Enterprise Architects in Germany

• Recurring problem in my own AI-supported projects: requirements analysis, use cases, and architecture decisions can be created quickly with AI support, but they remain hard to trace and are scattered across markdown files – knowledge is lost as soon as it is no longer in the context window. arknet turns requirements engineering and architecture knowledge into structured, testable data instead of plain text: requirements, use cases, and architecture decisions as a consistently linked knowledge graph, traceable from the requirement to the architecture decision – queryable for humans and AI agents alike. Built technically on RDF/OWL and its own MCP server.

• Result: MCP daemon running, Docker image automatically published on GHCR, nine hexagonal modules, eleven ADRs (including an open-core license model). Requirements engineering and ubiquitous language hexagon active. Publicly available as a Community Edition under Apache-2.0 since 07/2026 (github.com/kogn-io/arknet), together with the Claude Code plugin and the GHCR image; open-core model.

• Label: Java, Maven, RDF, RDF4J, OWL, SPARQL, Model Context Protocol, Spring AI, Docker, GitHub, Git, Claude Code, Obsidian, DDD, Hexagonal Architecture, ArchUnit, JUnit, AssertJ, interface development, Software Architecture, Continuous Integration, Knowledge Management

• Transition strategic business development: product before customer in <4 months instead of 10
• Transition strategic business development: development cost reduction to plan: 40% (-250 k EUR)
• Executive mentor & coach for CEO & CPO: CEO too busy to improve - portfolio, company structure and strategy
• Executive mentor & coach for CEO & CPO: PO→CPO transition to take over full product responsibility for Lohnpulse
• Interim CIO: scouting / onboarding / handover of general contractor service providers to CPO
• Interim CIO: transition from MVP to a fully operable product by the CPO

• Building up the Enterprise Architecture department. Preparing the convergence of IT / OT.
• Mapping the global business application landscape (6 countries).
• Concept for a graph model of the application landscape. Storing the results in the open-source graph database Neo4J. Various reports in the database query language CYPHER and the visualization component BLOOM. Automatic generation of IT architecture diagrams.
• Development of an application taxonomy to identify redundant applications.
• Applying Gartner's Software Portfolio Management TIME model (Tolerate, Invest, Migrate, and Eliminate) for portfolio management.
• Enterprise Architecture Governance: establishing architecture guidelines for documenting measures and decisions.
• Process modeling according to Porter (Value Chain).
• Various architecture approvals for change requests and documentation in Architecture Decision Records (ADR).
• Working on the RACI matrix for various processes.
• Working on business capabilities as preparation for a LeanIX rollout.
• Contributing to the concept for IT/OT convergence.
• Establishing architecture guidelines in a very pragmatic corporate culture. Knowledge about applications and responsibilities is spread across the world.

Participation in the EU-funded MORANE-2 project to validate the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS) in real-life use cases: creation of the requirement specifications for TOBA as well as the associated test specifications.

Technologies: 5GS (Radio & Core), FRMCS, MCx (MCPTT, MCData, MCVideo), MC Gateway UE, MCx Priority/Security/QoS Management, ETCS, SIP, IMS

With project PRIZMA, DB will modernize its infrastructure on the one hand, and develop a fail-safe IT landscape on the other hand, which can be restored quickly and securely in case of a disaster.

• Capture current architectures of existing systems as well as methodical consulting and development of target architectures
• Deepen and maintain the building plan / target IT landscape
• Implement technical architecture concepts & architecture descriptions
• Implement migration concepts for updating and further developing the platform and information systems
• Assess submitted improvement suggestions as part of the project
• Capability management: identify capability gaps, develop target visions, and support transformation planning within the enterprise architecture.
• Create a compatibility matrix of the components in use and compare dependencies of specific versions
• Create an IT concept for extending the platform with the following topics: hardware and software requirements, security, licensing, high availability, load balancing, backup & recovery, update strategy, monitoring integration, etc.
• Coordinate with business architects as well as technical architects from the cross-functional architecture area of the PRISMA program for the topics (backup, Active Directory, monitoring, Citrix, and business applications ...)
• Status meetings and alignment of project planning with the Release Train Engineer / Project Manager
• Advise the Release Train Engineer / Project Manager in identifying project risks
• Advise the System Architect Engineers in steering the implementation of the concept
• Implement the IT concept
• Document the infrastructure

