Thomas Kostrewa - SAFe Agile Coach for Product Delivery

Q: Where is Thomas based?

Thomas is based in Hamburg, Germany .

Q: What languages does Thomas speak?

Thomas speaks the following languages: German (Advanced), English (Advanced) .

Q: How many years of experience does Thomas have?

Thomas has at least 10 years of experience. During this time, Thomas has worked in at least 6 different roles and for 6 different companies . The average length of individual experience is 2 years and 7 months . Note that Thomas may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

Q: What is Thomas's latest experience?

Thomas's most recent position is Agile Coach / Release Train Engineer (SAFe) – Product & Cross-functional Delivery Focus at Autonomous Driving / Connectivity (OEM, confidential) .

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

In recent years, Thomas has worked for Autonomous Driving / Connectivity (OEM, confidential) and BSH Hausgeräte GmbH .

Q: Which industries is Thomas most experienced in?

Thomas is most experienced in industries like Information Technology , Automotive , and Manufacturing . Thomas also has some experience in Banking and Finance and Telecommunication .

Q: Which business areas is Thomas most experienced in?

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

Q: Which industries has Thomas worked in recently?

Thomas has recently worked in industries like Information Technology , Automotive , and Manufacturing .

Q: Which business areas has Thomas worked in recently?

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

Recommended expert

Hamburg, Germany

Check rate

Experience

Feb 2024 - Present

2 years 7 months

Agile Coach / Release Train Engineer (SAFe) – Product & Cross-functional Delivery Focus

Autonomous Driving / Connectivity (OEM, confidential)

Orchestrate cross-functional delivery across organisational units in the Connectivity domain, aligning teams around integrated end-to-end, customer-testable value rather than isolated component delivery.
Drive a shift from local component optimisation towards shared outcomes and a common delivery goal, increasing focus and enabling significantly faster integrated delivery.
Coordinate across 15 cross-functional organisations in a highly complex OEM environment; bring Product, Engineering, Programme Management and specialist functions together to resolve dependencies and improve decision-making.
Coach Product Managers, Product Owners and stakeholders on product responsibility, prioritisation, outcome orientation and aligned backlogs.
Use Claude through an AWS Bedrock integration to analyse Jira and Confluence content, identify patterns, dependencies and quality gaps, and support structured product and delivery decisions.
Establish AI-native requirements excellence with LLM-supported quality gates for epics, features, stories, acceptance criteria, roadmaps and task breakdowns; scale adoption through templates and prompt playbooks.

Jun 2021 - Oct 2023

2 years 5 months

Agile Coach / Release Train Engineer (SAFe) – Scaling & Product Organisation

BSH Hausgeräte GmbH

Supported a global SAP S/4HANA transformation and built/scaled a SAFe Solution with 2 ARTs and 150+ participants.
Aligned Business and IT streams and coached Scrum Masters, Product Owners and Epic Owners, connecting SAP Activate with SAFe.
Introduced predictability metrics and improved forecast quality by approximately 20%.
Strengthened flow through continuous improvement and WIP limits, contributing to approximately 200% output increase in under three months.
Supported cross-team dependency management and synchronisation of business and technical deliverables.

Oct 2020 - May 2021

8 months

Agile Coach – Portfolio & Product Strategy

CARIAD / Volkswagen

Supported portfolio-level governance and decision-making through Lean Portfolio Management for digital product areas.
Coached leaders and stakeholders on portfolio flow, prioritisation and decision logic.
Facilitated alignment workshops to strengthen strategic focus and cross-organisational collaboration.
Supported organisational development for 100+ engineers and embedded scaled agile ways of working.

Apr 2019 - Aug 2020

1 year 5 months

Senior Product Owner – Digital Funnel & Data-driven Product Discovery

smava

Owned the loan-application journey and increased conversion by up to 15% through A/B testing and systematic funnel optimisation.
Built and scaled an experimentation setup including Optimizely and established KPI-based product steering and decision-making.
Translated business objectives into outcome-oriented roadmaps, user stories and measurable increments in a cross-functional setup.
Aligned Product, Engineering, UX and Marketing around end-to-end improvements and rapid learning cycles.

Aug 2018 - Mar 2019

8 months

Agile Coach – Team Enablement & Transformation

Vodafone

Supported an agile transformation using a Spotify-inspired model with Chapters and Guilds alongside Scrum practices.
Coached cross-functional teams and key roles to strengthen collaboration, delivery and continuous improvement.
Designed and facilitated training and transformation workshops, working agreements and effective delivery cadences.
Facilitated Scrum ceremonies and stakeholder alignment.

Jan 2016 - Jan 2018

2 years 1 month

Senior Product Owner – Platform Product & Growth

XING

Owned the 'My Network / Contacts' product area and evolved it from a directory into a dynamic networking experience.
Defined product vision, roadmap and backlog, translating strategy into incremental releases with clear outcomes and KPIs.
Launched 'Pro Business' premium vertical, covering MVP delivery, positioning and go-to-market alignment.
Drove premium growth through data-informed optimisation and experimentation with Engineering, UX and stakeholders.

