Infrastructure as a Service Experts in Germany

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

Technologies: OpenAI Feather

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

• Tasks and activities:

• Overall responsibility for designing, building, and implementing a company-wide cloud governance structure (Azure), including target picture, roadmap, and operating model.

• Managing internal and external stakeholders (C-level, IT, Security, Compliance, Cloud Architecture, DevOps), including decision and escalation management.

• Planning and facilitating workshops on cloud strategy, governance principles, and the design of areas such as identity, connectivity, and platform management.

• Defining, implementing, and rolling out cloud policies (Azure Policy / custom policies), security standards, and compliance requirements (including GDPR, ISO 27001, BSI C5).

• Building a cloud governance framework based on the Azure Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF), including landing zone and guardrail concepts.

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

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

• Establishing and operationalizing FinOps in an enterprise environment (central and decentralized FinOps teams), including cost management strategies, reporting, and guardrails.

• Integrating 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).

• Implementing access concepts including RBAC design and breaking-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 use in a regulated environment.

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

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

• Significantly increased workload compliance during 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 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, breaking-glass concepts.

• ACME / certificate automation.

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

• Error analysis and fixes including performance optimization of the in-house developed platform API
• Change and incident management in day-to-day operations
• Responsible for compliance with security and compliance requirements
• Vendor management for software development and maintenance
• Planning and execution of migration of legacy services to a cloud native platform

Role in the project: project staff, implementation team

Used skills: requirements analysis, IT service and application management, IT operations, error analysis and performance optimization, software maintenance and lifecycle management

Project environment: Cloud Native Platform (Kubernetes, Crossplane, AWS, ArgoCD, Grafana)

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

Project management of 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 from CRM and document data, voice-based capture and structuring of reports, detection and merging of duplicates in master data, and data-based market analysis. A central focus was a privacy-compliant architecture that passed the internal IT security review and enabled productive use.

• Translating business requirements into clearly defined AI use cases with a clear product scope and clear value proposition
• Selecting and evaluating models and architecture options for text extraction, speech-to-text and context enrichment from business systems, including LLM integration, function calling and retrieval
• Designing and enforcing an architecture with European hosting, data minimization and masking of personal data as a prerequisite for approval
• Managing the interfaces between business, IT, IT security and the external development partner under restrictive data access conditions
• Coordinating with CIO and executive management on data access, risk assessment and approval decisions
• Preparing the transition into productive use

• Developing global ACM Copilot services and shaping their evolution on a global scale
• Evangelizing the benefits and capabilities of Copilot to internal and external audiences
• Onboarding, mentoring, and training new ACM colleagues in services and methodologies
• Acting as point of contact for internal Copilot proof of concept adoption and change management
• Leading Copilot adoption strategy, communicating benefits, usage and ethical considerations
• Organizing events and workshops and fostering an interactive community to share updates, findings and best practices

Zerobits is my vehicle for AI-powered automation and custom software development with a clear principle: AI solutions that reach production, not pilot stage. I design and build the systems myself - from first concept and architecture through implementation to deployment and operations.

My focus is on replacing repetitive, manual work with reliable automation and connecting disconnected tools and data sources into one dependable overall system.

Selected work:

• Design and implementation of LLM-based agent systems and RAG pipelines (Anthropic Claude, Mistral, MongoDB Atlas Vector Search + RAG)
• Workflow orchestration for long-running, fault-tolerant business processes using Temporal (temporal.io): saga patterns, event-driven architecture, retry and compensation logic, connecting third-party APIs and internal services into automated end-to-end processes
• Full stack product development: SaaS architecture on Kubernetes, TypeScript/React/NestJS, admin tooling with refine.dev and MUI
• AI-assisted development workflow as standard practice to deliver production software at a fraction of traditional timelines
• Full stack product development: multi-tenant SaaS architecture running on Kubernetes, backend with NestJS/Node.js and Python, frontend with TypeScript, React and Next.js, admin tooling with refine.dev and MUI, CI/CD with GitHub Actions

One of these projects is a product I own and operate - free of any NDA restrictions. I'm happy to demonstrate it end to end.

Predapp is a Sovereign AI and Infrastructure company building AI systems that organisations can own, control, and deploy on their terms, with full data sovereignty. As CTO and investor since 2015, leading the development of the Sovereign AI Platform alongside an advisory practice spanning AI strategy for enterprises, fractional CTO engagements, and technical due diligence for VCs, PE, and family offices.

• Architected the Sovereign AI Platform from zero owning technical vision, infrastructure design, and engineering roadmap; currently deployed at a European hospital, an automotive client in Germany, and two US startups, with active commercial discussions with two leading European hosting providers
• Dubai Health Authority (DHA / Nabidh): Designed and trained AI symptom checker and triage system for national 'Doctor for Every Citizen' initiative under HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
• Emirates Airlines: Designed and deployed AI agent for ground personnel accelerating training, improving issue handling, and reducing cost of liquid workforce
• Developed explainable AI triage system piloted at University Hospital Heidelberg and Famagusta Hospital (Cyprus); reduced patient wait times by up to 15% (validation ongoing)
• Built production scheduling engine for US industrial AI startup: RL + Monte Carlo tree search, reducing planning from hours to seconds
• Designed and led the development of semantic search engines using RAG + Knowledge Graphs; developed Agentic Text-to-SQL solution for citizen data scientists
• AI strategy advisory and readiness assessments for enterprise clients, including architecture reviews, maturity assessments, and AI roadmap development

