Bosse Küllenberg

Profile

Proven three times over in leading organizations through fundamental technology shifts — from the digital transformation of traditional companies to building an enterprise AI platform with 150+ GenAI applications in production. Entrepreneurial DNA from four founded companies, international leadership experience — several of those years operating out of New York, and a recognized thought leader in agentic AI. Reporting directly to owners and managing shareholders for more than a decade. What the market now calls forward deployed engineering has long been practice in this career: leading embedded inside the company, delivering in production, staying close to the code. Nominated CIO of the Decade (2020).

AI transformation with P&L judgment: decided at ownership level, built with the teams, measured by results.

Mandates & Focus

Advisory & Board Work

Board and advisory work on technology and AI — sparring partner to ownership circles and executive teams.

AI Value Creation — Private Equity & Family Offices

AI-driven value creation in portfolio companies: from the first-100-days agenda to a productive agentic platform.

Interim & Executive Mandates

C-level on demand (CTO · CIO · CDO): leading transformation, building teams, delivering — forward deployed, up to building dedicated forward deployed engineering (FDE) functions.

Technology Due Diligence

Tech and AI readiness assessments for investments, succession and carve-outs.

Presented as a startup and on stage: one of the festival's most innovative agentic AI platforms. Career data as a sovereign data layer — EU-first, with security and governance built into the foundation.

How the Agentic Commerce Protocol changes the value of data and partnerships — and why affiliate can become a cornerstone of the conversational economy.

Orderly handover after three years of transformation: responsibilities passed to CEO and CFO once the strategic and organizational phase of the technology rebuild was complete — with continued advisory support.

Career

since 2023

pilot Agency Group

Group CTO — Managing Director Technology, Operations & Creation

One of Germany's largest owner-managed media agency networks. Approx. 600 employees, 8 locations. Remit: technology, operations, creation and BI/big data — around 60 people in his line, reporting directly to the managing shareholder.

Enterprise AI platform (pilotAI): sovereign LLM infrastructure with 150+ GenAI use cases in production
Agentic services architecture: multi-agent framework; BVDW/ARIC best practice
Cloud-native data fabric on Kubernetes; significant reduction in campaign turnaround and data preparation times
Createch Labs: first AI-augmented campaign with measurable brand impact uplift
Hyperautomation: numerous end-to-end workflows with substantial efficiency gains

2019 – 2022

ETERNA Mode GmbH

CTO — Member of the Executive Board

Shirt and blouse specialist, heritage company est. 1863, approx. 1,100 employees internationally. First CTO in the company's history, reporting directly to the managing shareholder.

Pandemic crisis management: navigated the lockdown slump in business wear — and used the crisis as an investment phase; first German StaRUG restructuring
Complete technology rebuild: new ERP platform (8-figure budget) and end-to-end process automation
E-commerce replatforming on modern shop systems, dynamic pricing and dynamic replenishment
Salesforce marketing automation; new sub-brands and sustainability lines with dedicated online shops

2017 – 2019

Sparq Corp., New York / Hamburg

CDO — Chief Digital Officer

Blockchain-based ticketing platform headquartered in New York — led from there. ML/predictive analytics. Parallel mandate alongside Youpooly.

2015 – 2018

Youpooly Corp., New York / Hamburg

CDO — Chief Digital Officer

Offices in Germany and the US, led primarily out of the New York headquarters — transatlantic teams, commuting between NYC and Hamburg. Cloud microservices. Run in parallel with the Sparq mandate from 2017.

2014

SYZYGY Deutschland GmbH

Executive Creative Director (interim)

Interim creative lead for the Frankfurt office. As ECD, won the international pitch for BMW Motorcycles worldwide for the group.

2012 – 2013

Brand University of Applied Sciences

Lecturer — Digital Branding

Teaching appointment alongside the management role at Heye/DDB: digital branding strategies, social media, performance measurement of interactive media, SEO/SMO.

2008 – 2014

Heye Digital Lab / DDB Germany (Omnicom)

Director Digital & Member of the Management Board

Digital agency incubator. Transformation of Heye & Partner. Clients: J&J, McDonald's, Mont Blanc, Sixt.

2005 – 2009

Heye & Partner / DDB Worldwide

Digital Creative Director, Member of the Management Board

2002 – 2008

spielplatz.cc Gruppe

Co-founder & Managing Partner

One of Europe's first mobile marketing agencies — founded when brands were just discovering the phone. Offices in Hamburg, Munich, Vienna and Innsbruck; associated partner of Tribal DDB (Omnicom Worldwide). Clients included Coca-Cola Switzerland (full brand portfolio), Raiffeisen Bank and Swarovski.

1997 – 2002

Early Career

Elephant Seven (Mercedes, Coca-Cola) · HIEL · BBDO (BMW X5) · Freelance journalist (SZ) · Co-founder Dreamfactory

Voices

“As CTO, he leads the technological direction of the pilot group with a strong focus on transformation, organizational maturity and long-term impact. Our collaboration was defined by mutual trust and a shared commitment to turning strategic direction into robust technical and operational reality.”

Dr. Axel Klingmann · Head of Product · 2025

“I was consistently impressed by his ability to stay ahead of the curve when it came to emerging technologies. Bosse has a deep understanding of the latest technological advancements, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, and more.”

Tobias Endl · Technology Executive · 2023

“The sort of very rare person with whom you can go for a brainstorming session over lunch to come back with an industry-influencing, client- and award-winning idea building on technology.”

Andreas Andresen · Associate Partner, IBM Consulting · 2015

“The only talent you need to be truly creative is originality. If you’re searching for someone who’s able to think outside of the box — and if you really mean it — then Bosse is it. Listen to him.”

Mathias Jahn · Creative Director · 2014

From the LinkedIn recommendations — complete and unedited there.

Publications

AI Transformation in the German Mittelstand
Book project · publishing late 2026

2026
RPA: Wie Bots die Prozessautomatisierung revolutionieren
Digitalbusiness Magazin · Feature article

2025
KI in der Medienwirtschaft 2025
RTR study · Expert contribution on AI orchestration

2025
Leitfaden – KI Playbook – Künstliche Intelligenz nutzen, aber richtig
BVDW · 48 pages

2024
BVDW Results Report 2024 – Digitale Wirtschaft in Deutschland. Für Europa.
BVDW Report No. 29 · AI contributor

2024
Digitalisierung im Mittelstand — chapter: Target picture of a transformative tech stack
Springer/Gabler · Co-author

2020
Brand's New Toy
Redline Verlag · 326 pages · Translated internationally

2009
Leitfaden Online Marketing
Co-author · 853 pages

2008
Chronisch Digital — KI & AI Readiness
BVDW podcast · Guest

Podcast

Cited as a subject-matter author on Mobile Marketing (Wikipedia)