Read the Conversation
Meeting Highlights:
- Business Growth & Market Leadership: Strong annual performance, leading the pet, poultry, and swine sectors in Mexico, with LATAM as a key livestock production hub.
- People Development & Talent Attraction: Focus on talent growth, with 30% of employees receiving promotions or lateral moves in 2024 and Mexico maintaining the lowest turnover due to a strong workplace culture.
- Impact of COVID-19 on Animal Health: Strengthened the link between animal and human health, driving demand for high-quality animal protein and emphasizing pets' role in companionship.
- Commitment to Prevention & Vaccination: Boehringer is a leader in vaccines and parasitic treatments, with a major commitment to rabies prevention through a 28-million-dose partnership with the Mexican government.
- AI & Digitalization in Veterinary Care: Leveraging AI to enhance veterinary support, improve communication with pet owners, and drive digital education.
- Vision for the Next 5 Years: Build a high-performance team, foster excellence, and elevate employees to global leadership roles.
- Industry Contribution & Sustainability: Improve public perception of the sector, support efficient resource use, and advocate for sustainable livestock production and disease prevention.
EF: What are Boehringer Ingelheim's priorities, growth opportunities, and key challenges for Latin America in 2025?
TT: My role spans 26 countries across Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Our priorities are clear: we want to continue growing our animal health business. We have delivered a strong performance over the past few years and are now in a solid growth phase. We're already market leaders in several areas of animal health—especially in Mexico, where we lead three of the five major segments: pets, poultry, and swine.
This growth has not happened by chance. It is backed by Boehringer's consistent investment in developing our people. Building a strong team and attracting top talent is absolutely critical for us. We believe great results come from great professionals.
Our focus is on accelerating the momentum we have built—strengthening our market position while continuing to develop talent. Latin America, especially Mexico, plays a key role in this strategy. Mexico ranks among the world's top five poultry producers and is a leader in swine, cattle, and egg production. With a growing population and rising demand for animal protein, the market potential is clear.
EF: What key steps are you taking to prevent infections and diseases in the human-animal bond?
TT: COVID completely changed the way the world views the connection between human and animal health. While veterinary experts have always understood this link, the pandemic brought it into the public spotlight: Animal health is human health.
When we look at livestock, healthy animals are essential for producing high-quality, safe, and affordable protein — a basic human need. With the global population projected to reach around 10 billion by 2050, securing the food supply will be more important than ever, and animal health will play a key role in making that possible.
At the same time, the role of pets in our lives has grown tremendously — especially during the pandemic, when lockdowns drove a surge in pet ownership worldwide. Pets provide companionship and emotional support, becoming true family members for many people. They are no longer just animals in the backyard; they share our homes and even our beds.
That's why animal health should be seen not only as a pillar of food safety and security but also as a contributor to human emotional well-being. By preventing disease in animals — whether livestock or pets — we are ultimately protecting the food we eat and the health of the families we care for.
EF: How are you balancing the companion animal and livestock portfolios in Mexico?
TT: At Boehringer Ingelheim, our long-term strategy is clear — we are focused on prevention. That is why our company plays such a vital role; it's a key player in producing vaccines for a wide range of animals, including poultry, swine, cattle, cats, dogs, and horses.
Beyond vaccines, parasite control is another major focus area, particularly for pets. In Mexico, our top-selling product protects pets against fleas, ticks, and internal parasites. We firmly believe it's always better to prevent disease than to treat it after it appears.
This is especially critical because some parasites can be transmitted from animals to humans, with children being particularly vulnerable due to their close contact with pets.
Across Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, we are fully aligned with our global strategy: prioritizing vaccines for livestock, parasite prevention for pets, and rabies control. Rabies remains a serious public health issue in Latin America, often transmitted through dog bites and disproportionately affecting children.
Several people still die from rabies each year in the region. To help combat this, we have partnered with the Mexican government to support a national rabies vaccination program. This year alone, we expect to administer around 28 million doses across the country. But our commitment goes beyond supplying vaccines — our technical teams also provide training and education nationwide, raising awareness about rabies prevention and control.
