Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Most procurement software improves execution. Category Strategy Engine helps organizations choose the right strategy first. I am building Category Strategy Engine — a structured decision system that evaluates the structural position of a procurement category and derives strategy recommendations from the 64 methods of The Purchasing Chessboard. The engine assesses 13 structural market factors across more than five million possible category situations. The output is a diagnosis: which sourcing method fits a category’s structural situation — and why. The architecture combines AI-assisted market intelligence, human calibration by the procurement professional, and deterministic procurement logic. Not black-box automation — structured strategic reasoning with human oversight. Author of The Purchasing Chessboard, Supplier Relationship Management, The CPO, and Profit from the Source (Harvard Business Review Press). PhD in Artificial Intelligence. Category Strategy Engine is available through the Strategic Buying Accelerator and as an enterprise deployment. bychristianschuh.com · categorystrategyengine.com
Building Category Strategy Engine — a structured decision system that evaluates the structural position of a procurement category and derives strategy recommendations from the 64 methods of The Purchasing Chessboard. The engine assesses 15 structural market factors across more than 100 million possible category situations. The output is not a generic recommendation. It is a diagnosis: which sourcing method fits a category’s structural situation — and why. The architecture combines AI-assisted market intelligence, human calibration by the procurement professional, and deterministic procurement logic based on the methodology of The Purchasing Chessboard. Most procurement software improves execution. Category Strategy Engine helps organizations choose the right strategy first. Available through the Strategic Buying Accelerator — a 90-day capability transformation program with direct coaching — and as an enterprise deployment for procurement organizations. bychristianschuh.com · categorystrategyengine.com
En el Barranco de las Huertas, dentro del macizo de Anaga — Reserva de la Biosfera de la UNESCO — existe una finca histórica que lleva siglos mirando al mismo valle. Desde enero de 2026, me encargo de su recuperación gradual: restaurar bancales agrícolas abandonados, rehabilitar edificaciones tradicionales y devolver vida a un lugar que merece seguir existiendo. No hay prisa. Hay propósito.
Joined BCG at the moment when automotive and high tech began converging around electrification, semiconductors, and supply chain resilience. Combined deep automotive procurement expertise with nearly a decade in the Asian high-tech ecosystem — particularly Taiwan and China — to help leading industrial companies turn procurement into a strategic lever for competitiveness and resilience. Pioneered a global 360° procurement transformation program for a leading carmaker (featured in disguised form in Profit from the Source) that more than doubled savings performance, elevated procurement into a CEO-level strategic conversation, and laid the groundwork for a next-generation Supplier Relationship Management approach. During the global semiconductor crisis, helped major automotive companies understand semiconductor industry dynamics and build class-leading supply chain resilience capabilities.
Nearly 24 years leading procurement transformation programs for multinational companies across automotive, high tech, steel, defense, and heavy equipment industries. The pivotal moments were three book projects that still resonate today: The Purchasing Chessboard introduced the idea that sourcing strategy should be determined by the structural balance of power between buyers and suppliers — not by organizational habit. 64 methods, each designed for a different market situation. Now in its third edition with Springer. Supplier Relationship Management made the case that the supplier interface is one of the most underleveraged strategic assets in industrial companies — and showed how to build it systematically. The CPO examined what it takes to lead procurement at the highest level — the capabilities, the organizational architecture, and the strategic conversation with the CEO. Alongside the books: large-scale procurement transformations, breakthrough innovation programs for clients in industrial automation and consumer electronics, and deep operational work with contract manufacturers in China and Taiwan. These years built the methodology and the conviction that procurement strategy could be structured, codified, and eventually operationalized into a system.
Problem solving in order fulfillment Development and rollout of a tablet PC based order taking and CRM system Internal consultant