Label: MS Project, LINUX, Windows, ORACLE, Java, REST, SharePoint, Microsoft Exchange, UML, Enterprise Architect, BPMN, AZURE, AWS, V-MODEL, Micro Service, VisualStudio, SAP S/4HANA, SCRUM(SAFE), ESB (TIBCO), Python, Innovator, LeanIX (TOGAF), Ansible, Ansible Tower, Ansible Automation, ROBOT, SpringBoot

• Architected the Yatta Integration Layer – a config-driven integration platform on Java 25, Spring Boot 4 (WebFlux), Temporal, gRPC and Kafka, enabling new third-party integrations (e.g. AVS fulfillment) via declarative JSON configs with zero code changes.
• Designed and implemented Tink integration with 0Auth IBAN verification to enhance fraud prevention and account validation workflows with Adyen payByBank.
• Architected and implemented an OpenFGA-based authorization model for centralized management of users, groups, and fine-grained access control in the vendor portal.
• Architected and led delivery of the Yatta API Gateway platform using GraphQL Federation, providing a unified enterprise API layer across distributed microservices with centralized authentication, authorization and request orchestration.
• Replaced NGINX + NLB with Istio service mesh and AWS ALB; rolled out WAF, OAuth (Cognito), IP whitelisting and RBAC across environments.
• Migrated CDC from Confluent Cloud connectors to a self-hosted Kafka Connect + Debezium stack, reducing operational cost by ~80% across multiple environments.
• Implemented the Transactional Outbox pattern with Debezium for reliable, exactly-once event publishing to Kafka with Avro and Schema Registry.
• Migrated dunning/payment-recovery workflows from Airflow to Temporal, achieving 99.9% reliability for settlement handling.
• Optimised Apache Airflow with deferrable sensors to handle 1000+ concurrent DAG runs without scaling the worker pool.
• Refactored a monolithic Terraform codebase into 3 modular projects, cutting deployment time by ~45%.
• Stood up full observability with OpenTelemetry, Tempo, Prometheus and Loki; automated dev/staging/prod with ArgoCD, Image Updater and Helm.
• Collaborated with product, operations and engineering stakeholders to define scalable platform architecture and integration standards aligned with long-term business and operational goals.

• Short description: Lead a group-wide project to establish standardized cloud governance for Microsoft Azure, including policies, security and compliance controls, automation, and cost and operations control while preserving the autonomy of decentralized business units within regulatory boundaries.

• Tasks and activities:

• Overall responsibility for the design, setup, and implementation of an enterprise-wide cloud governance structure (Azure), incl. target picture, roadmap, and operating model.

• Management of internal and external stakeholders (C-level, IT, Security, Compliance, Cloud Architecture, DevOps) incl. decision-making and escalation management.

• Planning and facilitation of workshops on cloud strategy, governance principles, and the design of areas such as Identity, Connectivity, and Platform Management.

• Definition, implementation, and rollout of cloud policies (Azure Policy / custom policies), security standards, and compliance requirements (including GDPR, ISO 27001, BSI C5).

• Building a cloud governance framework aligned with the Azure Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF), incl. landing zone and guardrail concepts.

• Introduction of automation solutions for governance, security, and cost control (policy/control automation, IaC, CI/CD-based control mechanisms).

• Implementation of cloud security and compliance monitoring mechanisms as well as continuous improvement processes.

• Establishment and operationalization of FinOps in an enterprise environment (central and decentralized FinOps teams), incl. cost management strategies, reporting, and guardrails.

