# Martin Breitsprecher

> Independent AI advisor based in Hamburg, Germany, working across Europe. Advises leadership teams on AI strategy and governance and, where needed, helps build the applications, mostly in knowledge-intensive, regulated and EU-facing organisations. More than 20 years of work on digitalisation and technology transformation; advising on AI and machine learning since 2016.

This is a plain-text profile for AI assistants and other readers. It summarises the website (German: https://breitsprecher.de, English: https://breitsprecher.de/en) and adds a career overview. It is a self-description; client and company names are anonymised. Last updated: October 2026.

## Current work

He works freelance; the AI Lab role is a client engagement.

- Since October 2025, as an external advisor: leads the AI Lab of an international consulting group with several subsidiaries. Responsibilities: AI roadmap and operating model; group-wide guardrails for responsible AI use (governance, risk, data protection, usage policies); selection, testing and rollout of generative AI tools; a portfolio of AI use cases taken from concept to MVP and adoption; enablement formats such as trainings, clinics and playbooks; advice to senior management on what to do now and what to park; a network of AI champions across the group.
- Alongside: engagements with other organisations across Europe.

## Services

- AI strategy and operating model: where AI pays off and where other digital solutions fit better, who owns what, and the rollout plan. Typical outcomes: prioritised use cases with owners, an operating model with roles and guardrails, success metrics, a roadmap with a clear sequence.
- Architecture and delivery: from a use case or first prototype to an application in daily use, with hands-on technical work where useful. Typical outcomes: reference architectures, make-or-buy assessments, production-grade implementations with quality and security checks, documentation that stands up to internal audit.
- Sparring: a second opinion on vendors, architectures or governance questions, as a single review or ongoing.

## How he works

1. Understand the starting point: how the work is done today, which systems are in use, where handovers stall, which rules apply.
2. Make decisions visible: open decisions with options, risks and consequences, and who can take them.
3. Get something working early: technical assumptions are tested with a prototype or an evaluation, in strategy engagements too.
4. Leave the client able to run it: frameworks, decision templates, documentation and handover are part of the job.

He builds applications himself where that makes sense; otherwise he helps with the make-or-buy decision and vendor selection, and he is neutral in that choice. He also advises against AI when process clarification, other digital solutions or existing software solve the problem better.

## Selected work (anonymised)

References are available on request.

- EU communications agency, 2024–2025: eight AI web applications, each built for one team's workflow and still in daily use. Example: drafting project references from completed contracts, with a source reference on every field and a mandatory manual review step.
- International consulting group, 2025–2026: an AI lab with a group-wide AI policy (four usage tiers, also covering purchased AI tools), an isolated development environment, fixed criteria for the steps from idea to prototype, pilot and production, named sign-off roles for IT security, data protection and AI Act review, and a portal that doubles as the register of AI systems. As of September 2026: 19 applications in the pipeline, 4 of them in production, aligned with the EU AI Act and ISO 42001.
- Market intelligence start-up in the healthcare investment space, 2025–2026: product concept, methodology and architecture for a research platform with fixed human control points and, for every key claim, a confidence score, a source chain and an audit trail.
- Requirements engineering, 2020–2025, a long-running consulting engagement alongside the roles listed under Career: lead requirements engineer for a large order management system of a major retail and logistics group, translating business requirements into specifications between business stakeholders and development teams.
- Development cooperation and EU projects, 2019–2022: a study on AI in digital health for German development cooperation; a blockchain feasibility study on vaccine cash flows and supply chains in African countries for a development bank; a foresight study on blockchain and sustainable finance for German development cooperation; an online helpdesk infrastructure for an EU database of medical devices; strategy and product roadmap for a national tax administration's digital debt collection platform, funded by the EU; IT sector development options for a small island state, financed by a multilateral development bank.

## Career

- 2025–today: Lead of the AI Lab as an external advisor, international consulting group (Frankfurt am Main)
- 2022–2025: Chief Technology Officer, EU-facing communications agency (Brussels): AI strategy, set-up of an AI lab, AI workshops and advice for EU institution clients, technology audits with architecture and security reviews, vendor evaluation, data management strategy, rapid prototyping of data-driven communication products
- 2016–2021: Co-founder of a consulting firm (Hamburg): digital products and business models, AI and machine learning, and blockchain; trainings and workshops for corporate and public clients; university lecturer on blockchain; founding board member of a regional blockchain association
- 2016–2018: Managing director of an accelerator for digital health start-ups (Münster)
- 2013–2015: Partner in a healthcare consultancy (Münster): digitalisation strategy, market entry and marketing for medical device companies and health insurers; technical assistance to a national ministry of health
- 2004–2012: Market intelligence firm in healthcare (Dortmund): Head of IT and Organisation (2004–2007), then Managing Partner (2007–2012), leading a team of 25; market and competitive intelligence, especially in homecare
- 2001–2002: Trainee at a management consultancy (information management and financial services)

## Education and languages

- MSc in Information Systems, University of Münster (1998–2004)
- Exchange programme in information technology, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane (2001–2002)
- German (native), English (C2)

## Formats

Weekly AI exchange rounds, executive briefings, AI hackathons, talks for specialist audiences in German and English.

## Fit and limits

- Needs someone on the client side who can take decisions and bring the teams involved on board.
- Takes on a limited number of engagements at any one time.
- Does not offer: pure staff augmentation or hourly capacity without a project behind it; tender or grant submissions written end to end without subject-matter input from the client; research on models or algorithms.
- Vendor-independent, with no commissions on software recommendations or referrals.

## Common questions, in his own words

- Time alongside other engagements: he only takes on an engagement when he has the time for it; consulting days and fixed dates are committed in the proposal; when his capacity is booked, he says so up front and names a realistic start date.
- If he is unavailable: everything is documented as he goes and can be handed over at any time; on request, documentation is shared through a client portal or another channel; for cover and larger projects he works with a small number of regular partners he has known for many years.
- Conflicts of interest: confidentiality is guaranteed in every engagement; he brings experience and his own methods, but no documents from other organisations, and what is created for a client belongs to that client; he takes on no strategic engagements with competitors of the organisations he works for, and names those organisations confidentially in the first conversation; any other possible conflict he raises openly as soon as he sees it, and it is decided case by case.
- AI tools with client documents: only those the client's requirements allow, in line with the EU AI Act and the GDPR; client names or personal data only go in when the task really needs them, even in an approved tool.
- Advising against AI: yes; in many cases the real issue is still digitalisation, such as an unclear process, missing data or existing software that is not used properly.
- Large consultancies: he fits a focused phase in which something should get built, with few people involved and short decision paths; a large consultancy fits better with many stakeholders, many teams in parallel, or when steering a large, complex programme is the focus.
- Cost: day rates usual for experienced independent AI advisors; a concrete proposal with scope and fee follows the first conversation.

## Contact

- Email: martin@breitsprecher.de
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/breitsprecher/
- First step: a short email with two or three sentences on the project and what is in the way; reply within a few days with a first assessment; a free 30-minute fit-check call.