Digital Excellence Forum 2026

Dr. Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer is the inaugural Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). His principal responsibility is to realize the Allies’ vision for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in support of NATO’s purpose to safeguard freedom and security for its 32 member nations. He is tasked with facilitating ICT coherence across NATO’s 50+ civil and military bodies with 25,000 users. He also performs a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) function as the Single Point of Authority for cybersecurity. Prior to NATO, Dr. Boudreaux-Dehmer directed all global computing and information technology systems for Sierra Wireless in Vancouver, Canada. He also held leadership positions at Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Compaq Computer Corporation in Houston, Texas.

Dr. Boudreaux-Dehmer has an MBA from Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. He also holds a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Business and Management Research and a Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Reading, UK.

Anja Boesen is an experienced marketing and consumer-insights leader with a background in cognitive psychology and behavioral economics. She has held senior roles at Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, and later Kenvue, where she led science-driven approaches to brand building.

With more than a decade of experience translating human behavior into strategic growth levers, she is known for applying rigorous consumer insight and marketing science to global brands.

Her work focuses on turning data and behavioral understanding into actionable strategies that strengthen brand performance and unlock sustainable growth.

Rodrigo Castelo is Vice President EMEA at OutSystems, leading the high-productivity application platform provider’s business across Europe, Middle East & Africa. He drives growth and adoption of low-code technologies to enable rapid and agile enterprise development.

He holds a master’s degree in Information Systems and Computer Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico and has worked in the technology market for more than a decade, with deep experience in international sales, product and market strategy.

Markus Ehrle is serving as Group Vice President & General Manager for EMEA Central at ServiceNow, a role he assumed in August 2023. In this capacity, he is responsible for driving the growth strategy across Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the wider Central Europe & Eastern Europe region, including the expansion of partnerships with major enterprises and the development of ServiceNow’s regional team.

Prior to joining ServiceNow, Ehrle amassed over 20 years of experience in the technology industry, including a long tenure at Salesforce where he served as Senior Vice President Germany within the DACH management team. He has also held leadership positions at companies such as SAP, IBM and Netscape. In his current role, he emphasises building inclusive, diverse teams and enabling enterprises to accelerate their digital transformation through ServiceNow’s platform-based workflow solutions.

As Chief Transformation Strategist Central Europe, Frank Engelhardt works with corporate leaders on enabling strategies for customer centric business transformation with the latest innovations in AI, mobile, social and cloud technologies as well as effective leadership for cultural change.

Since joining Salesforce in 2003, Frank Engelhardt has held several leadership roles in the US and Europe, primarily in the Products, Technology, Strategy and Marketing organizations. As business technology executive, he has over 30 years of international x-industry experience. Before moving back to his native Germany in 2011, he lived and worked in San Francisco/Silicon Valley for over 15 years. Prior to joining Salesforce he held management roles at Commerce One and Accenture. He received degrees in European Business Administration from Reutlingen University, Germany, and Middlesex University London, England.

Karen Funk is a freelance IT journalist and author. Until May 2024, she was an editor at CIO-Magazin and COMPUTERWOCHE (from Foundry/IDG). She also ran the renowned IT competition CIO of the Year for 17 years. Funk has been campaigning for more women in IT and digital education for many years.

In 2024, she published her book “Hack the world a better place: How companies are shaping the future”, which she wrote together with Julia Freudenberg, Managing Director of the Hacker School, on the topic of corporate volunteering.

Dr. Jochen Göttelmann is Vice President Information Technology and CIO of Lufthansa Airlines, where he oversees the airline’s global IT operations and digital transformation strategy. Previously CIO of Lufthansa Cargo, he has extensive experience in aviation and logistics IT.

Known for his pragmatic approach, Göttelmann focuses on making Lufthansa’s IT landscape more modern, resilient and agile, aligning technology, data and business innovation to enhance operational excellence and customer experience.

Dr. Sebastian Grams is Chief Digital Officer at IFCO Systems, a global leader in reusable packaging for fresh food.

He holds two degrees in mechanical engineering and a PhD from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and brings more than 20 years of leadership experience from the Volkswagen Group, including roles as CIO of SEAT/CUPRA and Managing Director of Audi Sport.

At IFCO, he drives the company’s digital transformation by advancing data-driven services, track-and-trace capabilities, and innovative digital products. His work focuses on improving supply-chain efficiency and supporting IFCO’s mission to enable a more sustainable circular economy.

Dr. Walter Grüner is Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Digital Officer (CDO) at Covestro AG, a global leader in high-performance polymer materials. He joined Covestro in May 2019 tasked with accelerating the company’s digital transformation and modernizing its IT landscape. With a doctorate in chemistry, Grüner started his career in strategy consulting (A.T. Kearney, Booz Allen Hamilton) before moving into leadership roles in the chemical industry, including global IT responsibility at Süd-Chemie and later CIO roles at KION.