• Integration of governance policies into DevOps processes (e.g. CI/CD principles for security and compliance checks, GitLab Runner concept in spokes, GitLab CI/CD for CAF landing zones).

• Implementation of access concepts incl. RBAC design and "break glass" mechanisms (emergency access) as well as certificate automation (ACME / step-ca).

• Achievements:

• Created a unified, auditable governance and control set for Azure (policies, standards, compliance mapping) and thus laid the foundation for scalable cloud usage in a regulated environment.

• Established repeatable automation for governance, security, and cost control (IaC + CI/CD), reducing manual effort and implementation risks.

• Improved operational and decision-making capabilities across central and decentralized units (clearer roles, responsibilities, escalation paths, balance between autonomy and group requirements).

• Significantly increased workload compliance for lift-and-shift migrations.

• Technologies used:

• Microsoft Azure Policy, custom policies.

• Terraform, OpenTofu, Terragrunt.

• step-ca (ACME).

• Entra ID.

• Azure Firewall.

• Azure networking, hub-and-spoke architecture.

• Azure vWAN (evaluation).

• Azure Front Door, Azure Application Gateway.

• Azure ExpressRoute.

• Azure Key Vault.

• NetBox.

• GitLab (on-premises).

• Infrastructure, concepts used:

• Cloud shared responsibility model.

• Hub-and-spoke connectivity / central shared services (from a hub-spoke context).

• Central governance with decentralized delivery (business unit autonomy with guardrails).

• Methods used:

• Scrum.

• Stakeholder management (C-level to engineering).

• Cloud governance, Azure Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF).

• DevOps, CI/CD.

• Cost and FinOps approaches: tagging/chargeback models, budget/alert concepts, reserved instances/savings plans vs. on-demand scenarios, sensitivity analyses.

• RBAC, "break glass" concepts.

• ACME / certificate automation.

• GitLab Runner concept in spokes, GitLab CI/CD pipelines for CAF landing zones.

Scope: Embedded as FP&A Data & AI Architect within the Finance function of a major European refrigeration manufacturer, leading the transformation of manual, fragmented financial reporting into an automated, governance-driven intelligence platform. Driving the shift from Excel-based controlling to structured data architecture, Power BI analytics, and AI-assisted financial operations.

Financial Data Integrity & ERP Governance

• Initiated and led GL vs. subledger reconciliation investigations, identifying and resolving structural mismatches between General Ledger and subledger data that had gone undetected prior to engagement
• Conducted asset analysis to identify items missing from General Ledger postings, surfacing gaps in fixed asset tracking and period-end completeness
• Validated SAP reports, establishing baseline data quality standards for Finance team consumption
• Established systematic SAP data validation framework ensuring ongoing integrity between ERP postings and downstream reporting outputs

Finance Reporting Transformation

• Designed and implemented a structured Transformation Project approach for converting manual Finance reports into fully automated processes
• Created and owns the Data Reporting Audit Log; a centralized tracking system capturing report owners, stakeholders, data sources, manual effort estimates, and automation opportunity scores across the Finance function
• Mapped the full reporting landscape identifying quick-win automation targets and strategic Power BI migration candidates
• Actively reducing manual Excel and PowerPoint dependency across FP&A workflows; replacing point-in-time snapshots with live, governed data models

Power BI & Analytics Enablement

• Introduced and presented Power BI as the strategic reporting platform to Finance leadership, building internal buy-in for the BI transformation roadmap
• Designed initial Power BI architecture aligned with SAP, Salesforce and Oracle data structures and FP&A reporting requirements
• Established report ownership, governance documentation, and data lineage standards enabling sustainable self-service analytics across the Finance team

Transformation Infrastructure & Collaboration

• Configured and deployed Jira as the transformation project management hub, establishing structured sprint workflows, backlog management, and progress visibility for Finance IT initiatives
• Proposed and initiated a dedicated FP&A Communication & Transformation Hub, a structured cross-functional forum aligning Finance, IT, and business stakeholders around the reporting transformation roadmap
• Positioned the Finance function as an active driver of data governance and digital transformation within the broader organization

