I have spent most of my working life on the same problem from two different sides.
As a founder, trying to make things happen with too little information, not enough resources, and no time to get more. And also inside large organisations, where the information and resources were abundant, and nothing happened anyway.
Who I am
I believe progress starts where certainty ends, when someone dares to make the next move. My work begins there, helping leaders turn that move into coordinated progress.Most organisations do not lack knowledge or technology. They struggle to turn both into bold decisions, real changes in how people work, and results that matter. Under uncertainty, waiting for more information feels safer, but leaders still have to commit people, time and money before they know which path will work.AI has made this impossible to ignore. Access to powerful tools can arrive almost overnight.Changing how leaders decide, how teams work, and what the business achieves takes longer.My philosophy is simple: leadership starts where control ends.In stable conditions you learn, then act. But when the ground keeps moving, that sequence fails. Under uncertainty, you act. Action creates orientation. Most leadership development is still built the other way round, which is why so much of it changes nothing.So I work the other way. To me, leadership means activating people to make coordinated progress towards a shared goal. At GILT, I apply this through advisory work, executive programmes and keynotes, with a focus on leadership and AI transformation. I am also investing into ventures through Njordis.I also sail, and co-founded XP SAIL. Becoming a skipper is one of the best ways I know to practise keeping a team together when conditions change.Progress is not about knowing the whole map. It is about making the next move.
How I got here
For the decade leading up to GILT, Njordis, and XP SAIL I worked as an independent operator. Part consultant, part founder, often both at the same time.I helped acquire an insolvent company and rebuild it. That worked. I ran a restructuring PMO at Deutsche Bahn. I built a software company and sold it. Then I built a second software company. We raised the money. It failed anyway.That failure taught me more than any of the successes, and not in the way people usually mean. I had the analysis. I had the plan. I had spent two years being certain that it will work out. What I lacked was a way to discover that I was wrong early enough for it to matter. That experience became a big part of the question behind GILT.In 2017, I joined the German Tech Entrepreneurship Center, founded at ESMT Berlin to connect startups with corporates and universities. As one of the Managing Directors I build its Berlin and Frankfurt campuses and led executive education. I also ran the Volkswagen incubator and accelerator, helping employees develop new ideas and turn them into new business units.