Under his leadership, Covestro has migrated the majority of its systems into the cloud with a strong approach to creating cloud-native applications, automating operations, and improving agility across the organization. He is also driving AI adoption across the business, from autonomous manufacturing plants to AI-enabled financial tools, aiming for high value creation rather than simple cost savings.

Prof. Dr. Sabina Jeschke is a German expert in artificial intelligence, robotics and digital transformation. From 2017 to 2021, she was a member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Bahn AG and headed the areas of digitalization, technology development and cyber security. She holds a doctorate in physics from TU Berlin and has held professorships at RWTH Aachen University, the University of Stuttgart and TU Berlin, with research experience at NASA and Georgia Tech.

Since 2021, Jeschke has been CEO and Chairwoman of KI Park, a Berlin-based AI innovation center. She also leads AI and quantum computing startups such as Arctic Brains and Quantagonia and serves on several supervisory boards, including Schenker AG. Her work connects science, industry and government to drive AI and digital innovation in Europe.

Dr. Sven Jung has been with the Handelsblatt Research Institute (HRI) since 2014. As head of the Economic Intelligence department, his responsibilities include coordinating and conducting scientific studies on various topics. He also presents the results of his studies at various events.

Before joining the HRI, Dr. Sven Jung earned his doctorate in labor market economics from Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. He also worked as a research assistant at the Chair of Labor Market and Regional Policy.

Martin Knaack is an Industry Advisor at Microsoft covering the Retail & Consumer Goods sector. In his role, Martin leverages his extensive 15+ years of experience and expertise initiating and driving new value-generating digital transformation initiatives. Thereby, he utilizes the entire Microsoft & partner ecosystem to make meaningful connections between Business and Technology leaders and professionals.

Martin has been working for Microsoft for nearly eight years, where he held several Industry thought leadership positions in Germany and at Corporate level. Before joining Microsoft, he started his career at Siemens IT Solutions & Services, before joining the Management Consultancy BCG Platinion and leading the Supply Chain platform and solution team at Germany’s largest online furniture retailer, home24.

A seasoned technology leader, Ursula Koski has more than 28 years of experience in software development, cloud transformation, and digital innovation.

In her role as CTO for Nordics Partners at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Koski works with partners, governments, and the European Commission to accelerate the growth of the technology industry, as well as strengthen Finland’s position for digital talent and innovation.

Rosita Leuprecht is Head of E-Commerce & Digital Marketing at Tiroler Glashütte GmbH / Riedel Glas Austria, where she has been leading the company’s online marketing and e-commerce activities since 2015.

She brings extensive expertise in SEO/SEM, SEA, email marketing, and social media, building on her experience in a digital marketing agency prior to joining the company. Under her leadership, the brand has significantly strengthened its digital presence and optimized its e-commerce operations. She is known for driving data-driven digital strategies that enhance customer engagement and online performance.

Volker Ludwig is Senior Vice President and Managing Director for the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) at Digital Realty, a leading global provider of data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions. He has held this role since January 2023 and is responsible for overseeing the strategy, operations, and growth of Digital Realty across the DACH markets.

Volker has more than 20 years of experience in the data center and digital infrastructure sector, having held senior sales, marketing, and leadership positions at organisations such as Interxion, e-shelter, NTT Global Data Centers, and Mainova WebHouse before his current appointment. He is also actively engaged in advancing digital infrastructure sustainability and is deputy spokesperson in the German alliance for strengthening digital infrastructures.

Thomas Meinel has served as Senior Vice President and Head of Indirect Procurement at Evonik since 2019. He holds a degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Technical University of Darmstadt and completed executive education programs at IMD Business School in Lausanne and the Wharton School in Philadelphia, USA.

Meinel began his career in 1996 at Röhm. After two years with Braun, he returned in 2002 to Degussa, Röhm’s parent company at the time. Following the formation of Evonik, he held several global leadership positions between 2008 and 2019 before being appointed to his current role.

Nico Michels holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and is a trained Systems Engineer. With over two decades of leadership experience in international manufacturing and engineering-driven organizations, he has shaped digital transformation strategies and overseen complex, globally distributed engineering, production, and IT systems.

Since December 2022, he has led the Digital Enterprise & Academics business unit at Siemens Digital Industries Software, where he advises and supports boards, executive management, and industrial clients in defining and executing holistic digital transformation initiatives across a wide range of sectors.

Claudia Plattner has been the President of the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) since 1 July 2023.

Claudia Plattner has more than 20 years of experience in IT functions for companies and institutions. Most recently, she served as the Director General for Information Systems at the European Central Bank and previously held a senior position as Chief Information Officer (CIO) of DB Systel GmbH, the internal IT service provider of Deutsche Bahn.

Claudia Plattner holds a degree in mathematics (TU Darmstadt) and a master’s degree in applied mathematics from Tulane University (USA).