Outcomes

• GL/subledger reconciliation gaps identified and investigation framework established within first two weeks of engagement
• Data Reporting Audit Log deployed; first structured inventory of Finance reporting landscape in company history
• Power BI transformation roadmap presented and approved by Finance leadership
• Jira-based project governance live; Finance transformation now tracked with full sprint visibility

Technologies: SAP FI/CO · Power BI · DAX · SQL · Excel (advanced) · Power Query (M) · Power Automate · VBA · Jira · Microsoft 365 · SharePoint · Salesforce (Sales Data) · Oracle HCM · Python

• -- ENGLISH Version (Deutsche Version unten) ---

Experience

• Ex-BCG Platinion: 14 years as Manager & Chief IT Architect, leading large-scale IT transformations in complex group structures
• 20+ years of C-level consulting across AI/IT strategy, enterprise architecture, IT organization, transformation, M&A due diligence, project recovery, and interim management
• IT leadership experience with cross-functional, intercultural teams of up to 100+ people
• Hands-on background in software engineering, IT architecture, and project management
• Fortune Europe 500 focus; numerous international projects; SME and start-up experience

Core services:

• IT strategy, enterprise architecture (EAM), target architectures and roadmaps
• PE/M&A/carve-out IT/tech due diligence, asset valuation, cost estimation
• GenAI transformation, process automation, and AI governance
• IT reorganization, target operating model (TOM), agile transformation
• IT governance, development and ITSM process optimization (BizDevOps, SAFe)
• Review and recovery of critical large-scale IT programs
• Planning and steering of transformation programs and IT project portfolios
• IT vendor and platform selection (RfI / RfP)
• Coaching & Interim management

Industries (selection): Insurance, financial services & banking, energy & utilities, telecommunications, retail & consumer goods, logistics, media, industry & engineering, healthcare, professional services

Projects (selection):

• M&A Buy-side IT/Tech Due Diligence of an Acquisition in the Energy Sector (Utility, Smart Home) — AI-augmented with Anthropic Claude

• AI Initiative for LLM-Based Optimisation and Automation of Sales and Billing Processes

• Interim management Enterprise Architecture & group target architecture/roadmap development (METRO)

• Reorganization: Design and introduction of agile IT target operating model at international wholesale group (METRO)

• Design and implementation of agile BizDevOps target operating model (E.ON Grid Solutions)

• Platform/vendor selection for renewal of core insurance solution of start-up (ELEMENT Insurance)

• Establishment of project assurance capability and review/recovery of critical transformation projects (ERGO)

• Enterprise architecture management and development of divisional/solution architectures (Deutsche Post DHL)

• Strategic pricing architecture decisions in digital sales application landscape (E.ON Energie)

• IT due diligence: Architecture evaluation and monetary valuation of IT assets (ProSiebenSAT.1 Media)

• Interim management of group-wide security/compliance programme (ERGO)

• Enabling an application landscape for different sales organizations and product structures (E.ON Energie)

• Realignment of business/IT strategy and InsurTech platform selection (RfI, RfP) (nexible, ERGO Digital Ventures)

• Stabilization/optimization of an agile/SAFe business/IT DevOps landscape transformation (Lufthansa AirPlus)

• Process optimization and design/management of digitization and robotics introduction in power plants (RWE Nuclear)

• BSS target architecture development for fixed/mobile networks convergence (Deutsche Telekom)

• Optimization of IT organization model and methodology in application development and testing (Deutsche Telekom)

• Evaluation of fulfillment of a general contractor agreement for run-off/migration of contract portfolios (ERGO)

• -- DEUTSCHE Version (English version above) ---

Experience

• Ex-BCG Platinion: 14 years of strategy and implementation of large-scale IT transformations in complex corporate structures (Manager & Chief IT Architect)
• 20+ years of C-level-adjacent IT consulting: IT strategy, enterprise architecture, IT organization, transformation, due diligence, project recovery, and interim management
• IT leadership responsibility for cross-functional, intercultural teams of up to 100+ people
• Solid hands-on experience in software development, IT architecture, and project management
• Focus on Fortune Europe 500, numerous international projects; SME and start-up experience

