Interim & Fractional Head of Product

Anyone can build now.
Including the wrong thing.

I take product bets from decision to paying customers.

Hands-on and accountable for the business case, built on what your company already has, then handed to a permanent team.

Tell me what’s stuck How I think ↓

Who I work with

For owner-led Mittelstand and corporates, and for startups and scaleups from Seed onwards.

Among others for

Deutsche Bahn · Henkel · JobRad · Berlin Hyp · DJE · PreZero · ING

01 / How I think

A product that does a little of everything does nothing well enough.

AI in the product

Not every problem needs AI.

Sometimes the best solution is a better spreadsheet. I use AI where it really takes work off people’s hands. What a model shouldn’t decide alone, a person signs off.

How I build

Close to customers, until it explains itself.

I spend time with the people who use it, watch where they get stuck, and work through the many small points of friction. That’s how a product gets to where it explains itself.

How AI is set up

Responsibility starts at set-up.

Data, rules, cost and energy use belong at the start, not in the audit afterwards. I learned that on climate and compliance projects. And a pilot nobody uses isn’t responsible either. It just burned budget and energy.

More thoughts in my notes

02 / What I do

Situations I take on.

Two situations. Either can be an AI initiative.Both end the same way: it runs without me.

New bet

No product yet

A new product or service, owned from zero to paying customers, business case included, until a team of yours runs it.

Typical starting points

A new line next to your core business
A new vertical your business unit runs or offers to its customers
A new product line in a startup or scaleup

01Is the bet worth it?
With the founders or leadership: the real customer problem and the business case. Then build, buy or partner.
02Will customers pay?
The smallest version, with real customers, in a fixed time frame.
03Does it explain itself?
Close to customers, with reverse demos, until it sells with fewer and fewer demos. Sales comes in when the product carries it.
04Does it run without me?
The team is hired, rhythm and decisions are written down, a successor is in place.

You get

A product customers pay for, and your own team running it.

Reset

Already running, but stuck

I take it over as interim, get scope, delivery and the people involved back on one line, and hand it back.

Typical starting points

Late, over budget, and no go-live date anyone trusts
Unclear whether the tech will carry it
The team pulls in different directions, or the lead has just left

01Where does it really stand?
Two to three weeks, fixed days. I follow one requirement to live, across people, process, product and delivery. You know where it’s stuck, why, and what follows. Can be booked on its own.
02Is it delivering again?
I go in where it pinches most: coaching your team, embedded myself, or with a small crew. Product work and one-off client work get separated, and priorities are set by the problem, not by whoever is loudest.
03Does it run without me?
Your people or new hires take over. I bridge until they start, then hand it back.

You get

An initiative that delivers again, and a team that knows why.

Selected engagements

AdvisoryCirconomit, a seed-funded start-up: with its founders, from an environmental data toolkit to a decision-intelligence platform (2025)

How we’d work together.

Full-timeUsually 6 months for a reset, up to 12 for a new bet

Interim

For a new product, an AI initiative or a reset that needs someone in the room every day. As interim Head of Product, or as the person who owns one core initiative end to end.

2–3 days a weekusually 3–12 months

Fractional

Product leadership while you hire, or when the founder or CTO should stop doing product on the side. Or as sparring and coaching for your team.

+ With a small crew

For interim or fractional, when one person isn’t enough. Among others with:

Bastian Quilitz ↗︎

Tech

20+ years as CTO and CIO, incl. Deutsche Bahn and glispa

Aki Fukai ↗︎

Design

18 years of B2B design, incl. SAP Fiori and OTTO (collect.AI)

Diogo Ribeiro ↗︎

Data & AI

20+ years in ML, data science and data engineering, from finance to FMCG

As much as the job needs. No more.
And I plan my exit from day one, so it runs without me.

Based in Germany. On-site or hybrid across DACH, remote across Europe.

04 / Fit

Where I’m most useful.

The setting

Established companies and Mittelstand with an innovation agenda. PE- and VC-backed B2B software. Corporate venture builders.

The terrain

Complex, regulated, data-heavy B2B products. Compliance, climate and ESG data, mobility, finance, enterprise software.

Not a fit

Backlog grooming, a Scrum role, or a strategy deck nobody plans to build.

Patrick KögelInterim & Fractional Head of Product

05 / Who I am

Hi, I’m Patrick.

I come from the impact side. With SDGventure I’ve worked on products for climate, circularity and compliance. Products where mistakes have consequences.

There are more problems worth solving than I’ll ever have time for. So I choose. If a project doesn’t feel right, because I don’t see a positive impact, or the culture, the people or the fit are off, I don’t take it on, whatever it pays.

When it does feel right, you get me all the way.

CV (PDF) ↗︎ LinkedIn ↗︎

From references

“… a deep motivation to ‘do the right thing’ … [I] would jump at the opportunity to collaborate with him again.”

Darryl Feldman
CPO, Mobimeo

“I have no reservations in recommending your company to others and look forward to cooperate again in the future.”

Dr. Nora Mundschenk
Corporate Director Global Tax, Henkel

“His leadership style was built on trust, respect, positive mindset … a true ‘asset’ for any team and market challenge.”

Christian Reichmann
Partner, etventure EY

06 / My stance

Craft &
Consequence

AI makes building as easy as buying bread at the supermarket: everything, any time, the same everywhere. What stands out now is what a good bakery does: a few things, made with care, close to the people they’re made for.

Craft

Care in the detail. Leave out what doesn’t count, stay close to the people who use it, and cut scope rather than wait.

Consequence

I come from products where mistakes have effects. So every figure has to be traceable, the smallest tool does the job, a person signs off, and it keeps running without me.

07 / Notes

What’s on my mind.

Notes, not articles. What’s on my mind about AI, product work and teams, written the way I see it today, with a date.

08 / FAQ

Questions I get.

Pick a question.

So you’re an AI consultant now?

No, I’m a product person. AI is one tool among several for me, and often not the first. I start where it hurts most and pick the simplest solution that actually solves the problem. Sometimes that’s a better spreadsheet. Sometimes a cleanly automated workflow with fixed rules. And sometimes it really is a language model. But only when it pays off.

09 / Conversation

Tell me what’s stuck.

30 minutes, no slides. You describe the situation, I tell you honestly whether I’m the right person for it.

Book a 30-minute call → Write an email

Anyone can build now.Including the wrong thing.