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Chief Data & AI Officer
On-Demand

Bridging business and technology, I help companies turn AI, Data, and Digital into real value: grow profits, cut cost, move faster, reduce risks.

Actionable leadership from strategy to execution based on 20 years experience and 250+ projects.

Let's work together

Many companies fail to transform their Data & AI efforts into real business value.

You are not alone. Recognize any of these root causes?

Weak Connection to Business Objectives

AI Hype vs. Reality Confusion

Strategy-Execution Gap

Data Quality & Trust Issues

Lack of Leadership & Sponsorship

Siloed Organizational Culture & Data Silos

Missing Skills and Talent in Organization

Treating Everything as Technology Problem

Poor Change Management

Weak Governance and Accountability

Scaling Use Cases Beyond Pilots

Measuring ROI Effectively

Integration with Legacy Systems

Investing into the Wrong Technologies

Hiring an experienced Data & AI leader to fix it can be very difficult and costly.

Permanent Senior Leadership Role

Very difficult to find and prohibitively expensive

Experienced senior leaders in Data & AI, who bring business and tech expertise, are extremely hard to find and prohibitively expensive. You might even wonder, if you need a permanent, full-time senior leadership role — or just a temporary one.

Mid-level Management Role

Often lack execution power and market experience

Organizations often opt for mid-level leadership positions (such as Head of Data/AI) which typically suffer from limited strategic influence, insufficient authority for execution, and missing expertise to drive impactful transformations.

Outsource to Externals

May help short-term, but is ultimately a dead end

Simply outsourcing everything to consultants or agencies will prevent the organization from building up in-house knowledge and maturity. Without these foundational capabilities, Data & AI will never have a sustainable transformational impact.

What if there was a better, more flexible approach?

I can help you transform your Data & AI challenges into opportunities—faster, smarter, and results-driven.

For 10x Data & AI business impact.
With actionable leadership on-demand.

Selected clients throughout my career.

How can I assist you today?

Business

Data & AI Strategy, Leadership and Execution

A comprehensive approach to align your Data and AI initiatives with business goals, providing executive guidance and implementation support to transform strategic vision into measurable results.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Potential, Getting Started, Implementation, Agents

Navigate the AI landscape from opportunity assessment to practical implementation, with expert guidance on selecting the right AI technologies and developing custom agent solutions that deliver tangible business value.

Technology

Data/AI Achitectures, Solutions, Migrations, etc.

Digital

Digital Transformation, Business and Products

Operations

Data/AI-Powered Operations & Processes

People

Data Culture, Org. Design and Enablement

Digital Products

Data/AI-Powered Products and Experiences

Business Functions

Intelligence for Marketing, Product, Sales, etc.

Intelligence

Modern Business Intelligence & Digital Analytics

Status Quo Assessment / Audit

Data/AI or Digital Maturity Assessment

Governance & Trust

Trustworthy data for your decisions, properly governed

Private Equity / VC

Trusted Advisor, CDAIO on-demand, AI Fund Operations

Actionable expert advisory and leadership for funds and PortCos — e.g. as fractional/virtual senior leader. Tech & AI Due Diligence, AI defensibility assessments. AI Fund Operations: Create a secure AI solution in your PRIVATE Microsoft environment, for productivity gains, smarter investment decisions, financial analysis/extraction, fundraising automation, document analysis, etc.

Let us talk about your specific situation, then create and execute the best plan forward.

Get in Touch

Hi, I'm Chris Lubasch —
an action-oriented entrepreneur who bridges business and technology with a pragmatic, results-driven approach.

My Background

With 20+ years at the intersection of Data, AI, and Digital transformation, I've delivered measurable business impact across 250+ consulting engagements from global enterprises to startups. My expertise helps organizations accelerate growth, optimize costs, and mitigate risks — relying on my rare ability to bridge technology and business, from strategy to execution.

As your on-demand Chief Data & AI Officer, you gain access to expertise that extends far beyond the current AI hype, helping you transform your Data & AI challenges into opportunities—faster, smarter, and results-driven.

Trust & Client References

My client experience includes market leaders such as Deutsche Bank, Lufthansa, Google, RWE, Zalando, Audi, Deutsche Telekom, AMGEN, N26, Douglas, Otto Group, ERGO, and Private Equity firms such as Afinum.

Executive Leadership Excerpt

Snowplow
2022-2024

Chief Data & AI Officer and General Manager SDA at Snowplow, a US Tech company, where I championed Data/AI, product innovation and strategic development with Snowflake and Databricks.

DEPT®
2019-2022

Partner & Managing Director at DEPT®, where I established and scaled the 250+ FTE global data and AI practice across a 5,000-person digital agency.

LEROI
2014-2019

Co-Founder & CEO of LEROI Consulting, building it into a premier Data & AI consultancy across DACH markets before its successful acquisition by DEPT.

42Frontiers
2024-today

Managing Partner at 42Frontiers, providing specialized Technology and AI advisory services to Private Equity investors.

Please find my full CV here

Let's connect on LinkedIn

How can we work together?

You get my experience as Chief Data & AI Officer On-Demand, no matter the collaboration model.

The way we work together is flexible, determined by your needs and what you want to achieve. A standalone project? Ongoing advisory? Hands-on leadership and execution?

