Curriculum Vitae

Professional summary

Content expert and innovation specialist. 25+ years of experience across journalism, agencies, and in-house media — most recently as Head of Digital Media & AI at AOK Medien, the in-house agency of Germany’s largest health insurer (around 27 million insured). Certified AI Manager (IHK) who designed and executed AOK Medien’s company-wide AI strategy, combining strategic vision with hands-on practice in prompt engineering, generative AI, and agentic-AI workflows. A former journalist with a customer-focused approach to content innovation across regulated, high-trust environments and international markets and clients.

Core skills

• AI strategy
• Generative AI
• Agentic AI
• Prompt engineering
• Content strategy
• Digital product development
• Workshop facilitation
• Business Model Canvas
• Cross-functional team leadership
• Team management
• Stakeholder management
• Project management
• Agency management
• Employer branding
• Communication strategy
• Change management
• Content innovation
• Multilingual content (NL/DE/EN)

Professional experience

Head of Digital Media & AI — AOK Medien (formerly AOK Verlag), Berlin, Germany
2024 – present

• Lead cross-location team of nine across two German offices, delivering digital products including websites, apps, and eLearnings for AOK, Germany’s largest health insurer (around 27 million insured).
• Designed and executed the organisation’s first company-wide AI strategy, defining priorities, use cases, governance principles, and a roadmap from pilot to scaled adoption.
• Built and led the AI project team responsible for piloting generative-AI tools in editorial and production workflows, prioritising content quality, accuracy, and responsible use in a regulated healthcare context.
• Act as senior advisor to stakeholders across editorial, product, marketing, and legal on practical applications of AI.

Freelance Account Director and Consultant — Independent, Berlin, Germany
2021 – 2023

• Led agency teams on projects with budgets above €500,000 for clients including the European Union, UEFA, Samsung, and Volkswagen, working for agencies such as Scholz & Friends, C3, and shanghai.berlin.
• Delivered a TV commercial for the EU and UEFA that reached around 500 million viewers during Champions League half-time breaks across the 2021/2022 season.
• Led the pitch and production for a €500,000 B2B animation video for Samsung, integrated on a security-products landing page.
• Advised media organisations including TAZ (newspaper) and Looks Film (documentaries) on innovation and business strategy.

Senior Account Manager — C3 (content marketing agency), Berlin, Germany
2019 – 2020

• Led content marketing projects for Deutsche Bank and Volkswagen.
• Facilitated online and offline workshops on brand positioning and communication strategy for an energy-sector client, and developed market-entry strategy decks.

Freelance Senior Account Manager — Looping Studios for Mercedes-Benz, Berlin, Germany
2018

• Project lead on three seven-day international video shoots in the USA, Germany, and Spain (around €500,000 budget each).
• Output: long-form YouTube films averaging 500,000 views, plus dozens of social media assets.

Co-Owner and Consultant — Neue Signale (digital transformation agency), Berlin, Germany
2016 – 2018

• Co-founded and led the agency. Designed and facilitated strategy workshops and supported strategy implementation.
• Brought a B2B-sales client back to profitability and doubled the profit margin for a production-industry client.

Account Manager — TLGG (social media agency), Berlin, Germany
2013 – 2015

• Client lead for Netflix (DACH region) and MLP Financial Services.
• Led project teams responsible for social media strategy, execution, and client workshops.

Project Manager — Creative Construction, Berlin, Germany
2012 – 2013

• Managed external development teams for websites and apps; launches included Twisper (travel app) and MyTrauRingStore.de.

Owner — Pixels en Komma’s (editorial transformation consultancy), Utrecht, Netherlands
2010 – 2012

• Restructured editorial workflows at a regional broadcaster towards online-first, doubling year-on-year visitor numbers.
• Lecturer at the Academy for Journalism.

Online Editor-in-Chief and Internet Editor — de Volkskrant (national quality newspaper), Amsterdam, Netherlands
2007 – 2010

• Created and executed a digital strategy that delivered 20 percent year-on-year visitor growth.
• Responsible for thematic websites and apps (arts, wellness, travel).

Reporter — BN/DeStem (regional newspaper), Breda, Netherlands
1998 – 2007

• Long-form reporter for the weekend magazine.
• Football reporter for three seasons.

Education

• Bachelor of Journalism — Academy for Journalism, Tilburg, Netherlands. Specialisation: magazine production. Traineeships at BN/DeStem and Amnesty International (Antwerp).
• Bachelor of Business Economics — University of Economics, Den Bosch, Netherlands.

Certifications

• AI Manager (IHK-certified, 2024) — Chamber of Commerce, Cologne, Germany. Six-day programme covering AI technologies, organisational implementation, and AI-enabled business models.
• License to Lead (2025) — Proaktiv Management, Hamburg, Germany. Eight-day leadership programme.

Publications and speaking

Disfluency — LinkedIn newsletter on marketing, content, and innovation.

Books: The World’s a Little Blurry: Technology in the AI Era (2025); Unusually Normal: The Union Berlin Story (Staantribune, 2023); The Long Road to Medellín (2021); German-Dutch Football Glossary (Staantribune, 2020); 101 Days in Central America (2020); Hourglass (novel, 2010).

Keynotes: Twelve Misconceptions About Digital Transformation (Berlin Cloud Conference, 2016); Kill Your Own Business Model (Chamber of Commerce Berlin, 2017); New Deal on Data (Unicorns in Tech and Ignite Berlin, 2017).

Languages

• Dutch (native, C2)
• German (fluent, C1)
• English (fluent, C1)
• French (basic, A2)
• Spanish (basic, A2)

Selected project detail (earlier work)

Optional deep-dives — collapsed by default, so the CV reads exactly as the PDF unless you expand them.

Lowlove — unofficial Lowlands festival platform (2009–2015)

Started with a tweet about the unusable official site of the Netherlands’ biggest music festival. Together with two Twitter friends I launched Lowlove, a volunteer-run project: a proper website built in three months plus a social-media campaign for reach. It grew into a team of around fifteen volunteers, with offline-capable mobile apps added from 2011. My role: organising and planning all activities and setting the strategy.

Patient Stories — de Volkskrant (2011–2012)

The science desk regularly published stories about incurable and chronic diseases, and readers wanted to know how those patients were doing afterwards. Inspired by the New York Times’ “Patient Voices,” we built audio slideshows, an in-depth information section, and a blog for health updates. I ran project management, keeping designers, developers, and editors aligned.

Online-first change management — Omroep Brabant (2011–2012)

Goal: make the website, not TV or radio, the first place journalists publish. I guided the change process on the newsroom floor and advised the editor-in-chief on the organisational changes needed to make online-first stick.

PDF version

Download CV (English, PDF)