Jira Expert

Project: Digital Sovereignty – Toll Collect

Workshop: Digital Sovereignty Recognize dependencies, reduce risks, remain capable of acting

Format

• One-day practical seminar

Target group

• Executive management
• IT managers
• Data protection officers
• Compliance functions

Content and objectives

• Systematic analysis of digital dependencies
• Assessment of legal and operational risks
• Development of a concrete plan to increase digital sovereignty
• Mapping of the entire IT infrastructure by participants
• Identification of critical dependencies on non-European providers
• Creation of a prioritized risk matrix based on:
• GDPR
• NIS2
• EU AI Act
• Joint development of options for action – from a hybrid model to complete migration to European solutions
• Development of an individual sovereignty roadmap with:
• Responsibilities
• Milestones
• Budget framework

Agenda

• Preliminary self-assessment (current infrastructure)
• Digital sovereignty? Nothing but an illusion
• Digital sovereignty 2026 – Germany’s dangerous dependency in focus
• Digital sovereignty & open source
• What is digital sovereignty?
• Three questions raised by digital sovereignty
• Reflection: Digital sovereignty in your own life
• Why is digital sovereignty existential now?
• Practical examples of digital sovereignty
• Schleswig-Holstein initiative
• Benefits of digital sovereignty for your company
• Assessing strategy options (cost-benefit matrix)
• Sovereign provider? 10 questions
• What does digital sovereignty specifically mean for your company?
• How do you shape digital sovereignty?
• Digital sovereignty and psychological safety
• Psychological safety: The key to high-performing teams
• Why psychological safety in your company?
• Benefits of psychological safety
• Invitation to group work: PsySafety Check (PS-C)
• The “Braintrust” experiment
• Creating a risk matrix
• Creating a roadmap & project plan
• European alternatives to US Big Tech
• 10-point plans:
• NIS2
• EU AI Act
• GDPR
• ISO 27001

• Creating concepts and architecture for domain integration (SEAT into the VW structure)
• Domain trusts and administration
• Operation and administration of Windows 2022/ 2025 servers and domains
• Domain restructuring
• GPO and SG editing and migration
• DNS restructuring and migration

Technologies: Windows 2022, Active Directory, ADFS, AD Azure Connect, DHCP, DNS, GPO, VMWare vSphere, Hyper-V, Powershell, Jira, MS Office 365,), SCCM, VSAN Fileservices, Approximately 800 servers, 400 users

• Investigate the relationship between Eddy Current Testing (ECT) signals and microstructural properties
• Detect latent patterns in ECT data that reflect intrinsic material characteristics
• Develop and validate predictive models for microstructural classification and quantification, using hardness and case depth as benchmarks
• Apply Bayesian Structural Equation Modeling for advanced data analysis

Project content / Description of services:

• Management and coordination of all new-build areas in the assigned region to ensure completion on time

• Responsibility for network planning, budget calculation, and budget approval for optimal resource planning in the construction process

• Cross-project management of service providers for the efficient implementation of joint construction or connection of new-build areas

• Preparation, tendering, and awarding of contracts within budget limits

• Ensuring material supply for smooth joint construction

• Management of fiber-optic expansion and provision of data lines; densification

• Stakeholder management

• Introduction and setup of Kanban board, including maintenance

• End-to-end rollout management

• Escalation management

• Service provider management

• Construction monitoring and management of construction schedules

• Preparation and tracking of project plans and Gantt charts

• Risk management

• Claim management and project recalculations

• Problem and incident management

• Change management

• Capex and Opex control and monitoring

• Contract management and change order management

• Conclusion of lease, purchase, or rental agreements for the development of required properties or lines

• Technical collaboration with construction managers and service providers within the construction projects to ensure the timely completion of new-build areas

• Definition of requirements, categorization, and prioritization, including monitoring and follow-up in accordance with the project plan

• Preparation and delivery of presentations for various management levels

• Preparation and creation of decision papers

• Forecast

• Establishment of project “back to green” post-installation and densification

Environment: MS Office, MS Teams, SAP; SharePoint, Jira, Confluence, Bizagi. GBGS, PowerBI, TKI, Flash Kanban

• Extension of a Swing-based UI for recording Security Restricted Articles during baggage screening.
• Introduction of a new workflow for recording Deboarding Events.
• Extension of the reporting system for Security Restricted Articles and Deboarding Events.
• Implementation using JBoss Wildfly, PostgreSQL, spring-boot 3.x, Java 8/21, Swing, JSF, JAX-RS/Resteasy, Docker, Maven, Kiro.