Consulting Engagement On-Demand

Consulting with targeted expertise for specific initiatives:

Deliver measurable results for well-defined data & AI challenges within clear timelines
Ideal for technical implementations, strategic audits, or focused capability builds
Provides actionable frameworks and roadmaps that your team can execute
Perfect entry point for organizations starting their data transformation journey
Impact: Targeted | Scope: Well-defined | Strategy: High-caliber | Implementation: Advisory with limited hands-on support

Trusted Advisory On-Demand

Strategic advisory and expert guidance without direct execution:

Access Data & AI best practices to maximize investment returns and minimize risks
Leverage my 20+ years of experience for timely, informed decision-making
Strategic support for leadership teams
Board meetings possible
Specialized offerings for PE firms and portfolio companies
Impact: High | Scope: Comprehensive | Strategy: Expert-level | Implementation: Client-driven

Fractional CDAIO On-Demand

A flexible Fractional Executive for strategy AND execution:

Drive tangible Data & AI outcomes with hands-on senior leadership (less talk, more action)
Accelerate implementation while developing your internal capabilities
Significantly more cost-effective than a permanent executive hire
Flexible engagement that scales with your evolving needs and readiness
Ideal transition solution until your organization can sustain these functions internally
Impact: Transformational | Scope: Comprehensive | Strategy: Executive-level | Implementation: Full ownership

Let us talk now

What others say

Selected testimonials from my leadership during LEROI, DEPT, and 42Frontiers.

Christian stands apart as an exceptional Digital, AI, and Data strategist who has guided countless executives to success. What truly distinguishes him is his rare and valuable combination of extensive business leadership experience paired with profound technical knowledge. For any C-suite executive seeking to unlock the potential of AI and Data, I give my strongest recommendation to partner with Christian.

Christopher Muhr

CEO / Founder at Patient21; Ex-COO Auto1 Group

We are now able to optimize our marketing budget more quickly and continuously improve our initiatives over time by collecting data points. The LEROI team is collaborative, selfless, and results-oriented. Their recommendations are clear and actionable, and working with them is always a pleasure. A+++, Chris Lubasch & team

Scherwin Kazemi

Ex-Head of Cross-Channel at ERGO Insurance Group; Senior M. Executive at Allianz

Having observed Christian's work in the AI space for several years, I've been consistently impressed by his ability to cut through the hype and identify practical applications that drive genuine business outcomes. His reputation for translating complex AI & Data capabilities into strategic advantages is well-earned — with clear busines transformation ROI. For executives navigating the rapidly evolving Data & AI landscape and seeking guidance that balances innovation with pragmatism, Christian's expertise is invaluable.

Prof. Dr. Christoph Peters

University of the Bundeswehr Munich; Ex-School of Management, University of St. Gallen

I know Christian for 15 years, including is one of those people you don't forget: he's amazing to work with. - one of the best I've ever met in terms of Data & AI - knowledge in almost all other areas of digital (marketing, development, processes, etc.), which makes him super valuable: he understands and sees the big picture - the guy can code! - he's super easy to work with - but mostly: it's fun to work with him and have a beer afterwards I can unconditionally recommend him.

Marc Preusche

CEO at Swiss Solar Group

Christian is a highly charismatic leader, with a crazy overlap of knowledge in different sectors: business, technology, marketing and data. With this interdisciplinary background and entrepreneurial spirit, paired with strong execution skills, he was constantly driving great results. Please find my profound recommendation of Christian, to anyone who is looking for outstanding results in interdisciplinary and complex topics in the digital space.

Timo Rößner

Ex-Director of Engineering at Blacklane

Finding a partner who not only understands but anticipates the complexities of Tech investments is crucial. Working with 42Frontiers has been a game-changer for us. Their team not only brought deep expertise in Tech, AI, and digital products, but also delivered insights that were impactful and practically applicable, enhancing our investment strategy. They are proactive and super easy to work with, holding senior attention throughout the collaboration. I highly recommend 42Frontiers to any fund looking to gain a competitive edge in Tech investments.

Sandro De Luca

Founding Partner at blue8 Capital (PE)

Thanks to its high level of technological expertise, DEPT® is the ideal partner for the modernisation of our data stack. The implemented technology is not an end in itself, but optimally aligned with our business needs.

Jonas Rashedi

Ex-Head of Data Intelligence & Technologies at Douglas

Christian is an outstanding entrepreneur, an inspiring Data expert and a great sparring partner for all kind of hands-on business related topics.

Simon Meyer

Ex-BCG, Managing Director at Atlas Workwear

While at Index Ventures, Christian Lubasch helped two FinTech portfolio companies—auxmoney and Raisin— take their Data & Technology stacks to the next level. His work was instrumental in getting better data insight and supported the companies’ fast growth and expansion, thus being a key value driver over time. Given my personal experiences working with Christian, both as an investor and operator, I’m sure others will benefit from their exceptional work in the same way I did.

Philipp Hartmann

Ex-Principal at Index Ventures; Advisor and Partner at BlueYard Capital

I've known Christian for years and continue to be impressed by his exceptional understanding of Digital, AI, and Data. What truly distinguishes him is his unique blend of business focus and technical depth—a combination rarely found in one professional. For any C-suite leader or executive looking to harness the power of data and AI, I wholeheartedly recommend Christian as your strategic partner.

Mark Bosold

CEO :pxtra

Within the Otto Group, others had already had good experiences with LEROI, which is why we chose the consultants from Berlin. LEROI's technical concept for building a central data provisioning and analysis solution for online marketing allows us to conduct holistic analyses across all channels and the entire customer journey, thereby orchestrating measures even better and optimizing budget allocation. The collaboration with LEROI is characterized by high professionalism and detailed expertise in online marketing channels. Coupled with a strong strategic background, we received important impulses for our business activities and can therefore recommend the collaboration without reservation.

Christian Martin

Ex-Head of Business Development at Baur Versand

With the help of our new, reliable Google Analytics and Business Intelligence data, we were able to increase our conversion rate by 86%, which had a massive impact on our business success. I can recommend Mr. Lubasch and his team without reservation!

Robert Ermich

Ex-CEO / Founder at DeinHandy

Find more client references here:

Client References

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Chief Data & AI Officer On-Demand