Case study
Advisory, strategy, and team workshops
Not every engagement ships code. Some are about making the right call before you pour concrete, choosing tools you will not regret in two years, or levelling up a team so they can build the thing themselves.
8 yrs
across roles
Principal
engineer track
Head of Data
function lead
DACH + UAE
on the ground
Context
Where this kind of work comes from
This page does not describe a single client. It describes a category of work that runs through every engagement on this site: helping teams make better decisions, pick better tools, and grow into stronger engineers without me staying in the room forever.
The pattern shows up in different shapes. A targeted architecture review before a build. A technology selection memo when a team is stuck between two options. A short workshop that gives a team the shared vocabulary it has been missing. A roadmap that makes the sequence of the next year obvious instead of contested.
Track record
Drawn from real engagements
Architecture and platform decisions
Calling the Databricks migration at the fintech
The platform direction at the UAE payments fintech was a strategy call before it was an engineering one. Picking Databricks, sequencing the migration, and writing the rationale down so leadership could sign off with confidence.
Architecture and technology guidance
Shaping the streaming IoT engagement
On the food and beverage equipment engagement, the principal role included formal architecture and technology guidance, with tradeoffs and decisions written down so the client could carry the work forward themselves.
Team leadership and mentoring
Growing the Cookidoo recommender team
On the Cookidoo recommendation platform engagement, leading three engineers and introducing DevOps and software engineering practices was half the value of the project. The system mattered, but the team mattered more.
Hiring and process
Standardising interviews at a Munich consultancy
At Alexander Thamm in Munich, I helped run and standardise the data engineering interview process so the team could hire consistently and onboard new engineers without reinventing the playbook each time.
Engineering practice
Setting the bar at the connected hardware client
Five years on the connected hardware engagement included setting review standards, deployment practices, and on-call expectations that outlasted any single sprint of work.
Deliverables
What you actually get
Architecture review
Written assessment of your current data architecture, with the risks, tradeoffs, and recommendations laid out clearly enough to act on. Includes a decision log for the calls that need making.
Technology selection memo
Vendor and tooling comparison for a specific decision (warehouse vs. lakehouse, batch vs. streaming, build vs. buy), with the reasoning your leadership and engineering can both stand behind.
Platform assessment and roadmap
Current-state diagnostic of your platform and team, prioritised roadmap for the next two to four quarters, and the sequencing that delivers visible value early.
Team enablement workshop
One- to three-day on-site workshop tailored to your team's level and stack. Topics range from Spark and Databricks fundamentals to engineering practice, depending on what you actually need.
Hiring and interview design
Help shaping data engineering interview loops, calibration sessions, and the artefacts that make hiring repeatable rather than ad hoc.
Office hours and follow-up
Most advisory engagements come with a follow-up window, so the team can ask the questions that only show up once they start applying the recommendations.
Engagement
How it usually runs
A short scoping call to understand the actual question, the time pressure, and who needs to be on board with the answer. Most advisory engagements are between two and six weeks, depending on how much discovery is needed and how many stakeholders the recommendation has to convince.
Workshops are typically planned a few weeks ahead so the curriculum can be tailored to your stack and team level. Remote, on-site in Dubai, or on-site in DACH, depending on what makes sense.
Outputs are written, not just spoken. A document, memo, or slide deck that lives on after the engagement, so the next leadership change does not reset the conversation.
Offered today as
Where this lands in the service catalogue
Advisory and workshop work most often plugs into one of two services, though it can stand on its own as a short engagement.
Stuck on a decision or stretching a team?
A short scoping call usually clarifies whether advisory or a workshop is the right shape.