Boston in 2017, which Schober calls the “natural next step in an increasingly global career.” Eventually, he served as President & CEO of TÜV SÜD America.
Now, Schober is Senior Vice President for the Connected Technology and Mobility Business Unit at Element Materials Technology, a leading global provider of testing, inspection, and certification services for a diverse range of products, materials, and technologies in advanced industrial supply chains, headquartered in London. His role involves leading the strategy, growth, and operations for a team of more than 1,000 people across the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Korea, and Japan, again reflecting his passion for global businesses, travel and diverse cultures.
Element has customers from all over the world, including a number of Austrian customers that are highly specialized and technologically advanced. “Many of these companies need to operate globally from day one because of market requirements,” Schober explained. “We help Austrian companies not only access neighboring European markets, but increasingly the U.S. as well, given its sheer size. In that sense, we help translate strong Austrian engineering into global commercial success.”
His advice for companies—especially start-ups—is to “engage us or a testing and certification partner early on, because it’s going to save you time, cost, and complexity down the road.”
Schober credits his Austrian background and international experience with helping him bridge perspectives and align teams around shared goals. “In Europe, there’s a strong focus on structure, quality, and long-term value creation,” he said. “In the U.S., those qualities complement the speed, ambition, and entrepreneurial spirit that drive a lot of innovation.”
His global perspective continues to be shaped by living in Boston, which he considers home. Both of his children were born there, and he values the city’s mix of history, innovation, and international openness, as well as its walkability. “It’s a city with real depth and forward momentum — you can feel it when you walk around,” he said. “Even if the winters are harsher than in the Alps.”
