Michael Jamrosy

Sun Tzu and Military Design Thinking / Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen ? One of our favorite quotes in our early defence / defense thought leadership presentations was: " If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle" Sun Tzu. The strategy principles of Sun Tzu, as outlined in his famous work “The Art of War,” and the modern concept of design thinking are related in that both involve a deep understanding of the context and environment to achieve successful outcomes. Sun Tzu’s strategy emphasizes the importance of knowing oneself and the enemy, adapting to changing circumstances, and the use of deception and surprise to outmaneuver opponents. These principles can be applied to various fields beyond military, including business and personal endeavors. Design thinking, on the other hand, is a problem-solving approach that involves empathy, creativity, and rationality to meet user needs and solve complex problems. It’s a human-centered approach that encourages understanding the user, challenging assumptions, and redefining problems in an attempt to identify alternative strategies and solutions. Both Sun Tzu’s strategy and design thinking require a strategic approach to planning and decision-making. They share a common goal of achieving success through careful analysis, planning, and execution. Sun Tzu’s focus on strategic advantage and design thinking’s emphasis on innovation and user experience can complement each other in developing robust strategies for business, technology, and other areas. For instance, Sun Tzu’s lesson that “strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat” can be seen as analogous to the design thinking principle that without a clear understanding of the user’s needs and the problem at hand, any solution or tactic will be ineffective. In essence, both methodologies advocate for a thoughtful approach to challenges, where understanding the broader context and having a clear strategy are crucial for success. Currently I am missing the FOCUS or Schwerpunkt and the strategy principles of Sun Tzu in todays discussions ... we are more discussing which’s tools or canvas … David Lincourt #Designthinking #militarydesignthinking #suntzu #OODALOOP #Schwerpunkt

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See you at Startup Nights 2024 | October 31 & November 1 | Winterthur #startupnights #sictic #sn2024 Topic: Prepare for funding - Things you should do before talking to any investor. Together with Thomas Dübendorfer

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📚 Book Recommendation: Stand Firm by Svend Brinkmann 📚 In a world that constantly pushes us to be more flexible, more adaptable, and more self-improving, Svend Brinkmann's "Stand Firm" offers a refreshing counter-narrative. This thought-provoking book challenges the pervasive culture of continuous self-improvement and relentless positivity that often leads to burnout and dissatisfaction. Brinkmann, a psychology professor, argues for the value of standing firm in one's beliefs and commitments, rather than endlessly chasing change and self-optimization. He draws on philosophy and psychology to provide practical advice on how to maintain a stable and fulfilling life. His seven-step guide includes: 1️⃣ Cut out the self-help: Instead of constantly seeking to improve, learn to accept and appreciate yourself as you are. 2️⃣ Focus on the negative: Embrace life's challenges and difficulties rather than avoiding them. 3️⃣ Put on the No hat: Set boundaries and learn to say no to unnecessary demands. 4️⃣ Suppress your feelings: Find a balance between emotional expression and stoicism. 5️⃣ Sack your coach: Rely on your own judgment and values instead of external motivators. 6️⃣Read a novel – not a self-help book or biography: Engage with literature that broadens your perspective and empathy. 7️⃣Dwell on the past: Reflect on your past experiences to understand yourself better and gain insight for the future. "Stand Firm" is not just a critique of the self-help industry; it's a call to live a more meaningful, grounded, and resilient life. If you're feeling overwhelmed by the constant pressure to improve and succeed, this book might just be the antidote you need. Have you read "Stand Firm"? I'd love to hear your thoughts and takeaways! And thanks to our People House the LEGO Group reading club for sharing this gem 💎 #BookRecommendation #PersonalDevelopment #MentalHealth #WorkLifeBalance

