Ruwen Wichelhaus

Shaping the future of work with AI – for 22,000+ people. I own the AI agenda at LWL, one of Germany's largest public-sector organizations. Based in the central Digital Transformation Unit, reporting directly into the Executive Office, I'm the person where all AI threads come together. Strategy • Co-own LWL's enterprise AI strategy and drive strategic decision-making at executive level • Steer external consulting partners supporting our AI transformation Product • Product Owner for AI across the organization – from AI assistant systems in daily use to the enterprise AI platform currently in the making • Ensure AI translates into real value: prioritizing use cases by impact, not hype People • Work closely with leadership and teams across all business areas to turn AI capabilities into new ways of working • Bridge between business, IT, data protection, and executive leadership

Co-founded Ridr, a multi-sided last-mile logistics platform. • Took the product from concept to MVP, leading product development and operations • Raised six-figure pre-seed funding • Navigated the search for product-market fit in a challenging VC environment – ultimately deciding to wind down, with lessons I apply daily as a product leader

Partner at a Berlin-based e-commerce agency specializing in Shopify. • Designed and built Shopify stores for D2C brands and scale-ups • Delivered projects for Rocket Internet portfolio companies and clients like ooia, Lyght Living, and Black Rock Mobile (a Hama company) • Owned client relationships, project delivery, and product decisions end-to-end

Founded my first company straight out of university – a price comparison platform. • Built and launched a working product with zero prior startup experience • Learned the hard way what it takes to fund and scale a company – the foundation for everything that came after

Competence Center Finance. From apprenticeship to system engineering to IT consulting for financial-sector clients – 5 years of growth in enterprise IT.