I am a CTO and software architect with over 15 years in .NET, enterprise integration, and process automation. Since 2017 I lead the technical side of Maranics, a maritime operations platform, where my work covers everything from platform architecture and API design to AI features like workflow generation, RAG retrieval, and edge deployments on vessels. I also run IT Consulting Willmer, where I help SMEs with software architecture, infrastructure, and practical AI adoption — including production-grade data cleaning and search quality pipelines for RAG systems. In my spare time I contribute to open-source projects and write about the things I learn.
Selected Highlights
- CTO and Managing Partner at Maranics since 2017. Built and grew a digital operations platform running on 150 vessels across major cruise lines, RoRo, and other vessel types, with over 28,000 checklists completed per month, averaging 365 per vessel (as of May 2026).
- Introduced AI features including workflow generation, workflow memory, RAG retrieval, vector reranking, edge AI evaluation, and voice-driven hands-free operation.
- Run IT Consulting Willmer since 2014, consulting on software architecture, infrastructure, process digitalization, and AI adoption for SMEs. Built a production email RAG system with a full data cleaning and search quality pipeline for the maritime industry.
- Active in open source (AI Status, Jekyll themes, Home Assistant cards, IoT, Linux utilities) and technical writing.
- Technical strategy, Product architecture, Team leadership
- C#, .NET, ASP.NET MVC, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3
- CI/CD with Kubernetes, Docker, Helm and Ansible
- AI integration, RAG, NLP data pipelines, Vector search, Cross-encoder reranking, Edge AI, Workflow automation
- API design, Web Services, Dynamics CRM, Office 365, SharePoint
- Linux server administration, monitoring and support
- Hardware Prototyping, Arduino, IoT, 3D Printing
Education
- 2009 - 2012
-
DHBW Stuttgart
BSc in Applied Computer Science
Employment History
01.2018 - present
01.2018 - present
Owner / Consultant
IT Consulting Willmer (Germany)- Software architecture, custom development, and process optimization for small and mid-size businesses
- Network and infrastructure planning, setup, and maintenance
- Built a production email RAG system for the maritime industry: ingest pipeline (tiered parsing, contextual embeddings, embedding mode classification) and search pipeline (hybrid search, cross-encoder reranking, validated citations, graceful degradation)
- Built AI agents that digitize documents into checklists, assist users daily, and analyze operational data
- Writing and publishing on topics like cloud vs. on-prem trade-offs, workflow automation, and practical AI adoption
12.2017 - present
12.2017 - present
Chief Technology Officer (CTO) / Managing Partner
Maranics (Sweden)- Responsible for technical strategy, architecture, and development of a digital operations platform for maritime workflows
- Built event-driven workflows, configurable data lists, APIs, deployment automation, and offline-ready vessel installations
- Introduced AI features: workflow generation, contextual workflow memory, RAG retrieval, vector reranking, edge AI for vessels, and voice-first interaction
- Grew the platform from 60+ vessels (April 2025) to 150 live vessels (May 2026) across major cruise lines, RoRo, and other vessel types, with over 28,000 digital checklists completed per month
- Connected human input with machine and sensor data to give operational context to every checklist
- Designed and built an internal serverless automation platform (Python FaaS) with AI-powered code generation, git-backed deployments, edge/cloud sync, multi-tenant isolation, and MCP integration for external AI agents
01.2016 - 11.2017
01.2016 - 11.2017
Chief Information Officer (CIO)
Sweoffshore Maritime AB (Sweden)- Development Manager
- Software architecture and development coordination
- Sales engineer
- Head of IT
11.2014 - 12.2015
11.2014 - 12.2015
Self-employed / owner
IT Consulting Willmer (Latvia)- Developer for Dynamics CRM in C# and JavaScript
- Developing Web applications with JavaScript and C#
- Remote work for a German company
- Developing small applications in C# and JavaScript for local Customers
06.2013 - 11.2014
06.2013 - 11.2014
.NET Developer
Infoman AG (Germany)- Developer for Dynamics CRM (2011 & Online) Plugins in C#
- Developer for JavaScript extensions
- Making proof of concept and demo applications in C#, XAML and JavaScript
- Main Developer for WPF/XAML Dynamics CRM client system
- All products there developed agile with a customized Scrum framework
09.2012 - 06.2013
09.2012 - 06.2013
.NET Developer
SPIRIT/21 AG (Germany)- Lead frontend developer on all projects with ASP.NET MVC
- Lead developer for Windows 8 Apps
- Developing design prototypes for different projects
- Reviewing code from other developers
- Support and help students understanding C# and the .NET framework
10.2009 - 09.2012
10.2009 - 09.2012
Student (dual programme of study)
SPIRIT/21 AG (Germany)- Learned to install and configure a SharePoint Server 2007 and all the necessary components
- Developed WebParts for SharePoint Server 2007/2010/Online in C#, HTML and Silverlight
- Worked on client projects from the beginning on
- Archived profound knowledge in C# and the Windows technology stack
Project History
Maritime operations platform
- Architecture, design and development of a digital operations platform for the maritime industry, supporting digital checklists, event-driven workflows, and contextual data capture.
