In a world where AI and automation are reshaping every industry, the most valuable people are not those who compete with machines but those who bring what machines cannot replicate. I have spent 30 years in telecommunications, mobile and emerging technologies, with Sony since 2002. As a generalist, I am curious about almost everything, I know a bit about a lot of fields (Jeopardy! style) and go deep when needed, I read people and technologies quickly, and I stay positive when a project gets difficult.
As Principal Technology Analyst at Sony Europe, I assess around 500 start-ups a year in sound, haptics, AR/VR/XR, materials, sensors, robotics, AI and sustainability, and turn what I find into decision papers for R&D and senior leadership in Europe and Japan. I manage the Sony Research Award Program for Europe (20–25 grants a year across 33 eligible countries) and have built more than 20 strategic university partnerships. Two examples of where this can lead: an audio start-up I brought in went into trial production at Sony UK Technology Centre, and a MEMS start-up became a joint development and manufacturing collaboration in Japan.
Before that I spent 14 years bringing smartphones to market, with up to 14 launches a year. I presented them on stage at IFA and MWC and spoke to the press. Along the way I started several internal start-up projects inside Sony, mentored student and start-up teams, and learned to work well with people from very different cultures to turn ambiguous opportunities into something real.
AI can summarise papers, scan patents, draft reports, or even create videos or music, which saves a lot of time. Yet it does not sit across the table from a founder and notice that the numbers and the mood don't match, and it does not decide which follow-up question matters. That part is still my job, and it is what I have practised for 30 years.
Current role: Principal Technology Analyst, Technology Partnerships Europe, Sony Europe · Location: Düsseldorf, Germany — open to relocation & hybrid · Experience: 30 years, with Sony since 2002
Track record: ~500 start-up evaluations a year, ~5% progressing to pilots, partnerships or investments · Sony Research Award Program for Europe, 20–25 grants a year across 33 eligible countries · 20+ strategic university partnerships · Start-up referrals to Sony Innovation Fund and other Sony VC teams · Up to 14 smartphone launches a year in DACH/NL · CRM introduced and adopted company-wide
Patents: 2 granted (US 9,977,887 B2; EP 3 718 300 B1, sole inventor) · 2 pending (DE 10 2023 135 945 A1; EP 4 439 509 A1)
Looking for: Innovation management, open innovation, business development and strategic partnerships; venture partnerships, technology transfer and advisory roles.
Start-up and technology assessment across Europe — around 500 evaluations a year in sound, haptics, AR/VR/XR, materials, sensors, robotics, AI/ML and sustainability, with roughly 5% progressing to pilots, partnerships or investments. Decision papers and management presentations for R&D teams and senior leadership in Europe and Japan; main point of contact for partner and Sony throughout the evaluation.
Brokered Sonical to Sony UK Technology Centre in Pencoed — leading to trial production of its UWB audio dongle “Remora” (announced Dec 2025) — and a MEMS start-up to Sony Semiconductor Solutions, which became a joint development and manufacturing collaboration at the Kagoshima plant.
Manager of the Sony Research Award Program for Europe — 20–25 grants a year of USD 100,000–150,000 across 33 eligible countries — and builder of 20+ strategic partnerships with leading European universities, from first contact to contract. Referred a number of start-ups to the Sony Innovation Fund and other Sony Group VC teams and contributed technical input to due diligence. Introduced a Microsoft Dynamics CRM that was later adopted company-wide.
Lifecycle of the Xperia smartphone portfolio in DACH and the Netherlands — portfolio sell-in and operator acceptance, up to 14 launches a year; led a virtual team of three. Introduced VoLTE and VoWiFi together with the network operators.
Visilion real-time location system for hospitals: launch, installation and evaluation in German hospitals. The solution was taken over by Dräger in 2021 and continues as Dräger Discover.
Product marketing and go-to-market for the smartphone portfolio; presented at launch events to CEOs and product managers of Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica, and on stage at MWC, IFA, hackathons and Droidcon in front of audiences of up to 3,500.
Business development for new ventures in eHealth and IoT. Press spokesperson at IFA and MWC, with interviews for trade media, radio and TV (RTL, n-tv). Master trainer for field sales, call centres and retail, in groups of up to 500.
Technical pre- and after-sales for Deutsche Telekom and open-market retail; customer acceptance manager between sales, product and service; service implementation and field sales training (2006–2012). Before that second-line support, field testing and UI localisation for Sony Ericsson handsets (2002–2006).
IP network administration in the GSM/UMTS test plant. System administration across Solaris, Linux (Debian, Red Hat) and Windows Server; Cisco infrastructure.
Programming in C++, HTML, PHP and MySQL on Apache. Customer support in the network operator business — alongside my engineering studies.
Idea Owner and Business Developer in Sony's Seed Acceleration Program (2015–2019) — Visilion Care emerged from it, and further projects reached the evaluation stage. Business Development Manager DACH for Nimway, Sony Network Communications' smart-office solution (2017–2018).
Mentor at the XABC Cross Academia / Business Challenge (TU Darmstadt and h_da, 2018–2019) — 52 students, five companies, ten teams; coached two teams from raw idea to working prototype.
Three decades on the technology circuit. Present on stage and as spokesperson at IFA and MWC, and scouting start-ups at CES, IFA, MWC, SLUSH and Web Summit.
“Stay curious” and “ancora imparo”. These two mantras say everything about how I approach work, leadership and life.