EF: How is Boehringer Ingelheim integrating AI and digital solutions into animal health to improve disease prevention, diagnostics, and treatment?
TT: One of the biggest trends right now is artificial intelligence (AI). It has enormous potential to raise awareness and educate — but never to replace veterinarians. That distinction is critical. Diagnosis will always be the vet's role.
Access to information today is easier than ever, but the real challenge is knowing which information to trust. There is an overwhelming amount of content online, and not all of it is accurate or helpful. This is where AI can play a positive role — by guiding pet owners toward reliable, science-based information faster.
Through AI-driven content, we can help people better understand the importance of prevention — like protecting their pets during flea and tick season — and how doing so also protects human health since many parasites can be transmitted from animals to people.
AI has huge potential as a tool for education and awareness. However, its true value will come from helping people access not just information — but the right information.
EF: What helps Boehringer Ingelheim retain talent, and what key skills do you seek in new hires?
TT: April 1st marked six years since I joined Boehringer Ingelheim, and I can honestly say I have found the right place and am happy here. I have been in the animal health industry for 18 years, and I have noticed it tends to be more dynamic than human pharmaceuticals, partly because animal health is a smaller, close-knit field where everyone knows each other.
Boehringer Ingelheim is still owned by the founding family — something rare among big pharmaceutical companies. And you can feel that family spirit in our culture. There is a genuine people-first approach and a real focus on creating a positive and supportive work environment.
That culture has earned us recognition. Here in Mexico, we have been consistently named one of the country's top employers, year after year.
In 2024, 30% of our animal health team across Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean earned a promotion or moved into a new role. That is one in every three people. It speaks volumes about our commitment to developing talent and creating growth opportunities. If someone performs well, shows passion, and is committed, we notice and reward that. Of course, not everyone can move up at once, but even lateral moves or new challenges within the company are ways we help people grow.
EF: What achievement are you most proud of from your past six years, and what goals do you aim to achieve next?
TT: I moved to Mexico in September 2023. Before that, I worked in a region covering India, the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa. So, in my six years with Boehringer, I've had some incredibly meaningful experiences.
In my current role, there are two things I am especially proud of. The first is our performance. We are in a very strong cycle right now — growing faster than the market, delivering great results, and often exceeding expectations. I am very results-driven. I like to win, meet goals, and deliver on what is expected.
The second thing I'm proud of is our people. The quality of the team here — my direct reports, and the leadership across Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean — is outstanding. There is a real sense of professionalism, commitment, and drive for excellence throughout the organization.
Performance is easy to measure — we track it every day. But for me, the most meaningful achievement is seeing that transformation in the team's culture and capability. Looking ahead, I have a personal dream — to one day report to someone who once reported to me. To me, that would be the ultimate sign that we did something right in developing talent. Performance will always matter, but helping others grow is just as important. And if that day comes, I will feel incredibly proud — and hopefully be remembered as a good manager along the way.
EF: Would you like to share a final message to the sector—something you believe should be talked about more?
TT: As key players in the animal health industry, we have a responsibility to help improve the image of our sector. Too often—especially in livestock—we become easy targets for criticism, much of it based on misinformation. Farmers play a vital role every day in making sure there is food on our tables. Yet, many people, particularly in big cities or more developed parts of the world, do not always see or understand the hard work and dedication behind producing milk, meat, eggs, or chicken. Livestock farming often gets a bad reputation based on claims that are not supported by science or facts.
I want to challenge my colleagues across the animal health industry to come together and help shift this narrative. The global population is growing fast — but our resources aren't. We need smarter, more efficient ways to produce animal protein: preventing disease, using water and land responsibly, and maximizing how we use grains and crops.
No matter your income, culture, or religion — everyone needs to eat. And while dietary choices vary, food is essential to all of us. That's why our industry needs to bring real science into the conversation about animal protein and its role in feeding the world.
Pets play a huge role in mental health and child development. A dog or cat can have an incredible impact on a child's emotional growth and overall well-being.
It is time for animal health to step up and take a more active role in shaping how people see us - tell our story with pride and science behind it.
