Dr. Maik Wurdel

Dr. Maik Wurdel

Technology Leader  ·  Data Platform  ·  Data as a Product  ·  Digital Twin  ·  Agentic Engineering

Engineering leader with a builder's instinct and an executive's perspective. Over two decades progressing from software engineering through product management to leading large-scale technology organisations.

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Profile

Currently responsible for 70+ engineers, architects and product managers at Kuehne+Nagel, overseeing a multi-million euro annual budget across six teams. Co-founder of the KN New IT Ecosystem (KNITE) and architect of KN's Data as a Product operating model — from concept to production at enterprise scale. Drawn to roles where technology has a genuine seat at the strategy table.

Skills & Technologies

Core Competencies

Engineering Leadership Data Platform Strategy Data as a Product / Mesh Event-Driven Architecture Enterprise Architecture Digital Twin Agentic Engineering Organisational Design Vendor Management Product Management

Technologies

Snowflake Data Mesh dbt Confluent Kafka Event Streaming AWS Microservices CI/CD LeanIX EA Governance Java DevOps

Languages

German – Native English – Fluent

Professional Experience

Product Group Lead – Data Platform + Stores

Jan 2024 – Present
Kuehne+Nagel · Hamburg, Germany
  • 70+ engineers, architects & PMs across six teams; three layers of leadership; multi-million euro annual budget.
  • Scaled enterprise data platform on Snowflake — organisation-wide data access, accelerating KN's Data Mesh adoption.
  • Owned enterprise messaging & integration infrastructure (event-driven backbone across KN's global application landscape).
  • Delivered KN Shipment Store and two further data products — decoupling app dependencies and enabling self-serve data access at scale.
  • Launched dedicated Enablement Team driving Data as a Product adoption broadly.
  • Oversaw KN Digital Twin initiative, bridging operational and analytical data use cases.
  • Managed extensive vendor ecosystem: software products, consulting & staffing partners.

IT Product Lead – Message + Event Platform & Data Platform Strategy

Sep 2022 – Jan 2024
Kuehne+Nagel · Hamburg, Germany
  • Dual responsibility: KN messaging/event platform + strategic direction of data platform.
  • Defined Data as a Product strategy and laid architectural foundation for KN Data Mesh.
  • Converged messaging infrastructure and data platform to enable real-time, event-driven data products.

IT Product Lead – Message + Event Platform

Sep 2021 – Oct 2022
Kuehne+Nagel · Hamburg, Germany
  • Owned enterprise messaging & event platform for reliable, scalable global data exchange.
  • Established product management practices for critical multi-domain integration infrastructure.
  • Aligned platform evolution with emerging KNITE architecture.

Lead Enterprise Architect

Oct 2019 – Aug 2021
Kuehne+Nagel · Hamburg, Germany
  • Mapped 400+ systems across Sea, Air & Road using LeanIX — driving consolidation and unlocking cost savings.
  • Designed and implemented KN's Make/Buy/Use software selection process.
  • Built and launched Confluent Kafka as KN's enterprise integration platform on AWS (team setup, vendor selection, governance).
  • Co-founded KN New IT Ecosystem (KNITE) — foundational architectural shift in KN's connectivity and data access strategy.

Lead Software Architect

May 2015 – Sep 2019
EOS Gruppe · Greater Hamburg Area
  • Mandated to analyse and replace a large heterogeneous legacy core system — delivered full replacement over four years.
  • Executive architecture analysis (static code analysis) led to board decision to rebuild rather than maintain.
  • Designed conception phase: macro/micro architecture, 3 feature teams, scaled Scrum, CI/CD — within €500k budget.
  • Led Project FX end-to-end: 75 people, 40 microservices, €1M/month burn rate; MVP delivered on time and within budget.
  • Disciplinary leadership of 8 direct reports; technical leadership of 16 engineers.

Consultant

2010 – 2015
iteratec GmbH · Germany
  • Delivered client projects across roles as consultant, software engineer, architect, and project lead — including reference architecture design, coding guidelines, test automation, and quality reviews.
  • Led development of a complex certification management tool for wind turbines, integrating Documentum and Adobe systems and handling multi-terabyte document volumes.
  • Designed and delivered a 5-day Java/Spring/JPA training for 12 participants in the medical technology sector.
  • Contributed to pre-sales activities including solution design, effort estimation, and proposal presentations for projects up to €300k.

Public Speaking

2025Snowflake World TourSnowflake as Key to Kühne + Nagel's Data Mesh
2025DataFestivalRethinking Data Accessibility: The Data Mesh Journey of Kühne+Nagel
2024AWS Summit BerlinRethinking Data Accessibility: Data Mesh meets Enterprise Integration
2024Hamburger IT-StrategietageRethinking Connectivity and Data Access at Kuehne+Nagel
2019Otto Group Tech ConferenceKeynote on Otto Group Tech Strategy
2019SeaconPrivacy by Design im Projekt FX – DSGVO und nun?
2018SeaconEleven Lessons Learned aus einem agilen Großprojekt bei EOS
2017Software Engineering LiveArchitektur und Visualisierung: Ablösung oder Weiterentwicklung eines Legacy-Systems?
2016Code TalksArchitekturvisualisierung mit D3

Lectures

2024TH BrandenburgCloud-native IT: Gastvorlesung an der TH Brandenburg
2023TH BrandenburgCloud-native IT: Gastvorlesung an der TH Brandenburg

Publications

Knite Data: Revamping the Ways of Working with Data Medium

Education

Dr.-Ing. (PhD)
Universität Rostock
2006 – 2010
Diplom-Ingenieur (M.Sc.)
Computer Science
Universität Rostock
2001 – 2006

Contact

Greater Hamburg Area

Email
linkedin@wurdel.org
LinkedIn
maik-wurdel
Twitter / X
@MWurdel