- AI integration including workflow-generation assistants, workflow memory, RAG retrieval, vector reranking, and edge AI evaluation for offline vessel deployments.
- API ecosystem design, deployment automation, and offline-ready vessel installations scaling to 150+ live vessels.
Email RAG pipeline
- Built a production data cleaning and ingest pipeline that processes 6,000+ maritime emails with attachments (PDF, Office, images, ZIPs) into a searchable knowledge base with contextual embeddings, tiered parsing (28-42% cost reduction), and embedding mode classification.
- Designed the search and response pipeline with intent classification, topic-based filtering, hybrid vector + BM25 search, cross-encoder reranking (20-35% accuracy improvement), validated citations with source document viewer, and graceful degradation at every stage.
- 31 automated validation checks, targeted repair commands (archive cleanup, selective re-ingest, re-embedding), processing trail for full provenance tracking, and idempotent storage via content-addressable IDs.
Internal serverless automation platform
- Sole developer of an internal Python FaaS platform that lets teams deploy automations as REST endpoints, cron jobs, or message consumers with git as source of truth.
- Built-in AI agent (Claude-powered) that creates, debugs, and deploys automations using TDD. External AI agents connect via a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server.
- Edge/cloud architecture with headless vessel instances, encrypted vault sync, circuit breaker patterns, and deployment staging for safe rollouts.
- Multi-tenant isolation with per-automation virtual environments, GDPR-safe audit logging, and automated secret redaction.
Maritime app collection
- Internal and external customer requirement analysis.
- I was responsible for the architecture, design and development of single purpose apps for the maritime industry.
- Management of 2 remote development teams as product owner and trainer.
- I was responsible for the design and the transition of the internal IT towards the cloud.
Mobile Websites
- I was building a survey app for a company in the offshore industry to get immediate customer feedback of the food quality and cleaning services.
- My solution was to build a customizable website what could be used for different questions and run on any device.
- To minimize the traffic, I build all logic in JavaScript and only send the customer feedback to an SQL Server in the Azure cloud.
CRM Bulk Edit POC
- We build a proof of concept console application that can export CRM records into an excel file and could also import the extracted excel file back to CRM. The data that should be exported could be specified by customizing the configuration file. The customer demand was that a user wants to export some CRM data into an excel file to use the Excel tools to be faster in editing multiple records at once.
- I concentrated on the data to excel conversion and vice versa.
Dynamics CRM 2013
- For a large company in the automobile industry I help to develop plugins and extensions for their Dynamics CRM system. We also maintaining and extending the CRM system for one of the largest manufacturers of cleaning equipment.
- We are working in a team of 12 and outsourcing work to 6 additional developers.
- I helped inventing a new JavaScript framework that optimizes the development process for CRM what will now be used by the whole company.
Dynamics CRM 2011
- For one of the largest manufacturers of cleaning equipment I help to develop plugins and extensions for their Dynamics CRM system.
- I try to optimize the development process in this team, based on my experience I obtained during my last projects. I also work on improving the output quality and quantity of the code.
Proof of Concept & Demo systems
- Occasionally I helped in the sales department with building demo systems and proof of concepts.
- Among other things I build a plugin that syncs SharePoint and CRM data, worked on a proof of concept with Google Glass, made two Windows 8 apps ֠one in C#/XAML the other one in JavaScript/CSS and a windows phone application.
