I help companies adopt AI to automate work.

I’m Richard, an independent AI consultant, engineer, marketer and event organizer in Berlin, and a pre-AI (I heard that it used to be harder). I advise and train teams, build my own products, bring people together at events for AI founders and I’m always up for a language tandem. Before all that, I played basketball and quit my career to focus on business and entrepreneurial ventures. More about me.

1 / 8

My career path

From the basketball court to AI

Independent consultant for AI. What does that mean? Here’s how I got here.

Richard Poelderl · Berlin

Sports

  1. 2008–2011

    Basketball player

    · 2008–2011

    Braunschweig, Germany

    Dreaming of going pro

Business

  1. 2011–2014

    Dual study programme

    · 2011–2014

    Wolfsburg (work) · Mannheim (studies) · Hong Kong (exchange semester)

  2. 2016

    Marketing & Sales

    · 2016

    Milan, Italy (during my master’s)

  3. 2017–2020

    Director of Acquisition

    · 2017–2020

    Milan, Italy (1 year in Vienna)

    • Built up the marketing team (20 people)
    • 4M visitors/month
    • 4 new countries

Developer

  1. 2020

    Sabbatical

    2020

    Braunschweig, Germany & Brazil

    Taught myself software engineering

  2. 2021

    Jr. Software Engineer

    · 2021

    Berlin, Germany

  3. 2021–2022

    Software Engineer

    · 2021–2022

    Remote

  4. 2021–2023

    Co-Founder & CTO

    · 2021–2023

    Remote

  5. 2023–2024

    Freelance Software Engineer

    · 2023–2024

    Remote

AI

  1. since 2024

    Independent consultant

    since 2024

    Clients in the US, Italy, Spain & Germany · products used globally

    Independent AI consulting

Before I begin

Failed startup founder

Four projects that didn’t make it, and taught me more than the ones that did.

R.I.P.

StartGut

2014

Weekend breakfast delivery alongside my job at Volkswagen.

R.I.P.

Abroadstars

2015

Custom hoodies for Erasmus and exchange students across Europe.

R.I.P.

Databee

around 2020

CO₂ calculator API for banking apps.

R.I.P.

AgreeTo

2021–2023

Share meeting times without leaving your inbox.

Consultant

Who do I advise and train?

From ten-person startups to large enterprises.

Startups

TaxwireSiriusUnkeyParkwith.usCal.comProntoProSupabaseParloa

Enterprises

Berlin-ChemieFlixBusSAP
Startups · consulting & implementationEnterprises · consulting & training

Consultant

What others say about me

Feedback from my work, workshops, projects and events.

OpenClaw

“Richard is a builder.”
Founder of PSPDFKit · Creator of OpenClaw

Workshop attendee

“I came away with lots of marketing tools again. Thank you for the workshop.”
Marketing & Sales · Berlin-Chemie Menarini

1:1 Knowledge Exchange

“I see Richard’s greatest strength in transformation, where processes and ways of working need to be rethought.”
IT Head Country Lead · Siemens

1:1 AI training

“Thank you for all these explanations. I always need a little push, and I appreciate that.”
Security Architect · Microsoft

1:1 Knowledge Exchange

“Thank you for the insights into governance options for Anthropic models and the latest info about Microsoft Autopilot! Super helpful.”
Head of Digital Workplace Solutions · PUMA

Consultant

Which processes have I implemented?

Four examples from my projects, and others.

Support

  • Email triageEvery incoming email is read, classified and prioritised.
  • Automatic repliesA suitable reply is generated automatically for recurring requests.

Marketing

  • Content from user interviewsCustomer conversations are automatically turned into articles and posts.
  • AI Visibility & SEOVisible in search engines and AI assistants.

Engineering

  • Automatic code reviewEvery change is reviewed before a person looks at it.
  • Enforcing standardsQuality and style rules apply automatically to every line of code.

Business operations

  • Client onboarding with data protectionClient data is protected from uncontrolled sharing with AI providers.
  • Compliance checksRequired checks for law firms and tax advisers run automatically.

AI engineer

I’m also an AI engineer

I build things myself, with the same tools I teach.

OpenClaw
Contributor to the AI assistant that powers Microsoft Scout
GoLongtail.ai
Digital marketing agent
Procurato.de
AI tools for sensitive data

AI engineer

One of the first OpenClaw users

An early user of Peter Steinberger’s AI assistant, contributing my own code.

Selfie with Peter Steinberger
With Peter SteinbergerFounder of PSPDFKit and developer of OpenClaw
Merged pull request #61456 in the OpenClaw repository by p6l-richard
My code in OpenClawPull request #61456, merged in April 2026
First commit
11 Dec 2025
17 days after the project started
Contributor rank
#164
out of around 2,900

Organiser

I’m also an AI event organiser

Community events with founders and workshops with AI technology providers.

Poster for Internet Friends Berlin Vol. VIII on 4 August at Holzmarkt 25

Internet Friends Berlin

Community events with founders of AI companies.

AI workshop in Berlin

AI workshops

Workshops and events in partnership with AI providers. The first one, on 13 March 2026, drew over 500 registrations.

Read my full story
StartGut flyer for honey-nut yogurt delivered to your door
2014 · Braunschweig, GermanyStartGut: weekend breakfast delivery next to my job at Volkswagen
Abroadstars poster with an exchange student wearing a custom hoodie
2014/15 · Innsbruck, AustriaAbroadstars: custom hoodies for Erasmus and exchange students
“I love hoodies” written in chalk on a blackboard
2015 · EuropeAbroadstars campaign shoot
FlixBus office building
2016 · Milan, ItalyMarketing & Sales at FlixBus during my master’s
Richard presenting ProntoPro at Vienna Talent Night
2019–2020 · Vienna, AustriaPitching ProntoPro while building up the international office

Work with me

Do you want to work together?

Here’s how I can help you and your team. Learn more about me

AI consulting

Strategy, use cases and guardrails, together with leaders and business teams.

conduct.agency

AI workshops & upskilling

Leaders and teams learn AI through their real workflows.

buildandrave.org

Events organization

Community events and workshops with AI founders and providers.

telldont.show

Use my AI products

Stay up to date

Get notified when I publish something new, and unsubscribe at any time.