Work with Christian
About
Hi, I'm Chris. I work with B2B software and AI founders from pre-seed through Series A. Most come to me with a decision they need to make: which customer to focus on, what belongs in the first product, or why a promising sales conversation isn't moving forward. I've been part of Silicon Valley's tech and AI scene for 20 years. I created SAP Connected Goods and led product work at Cognizant and Elevance Health. I've also mentored 500+ founders, including through Stanford GSB Ignite, Alchemist, and German Accelerator. Bring the real situation. We can work through customer feedback, a roadmap, your pitch, or a sales conversation you want to learn from. I'll ask questions, challenge assumptions where it helps, and tell you when I don't have the answer. The aim is to leave with a decision you can act on and a clear next step. First-time founders are welcome. You don't need a polished deck or all the right terminology. In your first message, tell me what you're building, who it's for, and the decision you'd like help with.
Christian also coaches for Startup Founders, AI & ML Engineering, Product Management, and AI for Product Development. View all.
Christian’s IT Management Qualifications
Coaches professionally
Experience level: Executive
I work with founders and first-time IT and security leaders at regulated companies, especially health tech and medical devices, on building IT that holds up to growth and scrutiny. Typical situations: an enterprise customer's security review is holding up a deal, you need a compliance roadmap (ISO 27001, HITRUST, NIST 800-53) you can actually fund, or day-to-day IT has outgrown the person who set it up. Bring the questionnaire, the audit finding, or the org chart, and we'll work out what to fix first. As Interim VP IT and Cybersecurity at Avails Medical, an in-vitro diagnostics medical device company, I ran day-to-day IT operations and built the cybersecurity and IT compliance program, including the roadmap and budget for ISO 27001, HITRUST, and NIST 800-53. That work gave Avails an auditable security architecture for health-system security reviews, which had been blocking sales. I hold the CISSP certification and have led product and engineering organizations at SAP, Cognizant, and Elevance Health.
Christian can help with:
IT Governance
IT Infrastructure Management
IT Security
IT Strategy
Why do I coach?
Building a company means making decisions before you have all the answers. I enjoy helping founders work through that uncertainty, especially when a good product idea needs a clearer customer or a more realistic first step. My role is to ask useful questions, share what I've learned from building products, and help you make your own decision.
Work Experience
VP Product, AI/ML Platform
Elevance Health
2020 - 2023
Engaged March 2020 to lead product for the AI/ML platform, converted to VP in April 2022. Led product direction and execution across healthcare AI initiatives, working with engineering and business leaders to turn technical capabilities into products for real clinical and operational needs.
Fractional CxO, Interim Executive & Strategic Advisor
Mulligan Valley Partners SP
September 2018 - Present
Advise founders and leadership teams on product direction, customer priorities, and go-to-market decisions. Work includes helping software businesses refine their US market-entry plans, sharpen their sales pitch, and turn product strategy into a practical roadmap.
AVP Global Product Practice, Head of Insight to Code
Cognizant
2017 - 2019
Built and scaled the Insight to Code product practice, combining customer research, product strategy, engineering delivery, and sales. Grew the practice to $10M ARR in ten months, with a $60M qualified pipeline.
Global Chief Product Owner & Creator, SAP Connected Goods
SAP
2012 - 2016
Created SAP Connected Goods, from the original customer problem and business case through product development and launch. Built the product organization and worked across engineering, sales, pricing, and partners to bring an enterprise product to market.
Education
Freie Universität Berlin
Bachelor of Science, Business Administration
Stanford University School of Medicine
Specialization Certificate, Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
Completed the AI in Healthcare Specialization in 2020 through Coursera. Coursework covered clinical data, machine learning for healthcare, and evaluating AI applications in healthcare.
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