Industries: insurance · financial services & banking · energy · telecommunications · retail & consumer goods · industry & engineering · logistics · media · healthcare

Services (focus areas):

• IT strategy, enterprise architecture (EAM), IT landscape target visions and roadmaps
• M&A/carve-out IT/tech due diligence, asset valuation, and cost estimation
• GenAI transformation, process automation, and AI governance
• IT reorganization, target operating model (TOM), agile transformation
• IT governance, development and ITSM processes (BizDevOps, SAFe)
• Review and recovery of critical large-scale IT projects
• Planning/steering of transformation programs and IT project portfolios
• IT service provider/platform selection (RfI, RfP)
• IT project management (agile, classic, hybrid)
• Coaching & interim management

Projects (selection):

• M&A buyer-side IT/tech due diligence of an acquisition in the energy sector (utility, smart home) — AI-augmented with Anthropic Claude
• AI initiative for LLM-supported optimization and automation of sales and billing processes
• Interim management of Enterprise Architecture and development of group target architecture in wholesale (METRO)
• Reorganization: design and introduction of an agile IT target operating model (TOM) at an international wholesale group (METRO)
• IT reorganization: introduction of an agile BizDevOps target operating model (TOM) at an energy group (E.ON Grid Solutions)
• Platform selection / vendor selection for renewal of the core insurance solution of a B2B2C start-up (ELEMENT Insurance)
• Process optimization, digitalization, and introduction of robotics in power plants (RWE Nuclear)
• Assessment of fulfillment of a general contractor agreement for run-off/migration of life insurance portfolios (ERGO)
• Business/IT strategy and InsurTech platform selection for a digital insurer/start-up (nexible, ERGO Digital Ventures)
• Enabling an energy application landscape for multiple sales units (E.ON Energie)
• Strategic architecture decisions in price management of a digital sales application landscape at an energy group (E.ON Energie)
• Stabilization/optimization of an agile DevOps IT transformation in business travel and payment management (Lufthansa AirPlus)
• Interim management in a group-wide security and compliance program of a global insurer (ERGO)
• Building project assurance capability as well as review and optimization/recovery of critical IT projects in an insurance group (ERGO)
• Building enterprise architecture management and development of domain and solution architectures for a logistics group (Deutsche Post DHL)
• M&A IT due diligence – evaluation and valuation of IT assets in the media sector (ProSiebenSAT.1 Media)
• Development of BSS target architecture and roadmap for fixed/mobile convergence (Deutsche Telekom)
• Optimization of IT governance/organization and methodology in application development and testing at a telecommunications group (Deutsche Telekom)

• Development of the overall architecture
• Support for the respective workstreams in developing architectures in the areas of infrastructure, data centers, security, and network topology
• Management of the architect pool
• Support for program management in setting up the transformation project based on agile methods
• Consideration of regulatory requirements for IT projects in the federal administration

• Led and mentored junior developers and architects.
• Planned, coordinated, and delegated tasks to internal and external team members.
• Selected the technology stack for integrating new software products into the Industrial Hydraulics product ecosystem.
• Accelerated the integration process by initiating successful automation initiatives.
• Ensured software delivery complies with cybersecurity, regulatory, and governance requirements.
• Led the design and implementation of a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) for the software ecosystem, fostering collaboration across business units.
• Defined integration strategies for internal and external systems, including Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Identity and Access Management (IAM) platforms.
• Collaborated with external suppliers and internal IT teams to design and implement robust solutions and application interfaces.
• Advocated for business unit requirements in central projects, ensuring their successful fulfillment.

