Place of residence: Cologne, Germany

Position: Lead Enterprise Architect at Daimler Truck

Please describe a day in your life

I usually wake up at 6:30 am, starting my day with a glass of water on the balcony. After that, I go for a short run or a workout in the gym to clear my mind. Then, I continue the routine by preparing my brain for work with a 10-minute meditation session.

At 8, my workday officially starts. The first thing I do is create a list of tasks and sort them by prioritising them by urgency and effort. Only after that did I clear my email inbox. The order is essential as you want to focus on your long-term goals and not get stuck in the daily madness of “urgent” emails, calls or team messages. I follow up with my long-term projects, and I pause for coffee at 10 and lunch at 12:30.

After that, I continue with my daily projects, continue with the long-term ones or hop on to a meeting. When my workday ends, I have dinner and use up what time is left in the day with my hobbies.

How many projects are you currently working on? Please describe them

As Lead Enterprise Architect at Daimler Truck Financial Services, I’m working on several projects in parallel.

My job primarily revolves around harmonising the global IT landscape. Specifically, it is reducing redundancy in the global IT landscape, especially the application landscape, by aligning systems across regions; these actions will increase operational function and reduce run costs in the long term.

To help drive forward the technology that our systems are based on, I am also working on a tech radar for the company that shows how our technology choices align with our enterprise rationale as well as safeguard us from cyberattacks. This radar acts as a governance structure on technology model designs.

In your opinion, who is the most influential person or company in technology today, and if you could choose one app, product, or project to have been involved in, which would it be and why?

Microsoft. Their ability to continuously re-innovate themselves in the technology landscape is truly inspiring. Starting with operating systems, moving to cloud computing, AI, productivity tools… They affect almost every business and business decision in the world.

If I could have been involved in one project, it would be the development of Microsoft Azure because it has fundamentally transformed enterprise IT architectures.

How do you see technology evolving in the next ten years?

I see the next decade as a period of profound and rapid transformation, largely driven by the rapid advancement and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across nearly every sector.

AI is no longer in its experimental stage; it is becoming a day-to-day tool. In industrial corporations, there will be significant changes in most processes by automation in decision-making. In financial services specifically, AI is streamlining risk assessment, fraud detection, and customer service.

What is the most challenging thing you had to deal with during your career?

As an enterprise architect, I try to bring new technologies (like AI or cloud-native platforms) into my organisations while also making sure that existing systems continue to be stable, secure, compliant, and simple to maintain. I often need to find a middle ground so all stakeholders agree to go ahead with new initiatives.

What is your next goal?

Next, I would like to embed AI capabilities more broadly within my enterprise architecture, including capturing use cases where AI can identify several decision points and regular routine processes and improve customer experiences. I want to architect patterns and governance models that enable AI to be used responsibly, securely, and at scale.

If you could speak to your younger self, what advice would you give, and how does it relate to the dreams you had as a child about creating, inventing, or doing something special?

I would tell my younger self to be curious, trust your gut and go for it, always!

As a child, I was always interested in how things worked, and I had a habit of taking things apart or imagining a system that would solve everyday problems.

Which famous person would you like to have dinner with and why?

If I could have dinner with anyone, it would have to be no other than Warren Buffett.

Not only is he associated with one of the greatest investment success stories of all time, but he has managed to recognize the hidden value of so many different business models (insurance, railroad, consumer goods, and energy).

What really inspires me is Buffett’s ability to distil even the most complex business models down to core value drivers and the discipline he shows not to invest in business models he doesn’t understand. As a Lead Enterprise Architect, I usually consider systems and strategies from a structural and long-term horizon.

I would love to know how Buffett screens new business ideas, identifies sustainable value, and recognizes opportunities that others fail to see.

Where would you like to travel next?

The Alps.

What tips do you have for people wanting to start in the tech world?

Find mentors and communities: Surround yourself with people who inspire you, join tech communities, attend meetups, and seek out mentors who can guide you in your growth path.