Artificial Intelligence Expert in Düsseldorf

• Introduction of a new digital product to the Chinese market as part of a global growth strategy.

• Point of contact and coordinating interface between central product management, local Chinese teams and international stakeholders.

• Management of the entire program to coordinate complex digital projects.

• Successful market launch of a digital product in China (including successful certification for the Chinese market).

• Balancing local requirements with global priorities while taking tax and regulatory requirements into account.

• Introduction of a new way of working to improve collaboration and coordination across locations.

• Development and implementation of a scaling strategy for the digital business model in China.

• Use of Jira, Confluence, Miro, Scrum, agile working, SAFe.

• Project language: English.

• Advising primarily mid-sized companies on growth and transformation topics
• Developing business models, positioning and strategies including implementation plans and KPI roadmaps

• QA Lead for end-to-end quality assurance of the Sparkasse & Sparkasse Business banking apps (iOS/Android); design and implementation of the Test Strategy including functional testing, regression testing, and UAT for eID, Push Notifications, and white-label components
• Creation and maintenance of test concepts and test plans in TestRail; structured Defect Management and error analysis; stakeholder management and risk management for the early identification of critical quality risks
• Accessibility Testing according to WCAG 2.1 (iOS/Android); coordination of AI-supported test automation and optimization of test processes to shorten release cycles
• Release Management: planning, management, and coordination of all test activities; status reporting to management and stakeholders; quality assessment of releases and release recommendations in an Agile/Scrum environment
• Challenge: Highly complex build and release process across several Sparkasse institutions; close coordination with the DevOps team to stabilize the CI/CD pipeline and ensure reproducible test builds before every release.

Tools: Jira, Confluence, TestRail, Android Studio, Xcode, Firebase, Jenkins, GA4

• Success: Successful launch of the eID authentication process - quality assurance ensured for 50+ Sparkasse institutions

Time-limited interim assignment filling a vacant program leadership position: joint leadership of a complex software project and orchestration of several agile teams (business, development, and DevOps teams), as well as actively driving change processes.

• Program Management & Planning: Responsibility for creating and updating milestone, resource, and budget plans to ensure project objectives using agile and hybrid methods.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Promoting cooperation and knowledge sharing across teams; resolving blockers through proactive conflict management and targeted facilitation.
• Stakeholder Management & Transparency: Ensuring transparent and audience-appropriate communication within and outside the project organization using modern project management tools.

• Optimizing and accelera­tion of our Gitlab CI pipeline

• Conceptual work for the PoC of the Zero Trust system

• Extension of the policy-engine backend in Go

• Extension of the policy-testing mechanism in Python

• Architectural design of the PEP component of Zero Trust

• Documentation of the product

• Technologies: Zero Trust, Go, Python, Gitlab CI, Docker, JWT, Domain-Driven Design

Project scope: Supported the establishment, scaling and continuous improvement of project management and support processes by modernizing governance, processes, documentation, deliverables tracking, training content and tool-supported ways of working across a complex energy project environment.

Key contributions

• Supported the build-up and maturation of the PMO department, including governance structures, operational frameworks, project management processes, templates and deliverables tracking mechanisms.
• Conducted As-Is analysis of existing processes and their documentation, including process inventory, interface mapping, problem identification and creation of visualizations and white papers to improve shared understanding.
• Reviewed and improved project management documentation, templates and work instructions, including support for a project document master list to strengthen standardization and control.
• Designed and supported rollout of a lessons learned process and related system/application, including pilot preparation, coordination and implementation support.
• Mapped and supported implementation of a new resource management process connected to the rollout of a resource planning tool.
• Led and supported adoption of agile ways of working and Atlassian tools, including Jira and Confluence team boards, plans/roadmaps, dashboards, sprint planning and retrospectives.
• Acted as key user for continuous usage improvements in PMO tools and collaboration practices.
• Developed training curricula, instructional videos, supporting materials and PMO Open Doors sessions to improve capability transfer and provide a recurring forum for updates and information sharing.
• Developed a skills matrix concept and supported rollout as a basis for structured capability management and training demand analysis.
• Supported preparation of department offsites, implementation of a new Integrated Management System (IMS), creation of a SharePoint-based PMO website and department integration after restructuring.