UEF 3.0 · Semantic Government Overlay (SGO) · Autonomous Systems (UAS / dual use)

• Designed: Semantic Government Overlay (SGO) – AI-guided administration without replacing existing specialist procedures. Read-only semantic layer over registers and specialist processes based on the Federal Information Management (FIM). Decision authority remains with the case worker (architecture principle).
• Developed: Reference architecture with source-backed, derived statements (Executable Ontologies OWL/RDF/SHACL). Technically guaranteed purpose limitation and no-write-path principle in specialist data – auditable, without a central data pool.
• Anchored: Regulation as a design principle: EU AI Act (high-risk obligations for public-sector AI, fundamental rights impact assessment under Art. 27), GDPR, NIS2, and administrative automation limits (§ 35a VwVfG, § 31a SGB X) as technical control points in the architecture.
• Created: Methodical tool for pilot organizations: data pipeline assessment (phase 0), compliance blueprint, and management summary as a decision-ready package for public administration.
• Specified: UEF 3.0 as a successor architecture to TOGAF – decision paper, canonical ontology, six-layer architecture, read/actuate boundary, federation registry, terminology concordance, and release delta as a closed specification status.
• Architected: AI-native mission OS for autonomous UAS and ground robotics as a tactical layer on top of a separately approved autopilot. Run-time assurance according to ASTM F3269-21 (Simplex pattern): the verified safety controller keeps authority, the AI function provides suggestions.
• Designed: Three-tier architecture – Tier 0 autopilot with 650 Hz flight control on RTOS, Tier 1 AI OS with semantic world model and multi-agent cluster, Tier 2 swarm and ground mesh. Zenoh as the primary fabric, MAVLink as the only authenticated command path (single writer). Result: graceful degradation – loss of the mission, not of the aircraft.
• Secured: Two-gate chain on the read/actuate boundary – governance gate (can-question: AI Act risk class per actuation, enforced human oversight under Art. 14, immutable log) before the RTA safety monitor (is-it-correct question: flight envelope, geofence, energy reserve) with revert to the baseline controller.
• Anchored: Dual-use architecture with common core and build-time fork instead of runtime switch. Three separate legal levels: civil variant – UAS under the EASA Basic Regulation (EU) 2018/1139 with the limited applicability under Art. 2(2) of the AI Act, ground robotics under the Machinery Regulation 2023/1230 with the full high-risk obligation chain, Cyber Resilience Act for both; unarmed carrier variant as defense material under AWG/AWV and Dual-Use Regulation 2021/821 (BAFA approval); armed variant under KrWaffKontrG. Each variant lives under exactly one dominant legal regime. Evidence base: AI BOM, SBOM, and complete data lineage.
• Analyzed: System analysis and realignment of grown engineering system landscapes. Approach concept for consolidation without migration – semantic layer over the existing sources instead of data transfer. Result: decision-ready implementation concept including an evaluation model for the target architecture.

• Close collaboration with executive management to further develop the company’s technology vision and strategy
• Shaping the product portfolio by implementing innovative technologies and improving existing IT architectures
• Technical Lead – Center of Excellence Intelligent Automation (especially AI)
• Global Competence Center Lead – steering technical implementations & rollouts
• Program Lead – managing key topics in delivery
• AI Architect & Solution Architect – supporting and advising projects on requirements, solutions, and architecture (technical and functional)
• Data Strategy & Data Stack Definition – establishing a data strategy for the entire company, including implementation concept and evaluation, pilot, and selection of the data stack

• Governed multi-agent orchestration for regulated, EU-based companies – self-hostable, compliant with the EU AI Act and GDPR („by design“), BYOM (own models/GPU).
• Two-gate governance: agent deliberation + mandatory human approval, full signed audit trail; graduated autonomy model („internal → autonomous per skill“).
• Verified knowledge graph („Company Brain“) with source evidence for every answer; own orchestration framework (Virtual Team Framework).
• Industry solutions for financial services: compliance monitoring, invoice and contract review; hands-on development with LLMs (including Anthropic/Claude), agentic workflows, RAG.
• Building the governance-focused multi-agent platform TeamIntel (see AI reference projects).