Working Environment

• Insurance / Claims Management (Property, Liability, Automotive)
• REST-based ClaimAPI with Guidewire ClaimCenter

Scope

• Further development of the internal REST-based ClaimAPI with Guidewire ClaimCenter as the backend and various portals/front-end offices as clients, and with the following objectives: + increased AI-supported claims processing outside of Guidewire ClaimCenter + and support for all lines (property, liability, automotive).
• Further development of automated claims processing

Activities

• Interfacing IT & Business
• Design activities with documentation in Confluence, Jira: + Requirements engineering (functional and non-functional) + Design of REST endpoints and coordination with interface partners (esp. AI-colleagues) + Identification, design and evaluation of alternative solutions (moving away from a monolithic approach toward fine-grained endpoints, with code reuse across all lines if possible) + Creation / refinement of product backlog items in Jira, i.e. epics, user stories and tasks, incl. alignment with developers & POs during (pre-)refinement sessions + Using AXA Secure GPT when creating / refining user stories (description, acceptance criteria) and designing REST endpoints + Estimation and prioritization of user stories and tasks during Sprint Planning sessions + Coordination and support during the implementation of Product Backlog items + Driving decision making with preparation and presentation of decision-making documents
• Quality assurance: + Test management, including test case creation using Xray in Jira + Test execution using Bruno as REST client and in Guidewire ClaimCenter + Submission of test artifacts for PO approval + Analysis of production bugs

Methods Big Room Planning (aka PI-Planning in SAFe), Scrum, BPMN, EPK, UML, ERM, DDD

Tools / Tech Stack Teams, Confluence, Jira with Xray, OpenAPI/Swagger, REST, JSON, XML, MS Office, Bruno, GitHub repository (reading), Guidewire ClaimCenter, AXA Secure GPT (AXA's in-house GenAI solution based on Azure OpenAI)

Developed the product vision and outcome strategy for a new registry platform, designed a management workshop for strategic alignment, conducted BPMN process mapping across systems and roles, analyzed user story practices and further developed them on an outcome basis, and brought together stakeholders from business departments, management and the external development partner.

Skills: Product Strategy, Outcome Roadmapping, Stakeholder Workshops, BPMN/Process Analysis, Miro, Linear

Management of data protection & IT security-related projects. Adjustments to knowledge management and consulting processes.

Activities:

• Data protection consulting
• Process optimization in in-house consulting
• Interface to specialist departments, IT security, development and management

Agile Transformation: introducing agile principles and transforming traditional IT departments into Scrum and Kanban teams

IT Operating Model: redesigning the IT organization and introducing modern delivery structures and roles

Flight Levels: building up Flight Levels practices within IT to align strategy, coordination and operational execution

Leadership & Coaching: recruiting Agile Coaches and coaching Scrum Masters and IT leaders

ERP Operations: acting as Interim Product Owner for the existing ERP landscape and ensuring business continuity

ERP Transformation: reorganizing and supporting the ERP migration as a Project Manager; Phase 1 (financial accounting) live since October 2025

Operational Core (ERP): establishing dedicated teams for ERP Support, Feature Development, and ERP Migration

Modern Workplace: initiating the transition towards a Microsoft 365-based cloud workplace environment

Integration: establishing a dedicated team to drive integration and connectivity initiatives

Warehouse Operations: building a cross-functional team to support logistics and warehouse-related capabilities

Maintenance & Operations (M&O): introducing a dedicated team for system engineering, security, stable operations and continuous improvement

AI Initiatives: identifying and promoting practical Artificial Intelligence use cases across the IT department

As Interim Head of IT for a German medium-sized industrial distributor, I am responsible for 31 IT employees and lead the digital and organizational transformation, reporting directly to executive leadership. I took over an IT department with almost no basic structures – no clear roles, processes, documentation or ticket system – and with significant technical debt that tied up most of its capacity. Introduced agile principles and ways of working in the IT organization and transformed the traditionally structured IT department into cross-functional Scrum and Kanban teams focused on transparency, collaboration, and customer value delivery.

Redesigned the entire IT organization by establishing a modern operating model, introducing new roles such as Product Owner, Scrum Master and Solution Architect and strengthening the organization through strategic hiring and targeted capability development. Recruited and onboarded Agile Coaches to accelerate the transformation and personally managed and coached Scrum Masters as well as IT department leaders to foster servant leadership, self-management and a culture of continuous improvement.

Aligned IT-internal planning across eight teams to three Flight Levels based on Klaus Leopold (strategy, coordination, team), laying the foundation for later company-wide portfolio management. Consolidated the backlog of more than 10 workstreams and prioritized it by business value and cost of delay. Introduced a ticketing system to increase transparency and enable data-driven decision-making, flow-based work management, and greater accountability at all levels.

Established and supported multiple cross-functional teams, including the Operational Core (ERP) domain with dedicated streams for Support, Feature Development and ERP Migration, as well as teams responsible for Warehouse Operations, Maintenance & Operations (M&O) including system engineering and security, Modern Workplace, Data Quality and integration initiatives. Worked closely with Agile Coaches to support team development, remove impediments, and continuously improve delivery effectiveness.

