Hi, I’m Niclas.
I build AI systems for companies. I started out somewhere else entirely.
Economist, auditor, CTO – now an AI Engineer. That’s why I look at every project through the eyes of the business first, and only then through those of a developer.
- Today
- Freelance AI Engineer
- Education
- M.Sc. Economics, LMU Munich
- Background
- Ex-KPMG · Ex-CTO
- Software
- Since 2020
- Languages
- German, English
- Base
- Stuttgart, remote across Germany
01 — My path
From economist to AI Engineer.
The short version of my story. I’m happy to tell you the long one in our first call.
Until 2019
Göttingen, Munich
Computer science: a failing grade
At school I was average at best. Computer science: a failing grade. Maths: barely passed. Only when I studied economics in Göttingen and at LMU Munich did I realize what I was capable of.
2019
KPMG
The safe path
Next came auditing at KPMG. Good salary, respected firm, Excel from morning to night. Perfect on paper. Except that I had ideas for digital products and no idea how to build them.
2020
Fresh start as a junior
Learned to code at 26
So I taught myself. For twelve months I was an auditor by day and a programmer by night – long before AI made learning easier. In 2020 I quit and started over as a junior developer. Less pay, a much better mood. Six months later I was a project lead.
2022 – 2024
CTO, property portal
From developer to CTO
Then came a startup, and after that the role of CTO with equity at a property portal. We built a property marketplace for a portal with over 400,000 visitors per month and took SaaS products to profitability. That’s where I learned to answer for the technology and the numbers at the same time.
Since 2024
Freelance AI Engineer
How I got into AI
Quite naturally. I first used AI for my own work and automated parts of it. At the same time, my clients asked less and less for classic web apps and more and more for AI. Today I build multi-agent systems in a large enterprise and knowledge assistants for organizations without their own IT department.
02 — Why I do this
Today I’m the partner I wish I’d had back then.
Back then
When I had my first product ideas, I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve as a business. Just not how to build it. I would have needed someone who speaks both languages: the language of business and the language of code.
Today
AI will make every company that uses it well faster. Those that don’t will struggle. I want the companies without their own tech team in particular to keep up – without using AI only because everyone else does.
03 — Stance
What I stand for.
Four rules I run every project by – in large enterprises and mid-sized companies alike.
- 01
Operation beats demo.
A demo is a start, not a result. A system is only done when your people use it every day.
- 02
No black box.
You always know what I’m working on, what it costs and where the risks are.
- 03
Ownership.
If something doesn’t work, it’s my problem until it does.
- 04
The problem decides, not the hype.
Sometimes the boring solution is the right one. If so, I’ll tell you.
04 — Away from work
Stuttgart, family, home office.
I live in Stuttgart with my wife and our son. My office is at home: simple, sometimes messy and always being rebuilt, because I’m a little obsessed with my workspace.
Start a project
Sounds like a fit?
Tell me in two or three sentences what it’s about. You’ll get an honest assessment within one business day – even if it says you don’t need AI at all.