Microsoft Azure Experts in Essen

• Development of a production-ready Enterprise AI solution for the automated processing of invoices and business documents
• Integration of Azure AI Document Intelligence and LLM technologies into existing business processes
• Development of robust REST APIs for automated document processing and system integration
• Extraction, validation, and storage of structured invoice data in Azure SQL as a base for analytics and machine learning models
• Development of an AI-based recommendation engine with machine learning and deep learning to generate personalized product recommendations based on historical purchase data
• Implementation of logging, monitoring, error handling, and validation mechanisms for stable production use
• Collaboration with business teams to define business rules and integrate the solution into existing enterprise processes

Technologies: Python, Azure AI Document Intelligence, Azure OpenAI, Azure SQL Database, REST APIs, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, OCR, Pandas, JSON, Workflow Automation

• 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

• 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

Tools: Fabric, AWS, dbt, Power BI, SQL, DWH, R, Python

• Supported customers in implementing an architecture design for extracting and preparing data
• Planned the design and implementation of the BI and DWH platform
• Ensured the scalability and performance of the data platform

• Created data pipelines and visualization tools to support sustainable energy decision-making
• Developed insights that could optimize renewable energy deployment and grid integration strategies

• Transition of Microsoft Azure operations to BTC AG
• Responsibility: budget of €60k
• Staff: leadership of 5 people
• Tools: Office 365, JIRA, Confluence

• Evaluation and further development of Engineering Excellence initiatives as part of the “Digital First” program
• Validation of efficiency, productivity, and cost-saving potential in the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
• Organization-wide analysis of the use of Generative AI in the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
• Evaluation of optimization measures in the areas of product management, delivery, developer experience, metrics, and quality assurance
• Comparison of the target vision “Next Level Architecture (NLA)” with regard to organizational design, governance model, and scalability
• Identification of structural bottlenecks in the delivery organization and development of alternative optimization approaches
• Preparation of decision-making and management documents for division management and the Executive Board to evaluate efficiency potential and transformation measures

Skillset: Engineering Excellence, Operating Model Design, Generative AI, AI in SDLC, SAFe, DevOps, Software Delivery Metrics, Value Streams, Team Topologies, Domain Driven Design, Azure DevOps, Jira, Confluence, Management Reporting, Business Case Assessment

• CHG Meridian AG is a financial company focused on leasing in the areas of IT technology, logistics and medical technology and is regulated by BaFin. One part of the company is Return to Remarketing, where devices delivered to the technology center (notebooks, smartphones, tablets, etc.) are prepared for resale. The project I supported was responsible for enabling damage assessment of returned lease devices, documenting them visually in the form of pictures, enabling invoicing for the customer, and making the pictures available via the in-house customer platform. This was achieved through a combination of in-house development within the internal development department and the use of SaaS products. The second project was the transition of SaaS tendering software, purchased by the business unit, into the operations of the CHG IT department. Evaluation of security questions in relation to BaFin requirements, development of an authorization concept, implementation of single sign-on, documentation of the application in the CHG systems (CMDB, iKnow, etc.) and handover into operations.

Used technologies and methods: NIS2, DORA, agile software development, Scrum, Kanban, ServiceNow, SaaS, MS Teams, MS SharePoint, Active Directory, Entra ID, CMDB, incident management, change management, request management, service level agreement

• Led the subproject for implementing Vulnerability Response as part of DORA
• Documented the current processes in compliance, risk & security
• Created the functional design for introducing application, infrastructure, and cloud vulnerabilities
• Agile management of the integration service provider, the technical department, and the company's cross-functional teams
• Integrated the V scanners Tenable, Qualys and Defender, as well as NVD and CISA/KEV
• Integrated GitLab Ultimate for importing and processing SBOMs
• Developed automation rules to match scan results with CIs in the CMDB, assign vulnerabilities and remediation tasks, handle approvals (false positives, exceptions) and closures
• Calculated multiple risk scores and priorities
• Defined dashboards and reports (Workspaces, Performance Analytics)
• Aligned the new processes, especially to improve the CMDB data quality (according to CSDM)

• Development and implementation of test concepts for complex, multi-layered systems
• Creation of regular management reports and presentations for stakeholders and clients
• Technical and disciplinary leadership of international test teams (coordination, coaching, resource planning)
• Responsibility for quality assurance across multiple test levels (unit, integration, system, and acceptance tests)
• Design of test cases and test plans in Azure DevOps; ensuring traceability and coverage
• Use of BDD approaches (Gherkin/Cucumber) to prepare test automation
• Building a test automation architecture with Playwright and integrating new tests into CI/CD pipelines
• Performing API tests (REST) and tests for mobile/PWA applications
• Setup and maintenance of test environments across multiple stages (integration, QA, UAT, pre-production)
• Test data management (synthetic and production-like data), ensuring consistency and reproducibility
• Collaboration with DevOps teams for containerization (Docker/OpenShift) and CI/CD integration
• Working under SAFe & Scrum, closely coordinating with product owners and DevOps teams
• Active participation in PI plannings, sprint reviews, and retrospectives
• Promoting an agile QA culture through coaching and knowledge sharing
• Introducing scalable test automation with Playwright → significant reduction of manual testing efforts
• Increasing test transparency through clean defect and reporting management in Azure DevOps
• Improved release quality through an end-to-end QA strategy and automated regression tests
• Strategic leadership of Trikolon Consulting GmbH and responsibility for finance, personnel, and business development

• Led the 12-week training program to become an AI and automation specialist
• Created training materials & video courses on "AI Fundamentals", "Working with ChatGPT", "Prompt Engineering", "AI Agents with N8N", "Automations with Make.com" & AI-generated marketing content (images, videos, blog posts & social media posts)
• Conducted workshops on the above topics
• Tools: Loom, N8N, Make.com, ChatGPT, Midjourney, Gamma.app, Canva, Kling AI, Magnific AI
• Result: Participants learn the technical and business know-how to successfully build a business as AI and automation specialists

Conception, planning, and production deployment of two AI platforms for industrial research and engineering workflows, from use-case identification and requirements analysis through architecture decisions and build-vs-buy trade-offs to go-live.

• awRAG.io: Identification of the use case (fragmented knowledge base across distributed AI tools), definition of data requirements, architecture decision for a multi-tenant RAG-as-a-service platform with GDPR-compliant EU infrastructure and production-grade retrieval pipeline

• LAIERS.ai: Use-case definition (context loss in linear AI workflows), strategic product decisions on UX, cost structure, and multi-LLM orchestration, rollout of a spatial AI conversation platform with proprietary context management system LAICS

• LLMOps ownership: Quality assurance, pipeline optimization, security architecture (OAuth 2.0, SOC 2), and performance monitoring of both platforms in live production

• Core topics: LLM, RAG, vector databases, LLMOps, AI architecture strategy, cloud infrastructure, data sovereignty

• Support in restructuring and designing the group's internal Android apps
• Defining essential modules and implementing accessible components
• Establishing agile approaches at an international level
• Technologies & Methods: Kotlin, Android, JUnit 5, Koin, Azure DevOps, Android Studio, Git, Jetpack Compose, Coil, Flow API, Ktor, Coroutines, TypeScript, Node.js