AI leadership · Profile
AI leadership: owning AI, from a global corporation to my own product
Paul Kruegel (Paul Krügel in German) from Vienna owns AI where leadership and engineering meet. He has been taking AI products to market since 2016: in global communications for the first AI product of Siemens Healthineers, today as Head of AI Acceleration & Growth at AI Factory Austria and as founder of FieldProFlow, built with AI agents.
In numbers
| AI products in the market | since 2016 |
|---|---|
| Budget for launching Siemens Healthineers’ first AI product | EUR 2M+ per year |
| Raised by startups we supported (Valuex) | USD 25M+ |
| Valuex AG valuation in year two | USD 10M+ |
| Partnership revenue at Cointelegraph in 2025 | USD 4M+ |
| Startups and teams supported | 80+ |
| Juries, evaluations and trainings | 150+ |
| Changes to my own product, around 95% written by AI agents | 1,215 |
Sources: my own CV and LinkedIn profile; product numbers from the repository (as of 21 October 2026).
What I own
- Strategy and decisions
- Where AI pays off, what it costs and who a company becomes dependent on, with a clear recommendation: build, buy or stop. For leadership teams in the AI Factory Austria Executive Track and in my own reviews.
- Product and architecture
- FieldProFlow, field sales software with paying customers: product, architecture, operations and sales. AI agents write around 95% of the code; sign-offs stay with me. Of 1,215 changes I stopped 83. The numbers.
- Programmes and teams
- Head of Program at Cointelegraph Accelerator with more than 40 startups, helped build the UNDP AltFinLab SDG accelerator for 20+ AI and blockchain teams, the Start AI, Build AI and Scale AI workshops at AI Factory Austria. More than 80 startups and teams supported.
- Market and communications
- Global communications for the Siemens Healthineers AI-Rad Companion from launch, with a EUR 2M+ yearly budget and international teams, plus the AI story for the 2018 IPO. More than 150 juries, trainings and workshops, speaker at Paris Blockchain Week 2025.
- Growth and revenue
- As Web3 Business Director at Cointelegraph in 2025, 10+ partnerships with more than USD 4M in revenue. At Deloitte Digital, helped build the Salesforce and digital consulting business in Austria.
- Running companies
- Co-founder of Valuex AG and CEO for the first two years: USD 1M+ revenue in year one, USD 10M+ valuation in year two; the startups we supported raised USD 25M+. First software company of my own in 2013, launched in Europe, the US and Australia.
Roles
| When | Organisation and role | Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| since 2026 | AI Factory Austria AI:AT | The Start AI, Build AI and Scale AI workshops and the Executive Track for SMEs, startups and leadership teams. Mentor at the Public AI Hackathon 2.0 with Austria’s Federal Chancellery. |
| ongoing | FieldProFlow | Product, architecture, operations and sales of field sales software with paying customers, built with AI agents. |
| 2026 | UNDP AltFinLab | Helped build the SDG accelerator, including curriculum and team selection. Workshops on go-to-market and investor readiness for 20+ AI and blockchain teams. |
| 2024–2025 | Cointelegraph | More than 40 startups in the accelerator, jury and pitch events with investors, workshops in Dubai, speaker at Paris Blockchain Week 2025. In 2025, 10+ partnerships with more than USD 4M in revenue. |
| since 2022 | Valuex AG | Strategy and fundraising advisory for tech startups: USD 1M+ revenue in year one, USD 10M+ valuation in year two. The startups we supported raised USD 25M+. |
| 2019–2020 | Deloitte Digital Austria | Helped build the Salesforce and digital consulting business in Austria, digital transformation and CRM strategy for enterprise clients. |
| 2016–2019 | Siemens Healthineers | The company’s first AI product, the AI-Rad Companion, from launch: EUR 2M+ budget per year, international teams, the AI story for the 2018 IPO. |
| 2013–2015 | rethynk | My first software company: SaaS for digital publishing, launched in Europe, the US and Australia. |
How I steer AI
Six rules that teams and agents work by with me:
- The model delivers, the code does the maths.
- AI only where it pays off. And it can always be switched off.
- Answers only from approved knowledge.
- Nothing reaches production without a check.
- A deliberate no is a decision too.
- Data stays in the EU. And only as much as needed.
More on the home page.
What others say
“He has a rare ability to look at a project and quickly get to the core business risks and opportunities.”
“His mastery of strategic conceptualization and actionable execution is second to none, parsing the signal from the noise.”
“Thanks to him the global launch of the AI-Rad Companion was an outstanding success.”
Quick answers
Who is Paul Kruegel?
Paul Kruegel (Paul Krügel in German) is an AI consultant and software builder in Vienna, Austria. He helps SMEs and mid-sized companies use AI deliberately, from use case and model choice to architecture and operations, translating between leadership and engineering. He builds a portfolio of his own software products with AI agents, including FieldProFlow, field sales software for FMCG retail, and is Head of AI Acceleration & Growth at AI Factory Austria AI:AT.
Which roles does Paul Kruegel take on?
Owning AI in companies: as an advisor, as interim AI lead for a limited time or in a leadership role for AI. Plus board and jury mandates and talks, in German and English.
How is the name written?
Paul Krügel in German, Paul Kruegel internationally. Profiles: LinkedIn in/pkruegel and X @paulkruegel. Website paulkruegel.com.