Chief Product Owner

TUI.com

Led product teams and digital relaunch programmes in a complex travel and e-commerce environment.
Steered alignment across a stakeholder landscape of 120+ participants.
Focused product work on customer journeys, conversion optimisation and coordinated delivery across organisational interfaces.
Supported agile transitions and transformations while connecting product direction with executable delivery.

Industry Experience

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

Experienced in Information Technology, Automotive, Manufacturing, Banking and Finance, and Telecommunication.

Information Technology

Automotive

Manufacturing

Banking and Finance

Telecommunication

Business Area Experience

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

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

Project Management

Product Development

Information Technology

Business Intelligence

Marketing

Operations

Summary

Senior product leader with extensive hands-on experience in product strategy, discovery, roadmap ownership, experimentation and cross-functional delivery. Former Chief Product Owner at TUI.com and Senior Product Owner at smava and XING; today coaching Product Owners and Product Managers in complex enterprise and automotive environments. Strong in turning ambiguous customer and business needs into prioritised product bets, measurable outcomes and aligned end-to-end delivery. Uses AI/LLMs intensively for research, market and gap analysis, requirements quality, dependency identification and decision support, combining practical AI adoption with formal AI transformation qualifications.

Skills

Product Vision & Roadmaps
Product Discovery & Co-Creation
Product Bets & Prioritisation
Product Strategy
Ai-Enabled Research & Analysis
Market & Gap Analysis
Llm-Based Decision Support
Requirements Excellence
Cross-Functional Delivery
Engineering / Product / Programme Alignment
End-To-End Customer Value
Dependency Management
Commercial & Go-To-Market Alignment
Product Design Collaboration
Kpi / Okr
Experimentation
A/B Testing
Product Owner & Product Manager Coaching
Stakeholder Management
Safe / Pi Planning
Scrum
Kanban
Tools & Ai: Claude
Aws Bedrock Integration
Jira
Confluence
Miro
Ms Teams

Languages

German

Advanced

English

Advanced

Education

AMB Berlin

Diploma in European Business Administration (FH) · European Business Administration · Berlin, Germany

Certifications & licenses

Microsoft Certified: AI Transformation Leader

Microsoft

AI-Native Change Agent

Scaled Agile, Inc.

AI-Native Foundations

Scaled Agile, Inc.

Scrum Alliance

Scaled Agile, Inc.

Scrum Alliance

Kanban University

Master in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)

DVNLP

Scrum Inc.

Statistics

Experience

Total positions 7

Experience in Information Technology 7 y

Avg length 1 y 4 m

Longest experience 2 y 6 m

Expertise

Recent roles Agile Coach / Release Train Engineer (SAFe) – Product & Cross-functional Delivery Focus, Agile Coach / Release Train Engineer (SAFe) – Scaling & Product Organisation, Agile Coach – Portfolio & Product Strategy

Main industries Information Technology, Automotive, Manufacturing

Main business areas Project Management, Product Development, Information Technology

Qualifications

Highest degree Bachelor

Certifications earned 10

Profile

Created

August 2026

Last Update

August 2026

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Frequently asked questions

Have questions? Find more information here.

Thomas is based in Hamburg, Germany.

Thomas speaks the following languages: German (Advanced), English (Advanced).

Thomas has at least 10 years of experience. During this time, Thomas has worked in at least 6 different roles and for 6 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 2 years and 7 months. Note that Thomas may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

Based on recent experience, Thomas would be well-suited for roles such as: Agile Coach / Release Train Engineer (SAFe) – Product & Cross-functional Delivery Focus, Agile Coach / Release Train Engineer (SAFe) – Scaling & Product Organisation, Agile Coach – Portfolio & Product Strategy.

Thomas's most recent position is Agile Coach / Release Train Engineer (SAFe) – Product & Cross-functional Delivery Focus at Autonomous Driving / Connectivity (OEM, confidential).

In recent years, Thomas has worked for Autonomous Driving / Connectivity (OEM, confidential) and BSH Hausgeräte GmbH.

Thomas is most experienced in industries like Information Technology, Automotive, and Manufacturing. Thomas also has some experience in Banking and Finance and Telecommunication.

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

Thomas has recently worked in industries like Information Technology, Automotive, and Manufacturing.

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

Thomas holds a Bachelor in European Business Administration from AMB Berlin.

Thomas has 10 certificates. Among them, these include: Microsoft Certified: AI Transformation Leader, AI-Native Change Agent, and AI-Native Foundations.

Thomas will be available full-time from September 2026.

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

To hire Thomas, click the Meet button on the profile to request a meeting and discuss your project needs.

Daily Rate Distribution

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Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.

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Daily rate avg. 879 €

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Median rate 800 €

The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.

Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.

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