From the Wiring Closet to AI Strategy
My path didn't run through a lecture hall. It ran through the server room. 15 years in IT, from the first support hotline to leading IT in a scale-up. Today I build for the Mittelstand and regulated industries what I once needed myself: AI that runs within the law and actually lands in everyday work.
Act 1 · The Foundation
IT from the Ground Up
I started where IT actually begins. On the phone, on the ticket, at the checkout that just went down mid-shift. First support hotline, service desk, point-of-sale hardware, retail rollouts. Babymarkt, ElectronicPartner, the consumer-electronics world. This is where I learned what no seminar teaches: that behind every incident ticket sits a person who can't do their job, and that a fix is only a fix once it actually reaches them. These years on the front line aren't a prelude to my career. They're the foundation everything else stands on.
Act 2 · The Climb
All the Way to Head of IT
From support into architecture, from the ticket into the project. As Infrastructure Manager at Karstadt I owned test environments and sales applications. At ALDI Nord, as IT Consultant, I ran site rollouts, conferencing technology and the M365 introduction across more than 73 companies, in project setups with up to 130 people involved. Enpal was the peak. As Head of IT Services I led the IT organization through one of the harshest hypergrowth phases the German market has seen. From 380 to 6,000 employees, around 400 onboardings a month, 25 sites across DACH and more than 10 internationally. Anyone who has scaled IT while the company underneath them is exploding knows one thing: the technology is the easy part. The hard part is people, processes and speed.
Act 3 · The Break
Why Independence, Why AI and Compliance
On paper I could have kept going. Next title, next bigger team. Instead I turned off the path. The reason was an observation I couldn't shake: the AI wave was coming, and the German Mittelstand stood in front of it like a locked door. Not because the technology was missing, but because no one could say how to use it without breaking the law or losing trust. EU AI Act, GDPR, data protection in regulated industries, that became the real hurdle. That's exactly where I wanted to work. At airsight, a consultancy in the regulated aviation sector, I built strategy, Microsoft 365 Copilot and AI-supported knowledge management under full governance, as the officer responsible for AI-driven transformation. In parallel I spent years as a trainer and coach in adult education, running state-accredited programs. That combination is rare. I know the enterprise altitude, and I know how to meet a person where they are so they actually use a new tool. Adoption isn't a by-product. It's the exact point where most AI projects fail.
Act 4 · Today
Schoonnect Consulting
Schoonnect is the consequence of everything before it. AI consulting for the Mittelstand and regulated industries, with GDPR and the EU AI Act not as a brake but as the foundation. I don't sell a platform or a license I earn a cut on. I'm independent, and that's precisely my value: I sit on your side of the table. Strategy before tools, human in the loop, pragmatic before perfect. A solution that runs at 80 percent today beats a perfect one that might arrive in six months. What I bring from 15 years in IT isn't textbook knowledge. It's the hard-won fact that at the end there is always a person in front of the system who needs to get their work done.
Act 5 · How I Work
Method That Comes from Real Projects
Practice before lecture hall doesn't mean against method. It means method that holds, because it comes from real projects. I work along a fixed phase model, transparent from the first minute, and for every project I bring in exactly the expertise it needs, with no hidden commissions. What I can do, what I offer and who I work with is all out in the open. That's how it should be.
Capabilities
What I Bring
Six clusters, from AI delivery to enablement
AI Strategy & Delivery
- Azure OpenAI
- Copilot Studio
- RAG / Enterprise GPT
- Agentic AI
- Prompt & Context Engineering
Governance & Compliance
- EU AI Act
- GDPR
- ISO 27001
- Zero Trust
- Data Protection Impact Assessment
Automation & Low-Code
- Power Platform
- Make
- n8n
- Agentic Workflows
- Process Mining
Enterprise Platforms
- M365
- SharePoint
- Teams
- Azure (Entra, Intune)
- SAP ERP
Leadership & Transformation
- Teams up to 35 people
- Change
- Stakeholder & C-Level communication
- Business Case
Adoption & Enablement
- Executive coaching
- Leadership workshops
- End-user training
- didactically grounded
Service fields
What I Work On
AI Readiness & Strategy
Where does your company actually stand, and which AI step pays off first? Readiness assessment, roadmap and an AI operating model built for your reality, not for a marketing promise.
EU AI Act & GDPR Compliance
Use AI safely before it gets expensive. Governance frameworks, data protection impact assessments and EU AI Act classification, adapted in practical terms for SMEs and regulated industries.
Digitalization & Automation
From idea to running workflow. Enterprise GPT, agentic AI processes and automation connected to your ERP and CRM systems, productive and maintainable.
Training & Enablement
Hands-on instead of slide decks. Workshops and training that meet leaders and teams where they are, so AI does not disappear into a drawer once the project ends.
Approach
How a Project Runs
A fixed phase model, transparent from the first minute
- 1
First Contact
A no-obligation conversation, an honest first assessment, no sales pressure.
- 2
Scoping
Goal, scope and expectations are fixed together and in writing.
- 3
Specification
Exactly what gets delivered, defined transparently before any work begins.
- 4
Delivery
Implementation with a human in the loop and regular alignment.
- 5
Report
Results, open points and recommendations documented clearly.
- 6
Handover
Knowledge stays with you, not with me. Enablement instead of dependency.
Schoonnect Network
Independently Orchestrated, Never Alone
No two projects are alike, and no one can do everything alone. The Schoonnect Network is a curated expert network, from IT operations through MLOps to data engineering, from startup pace to enterprise depth. I orchestrate independently: for each task I bring in exactly the right capability, with transparent fee models and no hidden commissions. You get the expertise that fits, not the one someone earns the most on.
- IT operations
- MLOps
- Data Engineering
- startup pace
- enterprise depth
Qualifications
Certificates & Credentials
- University Certificate "Master Business with AI" (MBAI®)Hochschule Fresenius / Leaders of AI · 2025
- AI Manager (IHK Rhein-Neckar)2024
- Company Data Protection Officer (IHK Rhein-Neckar)2025
- University Certificate, Adult Education in the Migration SocietyEuro-FH Hamburg · 2025 · grade 1.1
- PRINCE2® Foundation2019
- ITIL® Foundation2019
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals2021
- Microsoft 365 Certified: Fundamentals2020
Note: "Master Business with AI" is the name of a university certificate, not an academic degree.
Let's talk
Free initial consultation (30 min), an honest first assessment, no sales pressure.