Martin Frick CIO50 2008

One of the rising stars on the CIO50 list, Germany-born Martin Frick took up the CIO position at car rental firm Avis Europe last year after five years at Swiss insurer Winterthur, which was bought by AXA at the end of 2006.

Prior to that Frick was COO at Dublin-based business-to-business internet banking service factor-e, which he joined after four years at Andersen Consulting in Munich working on direct banking projects.

This is Frick's second consecutive year on the CIO50 list and he is one of the few examples of continental Europe-based CIOs moving into UK-based businesses, and someone who observers have marked out as 'one to watch'.

Frick studied physics and received a PhD from Heidelberg University in Germany, doing research work at IBM's labs in Switzerland and the US.