From when to when did you work at Detecon? What was your position?
I joined the Industry Cluster as a consultant directly after my promotion in 2015. The later merger with Cluster Services resulted in a much broader range of projects. I then left Detecon at the end of 2017 as project manager.
What were the most exciting Detecon moments for you?
There were many. Starting with the moderation of internal events together with CEO and cluster leads, the exchange of knowledge in my Knowledge Communities Connected Car and Project Management, and the Detecon Band, where I played the guitar. I will never forget our performance at the Christmas Party 2016 in the KölnTriangle - with a breathtaking panorama and a bombastic atmosphere.
What I remember most of all from the projects is how we saved the jobs of long-time employees of an insurance company: A location in a comparatively structurally weak area was closed. Our task was to provide the infrastructure for each individual employee to connect them to the headquarters. This may sound self-evident today, but five years ago it was by no means normal - especially since some of the locations were so remote that broadband or LTE was not even an option. In the end, however, we managed to find an individual solution for each case that satisfied our customer - and also saved all jobs.
I also like to think of the training courses offered, and the leadership training had the most lasting positive impact on me. It wasn't about technical topics, but mainly about recognizing oneself, questioning certain behaviors, one's own mindset - and the question of where one actually wants to go. I still profit from this today.
And then there was the driver safety training at the Hockenheimring, which I won in an internal Telekom contest. The ride in the AMG C63s was not just burned into my head.
What company do you work for today? What is your primary field of work there?
As Vice President I am responsible for the Analytics division at TecAlliance GmbH. TecAlliance ensures that the so-called Independent Automotive Aftermarket - i.e. in simplified terms everything that has to do with automotive spare parts but not directly with the major car manufacturers - receives the right information about the spare part so that independent garages can identify, order and install the right part for each car. Sounds simple at first, but with over 600 parts manufacturers worldwide, over 9,000 product groups, and approximately 8 million items, this quickly becomes very complex. My team is primarily concerned with the question of how this data is used in the market, whether the data is incorrect or incomplete, and whether certain trends can be derived from its use. To do this, we currently evaluate more than 60 million data records worldwide every day - in the truest sense of the word "Big Data".
What did you value especially highly while at Detecon, and what do you miss from the “old days”?
The collegial and friendly interaction in both the project team and the Cologne office. I also like to think back to the creative office furnishings that have inspired me again and again. And of course the matter-of-course flexibility of working from virtually anywhere - not only because of the good technical equipment, but also because the management has the right mindset. Detecon was already far ahead of its time in this respect!
What three hashtags would you use to describe Detecon?
#nocatsnoweekend
#worksmartnothard
#onlyinwateryoulearntoswim
