
AI is analyzing your overall score…
Identifying your key strengths…
Evaluating your skill match against the job requirements…
Assessing your cultural and operational fit
Professor at Hasso Plattner Institute
In general, I want my work to have a positive impact to many people's lives. I particularly enjoy the application of principled research to large-scale real-world problems. I enjoy learning new things every day and getting to work with (new) people. I fundamentally believe in a people-first approach: As a scientist, I want to solve problems that people really have - also called "working backwards" and "customer-obsession"; as a manager, I always put people (development) over project (success) - the former being "the end" and the latter being "the means" (not the other way around); as a scientific leader, I always prefer to discuss ideas with another scientist over just reading their work - learning happens faster and in a more sustained way in a dialog rather than in reading. I do not accept existing scientific boundaries and think that the largest breakthroughs will be made at the intersection of existing disciplines. My research interests include Bayesian inference and decision making, game theory, information retrieval, natural language processing, computer vision, distributed systems, learning theory and knowledge representation and reasoning. I have published over 80 peer reviewed conference and journal papers in these fields. I am one of the inventors of the Drivatars™ system in the Forza Motorsport series as well as the TrueSkill™ ranking and matchmaking system in Xbox 360 Live. I also co-invented the click-prediction technology used in bing's online advertising system (adPredictor) which is used widely in the industry now. I am co-inventor for several patents relating to these inventions.
Research Fellow at Darwin College Cambridge
PhD, Computer Science
January 1, 2000 – January 1, 2003
Technische Universität Berlin
PhD, Theoretical Statistics
January 1, 1997 – January 1, 2000
Technische Universität Berlin
Diploma, Computer Science & Business
January 1, 1992 – January 1, 1997
High School Einstein Gymnasium, Angermünde
College, Abitur
January 1, 1990 – January 1, 1992
SAP
Member of SAP's Supervisory Board
May 1, 2024 – Present
Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany · Hybrid
Hasso Plattner Institute
Managing Director
November 1, 2022 – April 1, 2025
Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany · On-site
Hasso Plattner Institute
Professor
April 1, 2022 – Present
Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany · On-site
betteries AMPS GmbH
Machine Learning & AI Scientific Advisor
January 1, 2022 – August 1, 2024
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Zalando SE
SVP Builder Platform and AI
February 1, 2020 – December 1, 2021
Zalando SE
SVP Data Science and Machine Learning
January 1, 2020 – February 1, 2020
Partnership on AI
Member Board Of Directors
September 1, 2016 – January 1, 2020
San Francisco Bay Area
Amazon Development Center Germany GmbH
Managing Director
March 1, 2013 – January 1, 2020
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Amazon
Director of Machine Learning
November 1, 2012 – January 1, 2020
Seattle, Washington
Engineering Manager
October 1, 2011 – November 1, 2012
Palo Alto
Microsoft
Development Manager
February 1, 2011 – September 1, 2011
Microsoft
Director of Future Social Experiences (FUSE) Labs UK
November 1, 2009 – February 1, 2011
Microsoft Research
Senior Research Leader (Online Services and Advertising Group)
June 1, 2008 – October 1, 2009
Microsoft Research
Research Leader (Applied Games Group)
January 1, 2006 – May 1, 2008
Microsoft Research
Researcher
November 1, 2001 – December 1, 2005
Microsoft Research
PostDoc Researcher
September 1, 2000 – October 1, 2001
Cultural Fit Analysis
The candidate's background is heavily skewed towards research, academic leadership, and senior management in AI/ML, rather than hands-on Big Data engineering. While they have experience with large-scale systems, the direct alignment with a 'Big Data Engineer' role, which typically involves specific data pipeline, warehousing, and processing technologies (e.g., Spark, Hadoop, Kafka, cloud data services), is not explicitly demonstrated in their experience descriptions. Their current and recent roles are highly strategic and academic. This profile might be overqualified or misaligned for a pure engineering role, potentially seeking a more architect or principal scientist position.
Soft Skills & Operational Fit
The candidate's extensive leadership roles, involvement in academic institutions, and board memberships suggest strong communication, strategic thinking, and collaboration skills. Their work on interdisciplinary projects (AI and Sustainability) indicates an ability to bridge different domains and drive innovation. The descriptions of building teams and managing diverse initiatives point to strong operational leadership capabilities.