Results / business impact

• Improved project management & PMO structure, processes and their documentation
• Enhanced transparency and standardization across processes, documentation, governance routines and project deliverables tracking.
• Enhanced information flow and knowledge transfer through SharePoint-based communication, PMO forums, training curricula and instructional videos.
• Strengthened lessons learned, resource planning, agile collaboration, capability management and post-restructure department integration.

Gronic Ident & Sign

Core technologies: Android, Jetpack Compose, Retrofit, Regula Document Reader, Adobe Sign

Android app on dedicated devices for identifications and electronic signatures at the PoS

• Training AI models, evaluating images and text UI/UX, turning the provided data into insights through OpenAI Feather as part of the machine learning workflow

Technologies: OpenAI Feather

Results:

• Identified weaknesses in the MMM setup and attribution as a whole

Responsibilities:

• Audits of Marketing Mix Modelling, Multi-Touch-Attribution, Incrementality Testing

Channels & Tools: SEA, Affiliate, TV, Adtriba MTA & MMM, Google Meridian MMM

The customer's own IT ticketing tool is being migrated to the central corporate tool. Critical elements are the product shop, the operational framework, the ITIL processes and asset management. It is important to ensure that the strategy for the service and support model works with the new tool, so that IT operations can continue smoothly. The next step is to develop and establish processes for the newly formed core team.

• Current-state analysis / weakness analysis of the existing processes and tool setup
• GAP analysis of the current and future operating and service models
• Analysis of business needs
• Evaluation and implementation of the identified GAPs
• Establishment of a continuous improvement process
• Risk management
• Hypercare & support during operational activities
• Establishment of processes for the newly formed core team
• Stakeholder management

Project: Design and implementation of an AI product for four business use cases

Project management for an AI project at a leading provider of large-scale catering and food services, where a production-ready AI product for four use cases was implemented together with an external development partner: automated briefings based on CRM and document data, voice-based capture and structuring of reports, detection and consolidation of duplicates in master data, and data-based market analyses. A key focus was a data-protection-compliant architecture that passed the internal IT security review and enabled production use.

• Translation of business requirements into clearly defined AI use cases with a focused product scope and clear value proposition
• Selection and evaluation of models and architecture options for text extraction, speech-to-text, and context enrichment from business systems, including LLM integration, function calling, and retrieval
• Development and implementation of an architecture with European hosting, data minimization, and masking of personal data as a prerequisite for approval
• Management of interfaces between business departments, IT, IT security, and the external development partner under restrictive data access conditions
• Coordination with the CIO and executive management levels on data access, risk assessment, and approval decisions
• Preparation for the transition to production use

• Responsible for establishing and leading the Products & Portfolio division, consisting of three teams: UX/UR & BA, Projects & Portfolio, and Products & Innovations
• Currently managing three teams with 35 employees and 3 students
• Budget responsibility in the high single-digit million range
• Restructuring of the User Research, User Concept, and Business Analysis teams, including market and competitive analysis
• Development and implementation of a new portfolio management process (PMO), including new PPM software (Meisterplan)
• Establishment of project and program management standards
• Implementation of a new CRM and ERP system based on Microsoft Dynamics
• Market launch of tracking, security, and AI-based products (Live Shipment Tracking, Business Partner Check, TIMOCOM AI)
• Secured innovation funding for R&D activities in the single-digit million range

Independent Consultant

• Advisory focus: E-Commerce, Digitalization, Automation, Pricing, Assortment & Merchandising, Platform Strategy
• Industries: Retail & Consumer Goods
• Subject Matter Expert for leading management consultancies
• Ongoing executi...

• Led cross-functional teams to drive operational efficiency and strategic alignment across projects.
• Developed and implemented process improvements to enhance productivity and reduce costs.
• Oversaw project management initiatives, ensuring timely delivery and adherence to quality standards.
• Mentored junior staff, fostering professional development and enhancing team performance.
• Established a culture of continuous improvement by fostering open communication channels and empowering employees to voice their ideas.
• Managed budgets effectively to ensure optimal use of resources while maintaining financial stability.