André Munzinger

Product & Technology Leadership

André Munzinger

Twenty+ years bridging engineering and business — from real-time 3D simulation to AI strategy at group scale. I build things, lead teams that build things, and care deeply about whether the output actually creates value.

AI Product Management Software Engineering Data & AI Strategy Enterprise Systems

About

My career sits at the intersection of engineering, business strategy, and human systems. I hold an M.Sc. in Business Information Systems (Wirtschaftsinformatik) from TU Darmstadt — with a specialization on AI, data analytics, and strategic management at master level, and software engineering and project management at bachelor level. I trained as a software developer before that, and have been writing code ever since.

I've worked and studied across five countries — Germany, USA, Norway, South Korea, and Finland — and spent several years doing top management consulting at group level for a major European telco, where I worked on everything from AI scouting in San Francisco to board-level strategy, data platform architecture, and digitalization. Today I am leading an international team rolling out major HR-IT and AI systems globally for ~23,000 employees, and continue to build software on the side.

I'm a certified data scientist (Fraunhofer IAIS), an AI engineer (Udacity), and hold certifications in systemic coaching, agile methods, and change management — a combination that reflects how seriously I take both the technical and the human side of building products that actually get adopted.

I'm moving toward senior AI product leadership — roles where I own the product direction, work closely with engineering teams, and am accountable for real-world impact.

I also run a coaching practice for professionals and teams — Your Next Step — which keeps my understanding of how people and organisations actually change very much alive.

Outside of work: running, mountain biking, and mountaineering keep me sane and I code my own tools and explore cyber security in my spare time.

Background

Engineering roots, management consulting at group scale, and a consistent habit of building things on the side — the through-line is someone who thinks in systems and wants to be accountable for outcomes, not just delivery.

Apprenticeship

Software developer — production systems, real clients

Trained as a software developer with a focus on web & application development. Built production systems including the Liebherr crane training simulator — deployed in professional operator training at Liebherr-Werk Biberach and later adapted into a published PC game that charted in the simulation Top 10.

JavaC++HTMLPHPJavaScriptActionScript
TU Darmstadt

M.Sc. Wirtschaftsinformatik — four countries, real projects

Chose this programme to understand not just how to build systems but why they succeed or fail inside organisations. Exchange semesters in South Korea and Finland. Industry internship in Norway, where the Eidsiva Energi Android customer app was built end-to-end. Led a team of 10 students to deliver a web-based software effort estimation tool for IBM. Developed a research prototype for the Distributed Systems faculty exploring automatic context transformation in event-based systems.

Python Java Android Distributed Systems AI Research Team Lead Requirements Engineering
Management Consulting

Top management consulting — strategy, data, product, and technology at group scale

Worked across a wide range of high-stakes programmes at one of Europe's largest telco groups — from board-level strategy to hands-on product design and technology work. Selected engagements that are most relevant to where I'm heading:

  • AI & Data Scouting, San Francisco: Seconded to the Bay Area partner office to evaluate AI and data analytics technologies, startups, and acquisition or partnership targets for the group — with direct exposure to the product and engineering cultures driving the field.
  • Data Analytics Organisation & Platform: Built the group's data analytics capability from scratch ahead of a CDO hire at a major European telco — operating model, global team with domain experts and an international analyst workbench, hero use cases scaling across segments, and a group-wide data platform functioning as an internal marketplace for reusable analytics.
  • Digital Field Service App: Identified, designed, and scoped a mobile app for field technicians laying copper and fibre — integrating legacy systems and workflows so call-centre agents had real-time visibility of field status.
  • Group API Strategy: Designed the group-wide API strategy covering technical, commercial, and governance dimensions; presented and aligned with the CEO.
  • Telco as a Platform: Drove the partnership with Google to build the telco stack in a cloud environment while preserving the group's strategic competitive position.
  • 5G Spectrum Negotiations: Led wargaming simulations and structured joint negotiations with all major German telco providers to fulfil Bundesnetzagentur requirements following the 5G spectrum auctions.
  • Further: Global job architecture design; enterprise IT roadmap process; digital strategy for the German telco business (CX, app, shop); Magenta Gaming market launch; EU segment telco strategy update; headcount restructuring programme.
Product DesignData AnalyticsPlatform StrategyAI ScoutingAPI Strategy5GOrg DesignRestructuring
Current

Team Lead — HR-IT & AI Programmes

Leading international, multicultural teams through complex enterprise HR-IT system rollouts and AI application programmes — at the intersection of technology, organisational change, and people. Building software on the side throughout.

Team LeadershipHR-ITAI ApplicationsStakeholder ManagementEnterprise RolloutsChange Management
What I'm building toward

Senior AI Product Manager — owning the full problem

I want to bring the engineering depth, the strategic consulting experience, and the understanding of how organisations and people actually change into roles where I can own the product direction end-to-end — working closely with engineering teams, thinking across the full stack from user need to technical architecture, and being accountable for real-world impact.

AI Product ManagementProduct StrategyEngineering LeadershipBusiness Model Development

Projects

Academic & Exploratory Work

University projects, research exercises, and exploratory implementations — included for completeness and as evidence of range.

Let's talk

Open to conversations about senior AI product or engineering leadership roles, advisory work, or something worth building together.

Reach out!