Piet Quade-Managing Partner

Industry: Publishing, media Project management for the concept of a RAG-based archive access solution: a secure on-prem or hybrid compute architecture for LLM and embedding operations, pipeline for transcription and automatic tagging, semantic search across audio and video archives. Use case evaluation and make-or-buy together with editorial team, archive, and legal department, taking into account copyright, broadcasting law, and the AI Act. Differentiator: practical LLM infrastructure experience from two own productive platforms combined with C-level program management in regulated industries.

Industry: Manufacturing, electronics manufacturer Mid-sized specialist for digital energy metering data (approx. EUR 100 million revenue, 200-500 employees). Responsibility for rebuilding the IT infrastructure across the full depth - from architecture and strategy to the contract with the new outsourcing partner. In parallel, coaching the IT manager and executive team with a view to independent provider management after the end of the assignment. Result: BSI-oriented security audit carried out and action plan established; outsourcing contract negotiated and awarded; IT leadership enabled for independent management, strategic repositioning with IT strategy, AI strategy, and IT security framework initiated.

Industry: High tech SDAX group with a grown application landscape in its own data centers. Assignment: hybrid multi-cloud strategy with complete portfolio evaluation according to Cloud-6R. Approach through the bridge between infrastructure (data center topology, cloud sizing, TCO) and application view (migration capability per app). Result: complete 6R classification; migration roadmap with business cases delivered on time in 6 months; board decision for implementation achieved.

Need for a new product strategy after the low-interest phase. Developed using Lean Business Canvas, customer interviews, and make-or-buy assessment. Involved senior management as a sparring partner so the implementation decision felt owned by the bank, not imposed from outside. Result: Unanimous decision by the executive board and supervisory board; follow-up assignment for implementation (see 2018/2019).

Need for an objective assessment of suitability for the future IT leadership role. Structured two-stage assessment (general + executives) with follow-up coaching for the final candidates. Focus on preparing them for the role so the transition could go smoothly. Result: Delivered a solid staffing recommendation to the executive board on time; coaching relationship continued during the transition phase.

Industry: Chemicals & Pharma Preparing the IT organization for a single-vendor strategy with an offshore share. Risk cluster analysis across teams, tools, and processes, coordinated with management in workshops. Coaching component for operational project control. Impact: approx. 200 employees and EUR 70 million p.a. Result: risk heatmap with prioritized action areas; transition started on schedule and without service interruption.

The client commissioned a selection process for a new system partner to provide services for the further development of the global collaboration platform. Development of the service interface, creation of the SoW and the RFI and RFP documents, support in the selection process, and preparation of the transition.

Management and departmental leadership commissioned us to realign a chronically troubled project and lead it to success. The goal was to turn the project around and then carry out the process rollout. In the project, new processes were rolled out for >350 employees across various sites as well as with the Indian offshore partner. The success formula here was the professionally set up and parallel-managed human change through internal fairs, workshops, and one-on-one interviews, with active involvement of management.

Project 1: Development of a reference and maturity model that describes the necessary changes in the relevant areas of application development. To put this into practice, a rollout concept was created that secured the organizational change through change management. The concepts developed are being tested in a follow-up project as a proof of concept and are being rolled out step by step across the organization. Project 2: Identification of structural savings potential and professional, quickly effective implementation. As a result, the project enabled the client to realize savings in the double-digit million range right away and to set internal standards with the quality of the measures. Project 3: Reorganization of IT controlling and, with support from management, sharpening of the overall goals and tasks. This included drafting the organizational structure with a role-task matrix and supporting the introduction of the model.

Project 1: Development of a common set of KPIs for project reporting and introduction of a corresponding tool support for an annual project volume of >250 million EUR. Project 2: Operational project lead of the client team, with 30 staff members, for eight price benchmarks, including preparation, vendor selection, follow-up, and support during the final price negotiation with the service provider. Cost savings in the double-digit million range were achieved as a result. Project 3: Support in defining and building IT portfolio management as well as support and execution of various cost reduction programs, support for repeat benchmarks, and performance and price negotiations.

After the takeover of SPM by SAP SI, I moved into consulting and took over the leadership of the SAP Consulting teams. Our portfolio focused on advising corporate IT executives and CIOs and supporting the implementation of strategic IT projects. In my role as Trusted Advisor, my two teams and I worked for well-known companies in the logistics, telecommunications, and banking sectors. My revenue responsibility was EUR 5.5 million per year.