Stefan Ulrich

CX & UX Strategy Leader | Organizational Change | Global | Design Thinking / UX Coach | ...from shaping steel to building cultures of curiosity

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

About

Career rarely follows a straight line — mine went from blacksmith to industrial designer, design strategist, change manager, UX coach, Head of UX to UX consultant with enabling people and business at the heart of all of it. For the past decade, that path has led me to build a culture of genuine customer understanding at Bosch. Seven years in China, going from 0 to 1: I customized a holistic UX framework to grow customer centricity across diverse markets and regions (+65% UX Maturity, +26% UX Culture adoption). Together with my team, we used CX/UX to create measurable business impact across the entire Powertools organization. Now as a in-house consultant, I extend this expertise and reach beyond Powertools to various parts of the Bosch organization. One thing this road has taught me: I thrive when working with people in complex environments where the challenge isn't just knowing what customers need — it's building the organization, processes, and culture to consistently do something great about it.

Experience

  • Senior UX/Design Strategy Consultant at Bosch
    Sep 2023 - Present · 2 yrs 11 mos

    · Internal consultant and change agent across multiple Bosch divisions bringing UX and CX expertise to organizational units at different stages of their customer-centricity journey · Advising on the transformation towards user-centered ways of working - from strategy to implementation · Integrating CX/UX and design thinking into existing value streams to create tangible business impact · Actively exploring how AI can strengthen user-centered practices - from augmenting research and insight generation to making customer understanding more accessible in everyday workflows

  • Bosch Power Tools (5 yrs 11 mos)
    • Head of UX Bosch Power Tools - Emerging Markets
      Jul 2018 - May 2024 · 5 yrs 11 mos

      UX Responsibility for Emerging Markets Developed and managed the framework and scaling of UX Ops Grew UX Maturity by + 65% pp (2019-2022) Grew internal UX adoption rate by +26% pp (2020-2023)

    • UX Owner Bosch Power Tools - Global
      Jul 2018 - Apr 2021 · 2 yrs 10 mos

      Global responsibility for UX at Bosch Power Tools Developed and managed the framework and scaling of UX Ops across Business Units and a vast network of UX stakeholders Grew UX Maturity by + 22% pp (2019-2021) Grew internal UX adoption rate by +15% pp (2020-2021)

  • Co-Founder at Thos Cashmere
    Apr 2015 - Dec 2018 · 3 yrs 9 mos

    Co Founder of a luxury cashmere brand www.thos-cashmere.com

  • International User Experience Manager - Emerging Markets at Bosch China
    Apr 2017 - Jul 2018 · 1 yr 4 mos

    · ~7 year assignment based in Shanghai, China · Part of an independent, purpose-driven team developing affordable, user-driven product and service innovations for emerging markets and the construction site · UX and CX ownership across all emerging markets — bridging diverse cultural contexts into actionable customer insight · Trained associates and future trainers in Design Thinking and UX methodology (train-the-trainer approach), building scalable internal capability · Coached cross-functional teams through Design Thinking sprints and innovation projects · Change agent and cultural ambassador for Design Thinking across markets and functions

  • International User Experience Manager at Bosch
    Jan 2015 - Apr 2017 · 2 yrs 4 mos

    · First hire of a newly formed task force of change agents — with the mandate to make UX accessible and actionable across Bosch Powertools' business units (responsible for all Professional Tradesmen segments) · Trained and enabled associates in UX and Design Thinking methodology, building lasting internal capability · Coached cross-functional teams through Design Thinking sprints and innovation projects · Managed and streamlined collaboration between internal stakeholders and external design and research partners · Cultural ambassador for Design Thinking and UX — inside the organization and beyond