Acted as Interim Product Owner for the operation and enhancement of the existing ERP landscape while supporting the ERP migration as a Project Manager. Reorganized the project organization and had the already negotiated contract with the implementation partner realigned with a focus on approach and overall responsibility; Phase 1 (financial accounting) has been live since October 2025. Collaborated with the selected implementation partner to design and establish the project organization and target operating model for the ERP transformation, introducing agile delivery structures and ways of working. Facilitated the alignment between business, IT and the external vendor and played a key role in negotiating the contractual framework and delivery model to ensure a sustainable foundation for the transformation program.

Initiated the strategic modernization of the workplace environment through the adoption of Microsoft 365 cloud capabilities, establishing the foundation for enhanced collaboration, scalability and future digital services.

Launched AI initiatives to identify practical business use cases and promote the responsible adoption of Artificial Intelligence across the IT department. Encouraged self-management and empowered teams to take ownership of decisions, delivery and continuous improvement.

Transformation mandate: IT operating model and governance

• Managed the operationalization of a new IT operating model for a service- and customer-oriented organization in the managed services and Microsoft 365 environment.
• Translated the organizational target vision into concrete roles, responsibilities, organizational elements, decision-making paths and collaboration principles.
• Designed and operationalized a layered model with autonomous delivery teams, supporting units and clearly defined governance functions.
• Designed governance for Service Delivery Management, People Leads, Global Service Owner (GSO), operational teams, clusters and management committees.
• Structured the transformation rollout into ramp-up, implementation, stabilization and operations, and developed kick-off, communication and feedback formats.
• Further developed PMO and office structures as well as portfolio and workforce management to create transparency on resources, risks, dependencies and decision-making needs.
• Facilitated cross-functional workshops and decision-making meetings and translated different stakeholder interests into implementable principles, rules and actions.

Interim mandate: IT service and operations management

• Took over operational responsibility for Citrix and AD/Access, including incident, escalation, transition and quality management in day-to-day operations.
• Clarified operational interfaces and clearly defined responsibilities between internal units, Service Delivery Management and external service providers.
• Conducted structured GAP analyses of existing service descriptions, prepared make-or-buy decisions and clarified roles with KPI integration.
• Managed conflicting objectives, dependencies and escalations in complex customer, operations and transformation situations.

Selected results

• The transformation target vision was translated into practically applicable roles, governance rules, organizational elements and rollout formats.
• Decision-making paths, responsibilities and interfaces between operational delivery, supporting functions and management were described transparently and bindingly.
• The foundations for self-managed teams, standardized service descriptions and reliable portfolio, resource and management transparency were established.

Methods: Operating model design, governance design, RACI, GAP analysis, stakeholder analysis, workshop facilitation, change communication, risk and escalation management, KPI and service management

• Lecturer in AZAV-certified, one-month training programs on AI fundamentals and practical applications, with several cohorts since February 2026
• Design and delivery of all modules for participants from different professional fields
• Teaching how generative AI works, its areas of application and limitations, as well as prompting and evaluation practices
• Created all teaching materials and exercise formats independently
• Supporting participants throughout the entire course period

• Focus on optimizing and further developing the internal customer EBICS application
• Functional and technical consulting for Aareal First Financial Solutions AG on EBICS standard products and applications in the areas of operations and further development, as well as project-related communication with external development partners and the product manufacturer to implement the corresponding technical optimizations
• As the functional coordinator, providing advice on content-related and regulatory requirements as well as technical prerequisites and requirements, and bringing these together at the functional level
• Consulting on the use of EBICS formats
• Reviewing the current EBICS standard for optimization and further development potential
• Analyzing the current state to identify development potential and deriving appropriate recommendations for action while considering regulatory requirements
• Conducting EBICS tests throughout the project
• Functional responsibility for requirements management and, in this context, recording and documenting requirements for such tests
• Designing a functional and sustainable test management system
• Conducting and evaluating tests
• Consulting on sustainable quality assurance and audits
• Project language: German and English
• Tools/Methods: MS Project, MS Office, MS Visio, TestRail, Confluence, Jira, Business Logics Bankkrecher, Business Logics Test Data Generator, Business Logics Banking Tool, Business Logics Test System, DBEAVER, Squirrel, Unix Virtual Machines, WinSCP, Kitty, Putty, various Aareal Bank products, Online Banking Portal, Aareal Sign, core banking system, SAP Blue Eagle, SAP RE-FX, Aareon Wodis Sigma, Haufe Real Estate Wowinex, GAP Group Immotion, UTS Karthago, SAP IS-U/Waste, SIV kVASy, various EBICS clients

Technical and commercial risk assessment for an investment project in the hardware sector (scaling potential, liability risks, operational processes) Process consulting for two SMEs in the engineering environment, with a focus on workflow digitization and PLM

• Managed the integrated SAP S/4HANA delivery plan for 12 BTS workstreams, including milestone, dependency, and governance management.
• Coordinated end-to-end delivery across Business, IT, and Operations, focusing on execution, readiness, and issue resolution.
• Responsible for RAID, test, cutover, and deployment management to ensure a successful go-live.
• Implemented KPI tracking, status reporting, and PMO governance to provide transparent management of performance, risks, and escalations.