Munich, Bavaria, Germany
As a former manager at McKinsey, Amazon, and Google, I faced one of life’s toughest challenges: overcoming severe depression. My book 📘 Nach Grau kommt Himmelblau is my personal story, offering a rare look into the reality of depression, its treatment, and recovery. It also shares the invaluable perspective of my wife Xiaoxi ❤️, who supported me throughout this journey as a caregiver. Today, as a keynote speaker on mental health, I bring my autobiographical insights to life, having spoken at organizations like McKinsey, Amazon, and GSK. My story has been featured in major publications such as Der Spiegel, Manager Magazin, Der Standard, and on TV shows like SWR Nachtcafe and ZDF TerraX Plore. Through my keynotes and book, I focus on three key messages: 1️⃣ Depression can happen to anyone, even those at the top. 2️⃣ Mental illness doesn't define you for life. 3️⃣ With the right support, depression is treatable. "The worst part of having a mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don’t." —The Joker (2019)
As a Product Manager at Google, I was responsible for Google Cloud's Visual Inspection AI product, a game-changer in AI-driven defect detection. This solution empowers Google's B2B clients to effortlessly train and deploy AI models, leveraging camera technology to spot production flaws with ease and precision. No technical jargon, just results. Leading and working with a team of brilliant software engineers and AI researchers, we transformed complex technology into a user-friendly framework, setting a new standard in automated quality control.
ALEXA, what is Thomas working on? Alexa: Thomas leads a team of senior product managers who help me get smarter by turning customer feedback & data insights into new features & product improvements for our customers in DE and AT. ALEXA, is Thomas a Biz or Tech guy? Alexa: Both actually. During his time at McKinsey & Company, he managed teams to help corporate clients in different sectors to bring their digital business models to life. But I've heard he is good at numbers too. ALEXA, on the tech part any credentials? Alexa: Let me check. In his former life, he was a computer scientist and published ~30 conference & journal articles on algorithms to mathematically prove that the software of Internet of Things (IoT) devices works as expected. He held visiting scientist positions at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley and RWTH Aachen University in Germany. He graduated "sub auspiciis praesidentis" with a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Vienna University of Technology. ALEXA, what else do I need to know? Alexa: Hmm, let me think. Oh, yeah he is a native German speaker but also fluent in Chinese (Mandarin), he lived in mainland China for about 3 years. Fun fact: He never carries any physical cash with him. Never. Not sure how he gets away with that in Germany :) I mean I live in the cloud I don't need coins, but this poor earthling... This gets him into weird situations all the time. No coins, no shopping cart at the supermarket, no coins, no way to pay for parking. But that's enough about Thomas, let me tell you about me and my fancy AI life up there in the cloud! *Alexa, STOP!* ALEXA, thank you! Alexa: My pleasure. If you want to know more reach out to Thomas via [email protected]
As an independent consultant my work focused on interim-management positions, as well as high-tech (Blockchain and IoT) and China-related businesses.
At McKinsey I help our clients with questions around the Internet of Things (IoT), especially around new business models, monetising opportunities for large-scale sensor data, organisational implications required to capture the value from IoT, but also the more technical trends such as upcoming connectivity technology, edge analytics, and IoT cloud/fog computing.
My career in electronics and computer science began from a passion for technology, nurtured through early projects like building an MP3-capable car radio in my garage. This early interest evolved into a professional pursuit as I earned my degree in computer science, specializing in embedded real-time systems within the Internet of Things (IoT) sector. My doctoral research led to 30 scholarly papers I authored. These papers, presented at various international conferences and published in respected journals, focused on advanced topics such as runtime verification algorithms for critical IoT systems, static code analysis of embedded systems, and the analysis of machine code tailored for resource-limited IoT devices.