The inherent behavior of any system is a direct reflection of its underlying structure, meaning that treating symptoms while ignoring the framework only serves to trap an organization in a cycle of reactivity.
I work at the level of the structure.
Over 20 years, across VFX production pipelines, a bootstrapped hardware/software startup, large-scale data infrastructure at Bertelsmann, and critical infrastructure under KRITIS regulation, the consistent thread is: I enter environments where the complexity of the problem has outgrown the architecture designed to hold it.
The consistent question across all of them: which structure produces this behavior, and what needs to change at the level of the structure.
My understanding is that transformation is not an act of fixing the parts. It is the continuous redesign of the systemic parameters.
Socio-technical systems at scale / Bertelsmann
Architected bespoke data-processing pipelines and laid the conceptual foundation for a technical reorganization within a Bertelsmann strategic unit, culminating in a unified system consolidating three previously separate production environments. The architectural decisions were inseparable from the organisational ones.
Regulatory constraints
as design / BITel
Led data consolidation under critical infrastructure regulation, resolving conflicts between diverse organizational entities. Compliance requirements were built into the architecture from the outset; they were not added after the fact.
Full-stack system development under resource constraints / Counterculture
Founded a bootstrapped hardware/software startup developing high-precision goods through adaptation of 3D-VFX data to CNC manufacturing processes, including Halbach array integration and non-magnetic alloy fabrication. Self-financed to six figures. Material physics, precision manufacturing, and international supply chain under bootstrapping conditions produced a level of system complexity that exceeded the resources of a single founder.
Pipeline architecture and realtime systems / Das Werk, people interactive, Ambient Entertainment and others
VFX Senior Technical Lead across global production environments, building scalable asset management systems and non-linear, non-destructive workflows where performance emerges from systemic interaction and reliability is built into the architecture itself.