Piet Quade-Managing Partner

Industry: publishing, media Project management for the design of a RAG-based archive exploration: robust on-prem or hybrid compute architecture for LLM and embedding operations, pipeline for transcription and automatic tagging, semantic search over audio/video archives. Use-case evaluation and make-or-buy together with the editorial team, archive and legal department, considering copyright law, the broadcasting treaty and AI regulation. Differentiator: practical LLM infrastructure experience from two of my own production platforms combined with C-level program management in regulated industries.

Industry: manufacturing, electronics manufacturer Mid-sized specialist for digital energy metering data (approx. €100 M revenue, 200–500 employees). Responsible for rebuilding the IT infrastructure end to end – from architecture and strategy to contract with the new outsourcing partner. Simultaneously coaching the IT head and executive management to enable independent vendor management after the mandate. Result: BSI-oriented security audit conducted and action plan established; outsourcing contract negotiated and awarded; IT management empowered for independent control, strategic repositioning initiated with IT strategy, AI strategy and IT security framework.

Industry: high-tech SDAX group with a legacy application landscape in its own data centers. Task: hybrid multi-cloud strategy with full portfolio assessment according to Cloud-6R. Approach bridged infrastructure (data center topology, cloud sizing, TCO) and application view (migration readiness per app). Result: complete 6R classification; migration roadmap with business cases delivered on time in 6 months; board approval for implementation achieved.

Need for a new product strategy after a period of low interest rates. Developed it using Lean Business Canvas, customer interviews and make-or-buy analysis. Involved the executive board as sparring partners so the implementation decision was backed by the bank, not imposed externally. Result: unanimous decision by the executive board and supervisory board; follow-up mandate for implementation (see 2018/2019).

Need for an objective suitability assessment for the future IT leadership. Structured a two-stage assessment (general + leadership) with follow-up coaching for the final candidates. Focused on preparing them for the role to ensure a seamless transition. Result: solid staffing recommendation delivered to the executive board on time; coaching relationship continued during the transition phase.

Industry: Chemicals & Pharma Prepared the IT organization for a single-vendor strategy with an offshore component. Conducted risk cluster analysis across teams, tools, and processes, aligned with executive management in workshops. Added a coaching component for technical project management. Affected: about 200 employees and €70M p.a. Result: a risk heatmap with prioritized action areas; transition started on schedule without any service interruption.

The client mandated the execution of a selection process for a new system partner to deliver services for the further development of the global collaboration platform. Developed the service interface, prepared the SoW and the RFI and RFP documents, supported the selection process and prepared the transition.

Executive and area management mandated us to realign a chronically off-track project and bring it to success. We had to execute the turnaround and then deploy the process rollout. The project rolled out new processes for over 350 employees across multiple locations and at the Indian offshore partner. The key to success was the professionally established and concurrently managed human change program via internal events, workshops, and individual interviews with the support of management.

Project 1: Development of a reference and maturity model that describes the necessary changes in the relevant areas of application development. For implementation, a rollout plan was developed to secure the organizational change through change management. The concepts developed are tested as a proof of concept in a follow-up project and rolled out step by step. Project 2: Identification of structural saving potentials and professional, short-term effective realization. As a result, the project enabled the client to implement double-digit million savings immediately and set a benchmark for the quality of measures within the company. Project 3: Reorganization of IT controlling and, with management support, defining the overarching goals and tasks. This included drafting the organizational structure with a roles and responsibilities matrix and supporting the introduction of the model.

Project 1: Development of a uniform set of metrics for project reporting and introduction of corresponding tool support for an annual project volume of >€250 million. Project 2: Operational project management of the 30-person client team for eight price benchmarks including preparation, vendor selection, follow-up and support during the final price negotiation with the service provider. As a result, cost savings in the double-digit million range were recorded. Project 3: Support in defining and setting up IT portfolio management as well as accompanying and executing various cost reduction programs, repeat benchmarks, and service and price negotiations.

After SAP SI acquired SPM, I moved into consulting and took over the SAP consulting teams. Our portfolio was shaped by advising corporate IT leaders and CIOs, and supporting the implementation of strategic IT projects. As a trusted advisor, my two teams and I served leading companies in the logistics, telecommunications, and banking sectors. I was responsible for €5.5 million in revenue per year.