Dr. Robert Helbig holds a degree in Business Administration and a doctorate in tax complexity. He joined DATEV in 2014, initially working in Sales, where he managed the university market within the DATEV Education Partnership and led several platform projects. In 2019, he became Digital Transformation Officer, overseeing external development teams and helping to establish DATEV FlexHub, an agile unit for efficiently allocating resources to high-priority innovation projects.

Today, as Chief Product Owner, Dr. Helbig leads DATEV’s Incubator & Technological Innovation division. Since 2023, he has been responsible for Generative AI and, since July 2024, for all AI initiatives at DATEV, driving the company’s technological innovation and digital transformation agenda.

Michael von Röder is Group Chief Digital Officer & Chief Information Officer at Elia Group SA/NV (Belgium/Germany), where he drives the company’s digital strategy and transformation across energy infrastructure. With a background spanning mobile-telecommunications, IoT and energy, he has held leadership roles at Sensorberg GmbH (CEO), Vattenfall AB (Head of pan-European IT & Communications), and Vodafone Group Plc (Global User Experience).

He holds degrees in Technology Management and International Business from the University of Stuttgart and the International Institute for Management Development.

Jörg Rosskopf is the head coach of the German men’s national table tennis team, a position he has held since 2010 under the German Table Tennis Association (DTTB). A former world-class player, Rosskopf enjoyed a stellar international career, highlighted by winning the World Championship in doubles in 1989, an Olympic silver medal in 1992 (doubles), an Olympic bronze in 1996 (singles), the European Championship title in 1992 (singles), and the World Cup title in 1998.

As a coach, he has led Germany to multiple European Championship titles (2011, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2021), three World Championship silver medals (2012, 2014, 2018), and Olympic silver in 2021. He has received numerous honors for his coaching achievements, including being named ITTF Coach of the Year in 2017 and several national “Coach of the Year” awards.

Peter Salzmann is an Austrian wingsuit pilot, BASE jumper, skydiver, stuntman, and sports scientist based in Saalfelden. To date, he has completed more than 750 BASE jumps. With his innovative wingsuit-foil, he set three world records in 2024: the longest BASE flight time (5 minutes 56 seconds), the greatest BASE flight distance (12.5 km), and the largest vertical drop (3,402 m) during a jump from the Jungfrau in Switzerland. In August 2025, he also broke the wingsuit-BASE jump speed record by reaching 347 km/h during a jump from the “Ecstasy Board” on the Eiger North Face.

His passion lies in flying and innovation, as he constantly pushes the boundaries of what’s possible with wingsuits while focusing on safety, design, and new aerial challenges.

Marc Schlingheider is Executive Director, Market Leader for Data & AI (DACH) at IBM Technology, responsible for the region’s strategy and go-to-market initiatives in data, analytics and artificial intelligence. His mission is to help enterprises unlock value from data and build AI-driven business models.

He holds a degree in business informatics and has held senior leadership positions at IBM in the enterprise and public sectors, with a strong focus on trusted AI and large-scale digital transformation.

Jens Stapelfeldt is Global AI Lead at AMD, responsible for the AMD University Program (AUP). In this role, he drives global academic partnerships and fosters innovation in artificial intelligence, digital signal processing, and high-performance computing education.

With over 25 years of experience in the semiconductor industry, he has held senior positions at Infineon, Doulos, and ARM before joining AMD / Xilinx in 2015, where he served as Technical Sales Lead for the EMEA region. His expertise spans FPGA and ARM architectures, AI ecosystem development, and embedded systems.

Jens Stapelfeldt holds an MBA from the International Graduate Center in Bremen, with study modules in Hong Kong, Cambridge, and Dublin. He also lectures in AI and Digital Signal Processing at PHWT Vechta/Diepholz.

Bernd Wagner has been CEO of STACKIT Cloud since November 1, 2024, and also serves as a board member at Schwarz Digits, the digital and IT division of the Schwarz Group. Previously, he was Managing Director of Google Cloud Germany and held senior roles including SVP Sales Germany at T-Systems, CEO of Softline AG, and executive positions at Fujitsu.

In his role at STACKIT, his mission is to build a strong European alternative to international providers by offering sovereign cloud services “made in Germany” – highly secure, legally compliant, and trustworthy cloud and colocation solutions. His focus areas include artificial intelligence, cyber defense, secure communications, and driving digital sovereignty across business, politics, and the public sector.

Ralf Werner is Chief Information and Digital Officer (CIDO) at Open Grid Europe, one of Germany’s leading gas transmission operators. Before joining OGE, he held senior IT and management roles at major energy companies. He holds a degree in industrial engineering and has extensive experience in digital transformation and innovation leadership.

At OGE, he drives the company’s transition toward sustainable infrastructure for hydrogen and green gases, leveraging AI, data, and emerging technologies to advance the energy transition.