Sönke Busch - AI Advisor

Q: Where is Sönke based?

Sönke is based in St. Felix, Italy and can operate in on-site , hybrid , and remote work models.

Q: What languages does Sönke speak?

Sönke speaks the following languages: German (Native), English (Advanced), Swedish (Advanced), Italian (Elementary) .

Q: How many years of experience does Sönke have?

Sönke has at least 24 years of experience. During this time, Sönke has worked in at least 12 different roles and for 12 different companies . The average length of individual experience is 2 years . Note that Sönke may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

Q: What is Sönke's latest experience?

Sönke's most recent position is AI Advisor at Self-employed .

Q: What companies has Sönke worked for in recent years?

In recent years, Sönke has worked for Self-employed , Neon Labs , 12freeze.it , Near Foundation , and BLX .

Q: Which industries is Sönke most experienced in?

Sönke is most experienced in industries like Information Technology , Banking and Finance , and Professional Services . Sönke also has some experience in Real Estate , Sport , and Media and Entertainment .

Q: Which business areas is Sönke most experienced in?

Sönke is most experienced in business areas like Product Development , Strategy , and Information Technology . Sönke also has some experience in Project Management , Business Intelligence , and Operations .

Q: Which industries has Sönke worked in recently?

Sönke has recently worked in industries like Information Technology , Sport , and Media and Entertainment .

Q: Which business areas has Sönke worked in recently?

Sönke has recently worked in business areas like Product Development , Information Technology , and Project Management .

Recommended expert

St. Felix, Italy

Experience

Oct 2025 - Present

6 months

AI Advisor

Self-employed

Assessing AI readiness, identify highest-value use cases, and developing prioritized roadmaps that maximize business impact
Hands-on AI transformation – both employee enablement and AI-first processes, using AI-tools to quickly implement and iterate

Aug 2024 - Sep 2025

1 year 2 months

Senior Product Manager

Neon Labs

Led the development of new deep-tech features of the Neon EVM runtime simulator on Solana blockchain
Spearheaded strategic pivot to Solana Native architecture, defining differentiated value proposition for Neon EVM

Oct 2023 - Jul 2024

10 months

Founder

12freeze.it

Built a blockchain-based content verification platform that preserves authenticity and integrity of web content leveraging cryptography
Developed the entire product solo using AI-assisted development

May 2022 - May 2023

1 year 1 month

Head of Product

Near Foundation

Owned all internal and external digital products of the Near Foundation
Managed development of products vital to the Foundation's mission, such as the grants process and educational products
Established and managed the product team of 4 (PM, UX, Dev et al.)

Apr 2020 - May 2022

2 years 2 months

Chief Product Officer & Co-Founder

BLX

Co-created the mobile-first bouldering concept along all aspects of the business (business model, financing, processes etc.)
Owned all digital aspects of the product as CPO
Designed and built the end-to-end digital experience for customers—from registration to payment and QR-code-based studio entrance/exit
Coded 90% of the backend (distributed systems based on AWS, node.js)
Managed a team of 3 freelancer devs & a mobile app agency

Oct 2017 - Dec 2020

3 years 3 months

Munich, Germany

Product Lead New Products

Interhyp & ING Bank

Built new B2B and B2C products from scratch, e.g. a B2C platform for independent mortgage providers from ideation to prototype through MVP to product-led growth
Led an Accelerator Team for ING Bank: developed and validated a platform business model in the housing space from concept to MVP in 6 months
Managed a cross-functional team of 5 (designers, devs and banking experts)
Passed two stage gates, later spun off as a separate business
Co-created migration roadmap from monolith to microservices and coached product owners on agile practices and solution design as part of a developer campus transformation (100+ employees, 12 squads)

Mar 2015 - Sep 2017

2 years 7 months

Munich, Germany

Founding Member, Innovation Lab

Interhyp

Established an effective innovation process to quickly ideate, validate and implement promising user-centric ideas
Led creation of products from initial idea to working product, including the first Interhyp mobile app facilitating communication and exchange of documents between customer and advisor, resulting in 24% more interactions, and price estimates for all properties on a street map (like Zillow Zestimate), later spun off as separate ING-financed startup “Scoperty”
Drove cultural change in the broader organization through example and thought leadership (vision & hands-on workshops)

Nov 2012 - Jan 2015

2 years 3 months

Stockholm, Sweden

Director, Strategy & Industry Insights

Oracle

Worked with key customers to review strategic objectives, assess business operations and identify areas for business process improvement
Presented findings to customer executives, including actionable recommendations, business cases and implementation roadmaps
Advised account managers on how to identify and shape value for customers
Contributed to closing $16 million in CRM, HCM, and ERP SaaS deals

May 2011 - Nov 2012

1 year 7 months

Stockholm, Sweden

Senior Business Consultant

Logica (now CGI)

Oct 2008 - May 2011

2 years 8 months

Stockholm, Sweden

Product Manager

HansaWorld

Feb 2006 - Aug 2008

2 years 7 months

Munich, Germany

Senior Consultant

Booz & Company (now Strategy&)

Jan 2001 - Jan 2006

5 years 1 month

Hamburg, Germany

Co-Founder

Evolvem

Industry Experience

See where this freelancer has spent most of their professional time.

