About Gabriel
AI systems builder and engineering leader with 18+ years of experience spanning hands-on product engineering, platform engineering, large-scale org design, and AI-first system development.
Most recently, founder of an AI systems lab building LLM-based systems, autonomous AI agents, multi-agent architectures, knowledge platforms, and automation-heavy products from scratch, with shipped products in production. Strong focus on designing AI systems that scale through leverage, orchestration, autonomy, and compounding knowledge.
Previously Director of Engineering at a high-growth startup, responsible for scaling organizations to 100+ engineers, building management layers and career frameworks, and aligning engineering execution with business-critical domains.
English
Native or bilingual
German
Native or bilingual
Spanish
Basic
Can work on-site
Cologne (up to 50km)
Experience
- Crowd WisdomFounder / BuilderSeptember 2024 - Today (1 year and 9 months)Barcelona, Spain● Designed and built Kiori, a knowledge-thread and public workspace platform focused on continuity, reuse, and compounding knowledge rather than disposable answers● Architected the underlying platform stack for Kiori, including modular backend services, RAG pipelines, memory systems, and public/private workspace separation● Designed and implemented AI agent systems ("employee agents") for marketing, research, execution, and reflection, including multi-agent coordination patterns● Built automation-heavy internal systems using n8n, Large Language Models (LLMs), LLM pipelines, AI workflows, and custom tooling to replace manual operational work● Operated end-to-end as a solo founder: product vision, system architecture, implementation, iteration, and deployment● Focused on building foundations for an AI business that can scale through leverage, autonomy, and systems design Systems & Platforms
- Choco Communications GmbHDirector of EngineeringApril 2020 - May 2024 (4 years and 1 month)Berlin, Germany● Led the engineering organization through hypergrowth, scaling from ~25 to ~100 engineers● Directly managed 5 Engineering Managers at peak and was accountable for the Buyers domain● Represented engineering at senior leadership level prior to and alongside CTO leadership● Designed and introduced Choco's first engineering career framework, forming the basis for performance reviews, progression, and compensation discussions● Built and coached the engineering management layer, including multiple first-time managers● Partnered closely with Product, Design, and People teams on org design, hiring strategy, and team topology● Planned and executed multiple org redesigns aligned with evolving business priorities● Conducted hundreds of interviews across IC, EM, and senior leadership levels● Acted as cultural steward during rapid scaling, with a strong focus on cohesion, ownership, and retention
- Choco Communications GmbHEngineering ManagerJune 2019 - March 2020 (9 months)Berlin, Germany● First formal engineering manager at the company● Helped scale the engineering org from ~6 to ~25 engineers in under a year● Introduced squad, chapter, and tribe model to enable scaling and improve delivery visibility● Contributed to high retention during early growth phase
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Education
- State-certified Media-DesignerBerufskolleg Kartäuserwall2007Chose the Media Design apprenticeship path in Germany - working while going to school.