CTO Roundtable Q1 2026

“As a CTO you are mostly alone.”

Yesterday at the CTO Roundtable Berlin, this sentence really resonated with me.

Being a CTO can feel isolating. You carry strategic responsibility, technical direction, people leadership — and often you don’t have many peers inside your company who truly understand the role. That’s exactly why formats like this matter.

It was great to have Mathias Meyer, Steinunn Arnardottir, and Bastian Buch on the panel and openly share their biggest mistakes and most important growth lessons. It was refreshing — and a reminder that growth often comes from uncomfortable experiences.

My personal key takeaways

• Learn how to craft strong McKinsey-style slides
• Be careful not to promise positions or career paths
• Find a mentor outside of technology
• The future of the CTO role in the age of AI agents is still evolving — but we see it as an opportunity

Huge thanks to Ultimate.AI part of Zendesk (Hannes Awe-Ortmeier, Franziska Hempel & team) for hosting us and to everyone who made the discussion so open and honest 🙌

#CTO #Leadership #Growth #CTORoundtable