Experienced in Information Technology, Banking and Finance, Professional Services, Real Estate, Sport, and Media and Entertainment.

Information Technology

Banking and Finance

Professional Services

Real Estate

Sport

Media and Entertainment

Business Area Experience

See which departments and functions this freelancer has contributed to most.

Experienced in Product Development, Strategy, Information Technology, Project Management, Business Intelligence, and Operations.

Product Development

Strategy

Information Technology

Project Management

Business Intelligence

Operations

Summary

Senior Product Leader with 15+ years experience, enabling teams to ship 5-10x faster through AI-first development. Hands-on technical background with proven track record building successful products from zero (e.g., BLX app: 0→15,000 members in 2 years).

I specialize in AI transformation for organizations—assessing AI readiness, identifying high-value use cases, and developing prioritized roadmaps. At Neon Labs, I drove AI adoption across 60+ employees. Fluent in German and English, based in CET timezone.

Skills

Enabling Teams To Ship Faster With Ai
Ai-first Product Development: Orchestrating Ai Tools Across Pm, Design And Development To Ship 5-10x Faster. Read My Article On The Solo-product-builder
Proven Product Sense: 15+ Years Identifying User Needs And Building Successful Products (E.g. Blx Mobile App: 0→15,000 Members In 2 Years)
Hands-on Technical Execution: Hand-coded Several Products Pre-ai (E.g. Backend For Interhyp App), Now Using Ai Coding Agents (Claude Code, Cursor) Daily And Building Ai-automated Workflows
Ai Transformation Leader: Driving Organizational Ai Adoption (Neon Labs: 60+ Employees) And Reshaping Processes To Become Ai-first

Languages

German

Native

English

Advanced

Swedish

Advanced

Italian

Elementary

Education

Aug 2002 - Jun 2003

School of Business, Economics & Law / University of Gothenburg

International management, finance and accounting · Gothenburg, Sweden

Oct 2000 - Dec 2005

University of Regensburg

Diploma in Business Informatics · Business Informatics · Regensburg, Germany · 1.5

Aug 1990 - Jun 1999

Gymnasium Bondenwald

German high school diploma · Hamburg, Germany · 1.4

Statistics

Experience

Total positions 12

Experience in Information Technology 9 y

Avg length 2 y 1 m

Longest experience 5 y

Global Experience

Countries worked in 2 (Germany, Sweden)

Primary country Germany

Expertise

Recent roles AI Advisor, Senior Product Manager, Founder

Main industries Information Technology, Banking and Finance, Professional Services

Main business areas Product Development, Strategy, Information Technology

Qualifications

Highest degree Master

Profile

Created

January 2026

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Frequently asked questions

Do you have questions? Here you can find further information.

Where is Sönke based?

Sönke is based in St. Felix, Italy and can operate in on-site, hybrid, and remote work models.

What languages does Sönke speak?

Sönke speaks the following languages: German (Native), English (Advanced), Swedish (Advanced), Italian (Elementary).

How many years of experience does Sönke have?

Sönke has at least 24 years of experience. During this time, Sönke has worked in at least 12 different roles and for 12 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 2 years. Note that Sönke may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

What roles would Sönke be best suited for?

Based on recent experience, Sönke would be well-suited for roles such as: AI Advisor, Senior Product Manager, Founder.

What is Sönke's latest experience?

Sönke's most recent position is AI Advisor at Self-employed.

What companies has Sönke worked for in recent years?

In recent years, Sönke has worked for Self-employed, Neon Labs, 12freeze.it, Near Foundation, and BLX.

Which industries is Sönke most experienced in?

Sönke is most experienced in industries like Information Technology, Banking and Finance, and Professional Services. Sönke also has some experience in Real Estate, Sport, and Media and Entertainment.

Which business areas is Sönke most experienced in?

Sönke is most experienced in business areas like Product Development, Strategy, and Information Technology. Sönke also has some experience in Project Management, Business Intelligence, and Operations.

Which industries has Sönke worked in recently?

Sönke has recently worked in industries like Information Technology, Sport, and Media and Entertainment.

Which business areas has Sönke worked in recently?

Sönke has recently worked in business areas like Product Development, Information Technology, and Project Management.

What is Sönke's education?

Sönke holds a Master in Business Informatics from University of Regensburg and a Bachelor in International management, finance and accounting from School of Business, Economics & Law / University of Gothenburg.

What is the availability of Sönke?

Sönke is immediately available full-time for suitable projects.

What is the rate of Sönke?

Sönke's rate depends on the specific project requirements. Please use the Meet button on the profile to schedule a meeting and discuss the details.