About

Builder, leader, strategist.

I'm Christian Puell — a Hamburg-based CTO and AI Strategist who has spent the last 13+ years building, leading, and shipping software across enterprise, startup, and independent project work.

The short version

I work at the intersection of strategy and execution. Most of my engagements look the same: a team needs to ship something ambitious, or a business needs to rethink how it uses technology — and someone has to take responsibility for both the plan and the code.

That's the role I take on. Sometimes as an interim CTO, sometimes as an AI Director, sometimes as a hands-on project consultant. The constant: I build, I lead, and I leave teams better than I found them.

Where I focus

AI Strategy

Translating AI from buzzword to operating model. I help teams pick the right problems, integrate LLMs into their stack, and build the muscle to ship AI-powered features sustainably.

Technology Leadership

Interim CTO/CIO/AI Director engagements. I step into engineering organizations, set technical direction, build teams, and leave behind processes that scale beyond me.

Product Engineering

End-to-end product development from idea to App Store. Mobile (Flutter, iOS, Android), web (Next.js, React), backend (Node.js, NestJS), and cloud-native architectures.

How I work

I default to small, senior teams and short feedback loops. I lean on AI tooling heavily — not as a gimmick, but because it changes the economics of what one focused team can deliver.

I document as I go, share work in public when I can, and prefer to ship something simple this week over something perfect next quarter.

Want to talk?

Whether it's an AI strategy review, an interim leadership engagement, or a product to build — reach out.

Christian Puell - CTO & AI Strategist