Dynamics CRM 2011
- In this project, I developed extensions and plugins for an existing CRM solution for the leader in medical and safety technology.
- Apart from modifying the CRM system, I was the main developer for the client system. A WPF/XAML workflow application that syncs with Dynamics CRM.
Office 365 Connector
- In this project, I developed a WCF Service, which connects to Office 365 and manages the user roles, rights and licenses. To execute the actions, I used PowerShell scripts.
NopCommerce
- For a client, I had to modify the open source e-commerce platform NopCommerce. I have created additional plugins and widgets and changed the look and feel.
- In this project, I learned to orientate myself in a big and unfamiliar project.
Visitor Management Plug-In
- We developed a visitor management plugin for Outlook that helps optimizing the workflow of the reception. I was responsible for getting information out of Active Directory, writing information back and validating the input. I also was responsible for code reviews.
Mobility Dashboard
- In this project, we built a portal site, which was connected to different mobile device management solutions. The purpose was to manage all mobile devices from one portal and create extensible reports. My role was to build the frontend of the portal and connect to the service layer. I chose ASP.NET MVC 4 for the frontend and used LESS for styling. I also worked on jQuery extensions to provide more functionality for the end-user and helped fixing issues in the backend. When the backend developers where behind time slot I helped developing SQL-Queries.
Windows 8 Market App
- In my spare time, I built a Windows 8 market app that connects to SharePoint Online and displays recent news from different sites. The user can subscribe or unsubscribe to announcement lists. He can also categorize the news with different colors. The login to SharePoint Online works also with single sign-on and if the device isn't in the company domain the user can sign-in with a username and password.
- This app was the first app that provided a solution to connect to a SharePoint Online with an Active Directory Federation Service (ADFS) in front.
- I have sold a customized version of this app
University Dashboard
- For my seminar paper, I had to develop a dashboard for the intranet of the campus. I wrote the dashboard in ASP.NET MVC. It displays a variety of information depending on the current user. I used the exchange services to display mail quotas, actual size of the mailbox and the latest mails of the current user. I used Secure Shell (SSH) to get access to a Linux file server and display the users free disk space. And I connected to the print service to get the remaining print quota of the student.
Kinect PowerPoint Plug-In
- For presentation purposes, we developed a plugin that lets the moderator switch the slides with gestures. For the gesture detection, we wrote a framework in C# to quickly add new gestures.
Portfolio-Creator
- For my bachelor thesis, I developed a portfolio creator prototype in Silverlight that runs on SharePoint Online. The tools purpose was to deliver standardized files for a portfolio app that was designed for iOS.
Conception of a Portfolio-App for iOS
- Together with an external partner I made a concept of a portfolio app for both iOS and Windows 8. The first part of the app should reuse existing portfolios, help to organize them and give them a similar corporate design. The second part was to provide a tagging mechanism to quickly find needed information and create new portfolios from existing material. We used Scrum, with me being the product owner.
Web based plagiarism detection system
- This project was for the university. My colleagues and I developed a web based system to detect plagiarism in uploaded files. I was elected project manager and had to make the project planning and controlling. I used Scrum for the developing process. Also, I had to keep track of the progress and the working hours of the project members.
SharePoint XML-Migration Tool
- This tool had the purpose to migrate old InfoPath documents to a SharePoint Server by parsing the XML and editing fields that are specified by a template to provide the document functionality on the server.
SharePoint Dashboard-Web Part
- I built a SharePoint 2010 web part in Silverlight with animated tiles that could be configured to link to highlighted topics.
Active Directory Scanner
- In this project, I had to analyze the Active Directory (AD) and build a program that scans the AD very quickly. The UI had to display the structure of the AD, let the user navigate in the tree and follow group permission links.
C++ Jugend Forscht Projects
- Building a differential thermal analysis device that is controlled by a proportional-integral-derivative controller (PID controller). Winner in technology of the Jugend-Forscht competition (Region Baden-Württemberg/2006).
- Developing a camera based program to land an (model) helicopter. The program had to analyze the images provided by the camera, find the helicopter and send the helicopter new instructions based on the last known and the current position. Third place in technology of the Jugend-Forscht competition (Region Baden-Württemberg/2008).