• Disciplinary and professional leadership of the IT and service team
• Definition and documentation of the Current Mode of Operation (CMO) in Confluence: application landscape, infrastructure, networks, backup & storage
• Development of the Future Mode of Operation (FMO) including process analysis & stakeholder interviews with all departments using BPMN and flowcharts
• Optimization of license management: reduction of ongoing software costs by approx. 17% p.a.
• Introduction and establishment of Jira as the central tool for project and service management
• Introduction and rollout of the HR software MindKey to digitize HR processes
• Introduction of a VoIP solution with Microsoft Teams incl. PSTN connection to replace classic telephony
• Introduction of the production and planning software OptiControl to digitize operational processes
• Rollout of Intune as a Mobile Device Management solution for Windows, iOS and Android
• Build-up of Power BI dashboards for machine park monitoring and financial reporting
• Planning and execution of the IT consolidation of two locations for 170 users
• Introduction of automated penetration testing with Pentera
• Coaching and mentoring the team in agile methods & project management
• Operational support in day-to-day business: administration, incident & change management
• Management of external service providers and assurance of the quality of outsourced IT services
• Responsibility for the IT budget incl. planning and controlling
• Direct reporting line to management with regular management reports on IT KPIs, budget and project status

I implemented a Zero-Trust architecture for robust, military-grade maritime container mini data centers based on VMware & Tanzu to support containerized GIS workloads for ground forces. The main focus was on securing communications, workload protection, and data access in contested electronic battle environments affected by jamming, interception, signal manipulation, and constantly changing operational conditions. I designed and architected use cases so that every element of workload, identity, and system could continue to operate independently and securely even in degraded or disrupted scenarios. In parallel, I defined the enterprise and solution security architecture with LeanIX, Bizzdesign, and HOPEX as enterprise architecture, repository, and governance platforms to maintain architecture inventory, relationships, traceability, target pictures, and security governance in complex environments. For the architectural designs, I used Sparx Enterprise Architect to describe formal architecture views, interfaces, trust boundaries, and system architecture in both IT and OT environments. IriusRisk was used for threat modeling of the solution to identify architecture-driven risks, derive security requirements, and detect countermeasures and design gaps directly from the solution models. Risk and compliance management was supported with Archer. Architecture decisions, control gaps, and operational risks were translated into controlled governance and auditable compliance measures. For documentation, collaboration, and visual design, I used Confluence to maintain Architecture Decision Records, Security Blueprints, and workflows. I used Lucidchart and draw.io to create design artifacts tailored to stakeholders. I also defined OT security concepts with support from electrical and mechanical engineers in the areas of oil, vehicle onboard systems, rail, power plants, pharma, gas turbines, and nuclear technology. I created the end-to-end OT security strategy, starting with global policy, developed into standards and procedures, and finally aligned with Bell-LaPadula, Purdue Model, SABSA, TOGAF ADM, CENELEC 50701, IEC 62443, and NIST standards. In addition, I worked with engineering team leads to identify critical KBP assets and place them under protective measures that segmented SCADA, PLC, and HMI assets. I drove collaboration between Security, IT, and OT teams to create standardized workflows and use cases for the OT security solution catalog, while integrating Defense-in-Depth and Zero-Trust principles into operational environments. A key part of my work was integrating multidisciplinary engineering, security, and operations stakeholders into a unified security blueprinting strategy and ensuring that architecture, threat modeling, governance, and documentation were technically strong and operationally practical.

• Technical leadership and architecture for enterprise clients (including LR Health & Beauty, Deutsche Bahn, Trusted Shops)
• Cloud migration, microservices architectures, CI/CD optimization

• Designing processes for implementing regulatory IT requirements (VAIT, BAIT, DORA, MaGo) and establishing them within the IT organization
• Monitoring the execution of these processes, quality assurance and adaptation to new requirements
• Support and coordination of the annual audit regarding regulatory IT requirements (PwC)
• ITK governance
• Software lifecycle management
• Documentation and control of the IDV development process
• Process support and policy creation when setting up test management with regard to DORA and VAIT
• Policy creation for IAM processes
• Tools/Applications: ServiceNow, Confluence, Jira, M365, Loop, Connect, Omada

• Coaching and training of 6 agile Scrum teams
• Taking on the role of Solution Coach (leading 6 agile teams)
• Advising and coaching the program management and the Tribe Leads incl. roadmap, program, and risk control
• Implementation of the risk strategy
• Integration and establishment of agile methods in combination with the Spotify and SAFe model
• Moderation of agile events and communication of agile values and methods
• Development and implementation of team development processes
• Mentoring internal Agile Coaches in the Agile Chapter

• Analysis
• Consulting
• Software design
• Development
• Automation
• Testing
• Deployment
• Architecture, development and deployment of various proof-of-concept applications around the integration of current AI interfaces including conversational, realtime voice, images and videos
• Developed best practices for working with agentic systems and AI in practice
• Created code templates

• Industry: Digital music solutions
• Technologies used: Flutter, Dart, iOS, Android, GitLab, PlantUML