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Next Week, next update. Last week I told you about our current focus: the safe and valid part. So let's look at why this is important and how we tackle it. A representative study from the Bertelsmann Foundation shows that a strong majority (84 percent) sees desinformation as a major threat to society. So I guess we can pretty much all agree on that. Yet we still don't have a solution for it, or at least not a scalable or decent one. When we first looked into this, we found solutions, but many of them are for governments to determine threat actors and are not accessible to the public. Some are for the public, but they tend to have poor results or are limited since they rely on journalists checking facts. Since the data flood is growing by the second and the quality of fake content is also increasing dramatically, we need a solution that is scalable and transparent so everyone can look at the data and decide for themselves what they believe. I had a piece of information that goes into how to analyze content, but I cut it out since it was very long and very detailed, and attention spans are low. So my question is: how the F… is someone supposed to do this analysis by themselves for every piece of content they consume? That's why we focus on a lot of modules to make a robust check for all the claims and all the information you can get, and then present it in a human-readable result that helps you understand that content better. Trust is a very important factor when you claim you can answer the question, “Is it fake news?”. That’s why we want to make it as transparent as possible but also so robust bad actors can’t just rig their content. And this brings us to the question: what is enough for someone to decide there is enough context and background information so they can better understand the content they see? How do you determine what is fake or not? Is it simply sources? What would be a good metric for you to see right away? The list is long. I give you a couple of possibilities we see right now: - Author Expertise - Author Aliases - Tonality - Intention - Source Financing - Whether the source corrects or clarifies errors - False content rate - Clickbaits - Whether the source lists political biases - Labels for context (news, opinion, satire) - Whether the source links their sources - Credibility of their sources So what is important for you to say this is real or this is fake? Let me know. Also if you want to check out the study you can check it out here: https://lnkd.in/e6stqhtA

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This week I can introduce another key attribute that sets us apart at freiheit.com. After exploring decisiveness and accountability, this week we dive into what it means to be collaborative. For us at freiheit.com, collaboration means working together with one goal in mind—where egos take a backseat, and the best team result always comes first.

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Are you #fundraising or have you ever tried? Wandelbots did it four times and went through that enormous feat. What did we learn? First of all, the disclaimer: our CEO Christian Piechnick was always in the driver's seat. Before you leave the startup character behind, the ability to successfully fundraise is one of the most appreciated traits of your CEO. The remaining #founders, and the company as a whole, have to back up the process. Choose a competent but not too large group to balance speed and decision making. What I recall are several phases that a fundraising round undergoes: 1️⃣ Finding the right point in time. Usually, you fundraise when you need to, which might be at least half a year before cash zero. However, sometimes you must adhere to the market sentiment. Can you predict how your company will perform, is an earlier point in time better, or is the market already crashing? 2️⃣ Finding funds. Intros work best, cold outreach is hard. We were lucky to have built a network already in our PhD time (special thanks to Frank Fitzek). In subsequent rounds, your shareholding funds are incentivized to find follow-ups, so you can leverage their network. 3️⃣ Pitching. Much has been said about it. We mostly connected a pitch with a live demo. Yes, we took the risk of failing and often something went wrong. However, the immersion of the audience was much better and authentic, which gives you a lot of credit. I recommend not faking demos, even if all takes place in a video call. 4️⃣ Negotiation. If you receive multiple offers, you are in the great situation to choose. It’s not only about the terms but also about how well you feel your connection with the people because you have to work with them for a very long period of time. Choose the term sheet not only by the paragraphs. After you signed a term sheet, there’s a period where you are obligated to exclusive talks with your chosen fund. Due diligence might take some time, either people are coming by to look into the details or they are checking your contracts. We always pushed hard to close that phase as soon as possible to not cool down the excitement. 5️⃣ The closing. In Germany, that means sitting with the notary. It takes hours and hours for her/him to read out the three-digit number of pages. You might check all contracts with a lawyer beforehand but you will hardly find one who will speed up the process. I recommend reading 📘 “Venture Deals” by Feld and Mendelson to foster your own competence on what’s going on. After the closing, take a breath 🥂 Celebrate what has been achieved, optimally with your fund partners but most importantly with your employees. Some of them might have been involved and need new energy, others might need explanations. That’s our experience with fundraising. What’s yours? What was counterintuitive? Leave a comment 🙂

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Excited to meet you all at the 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 2024! (https://ti-summit.com/) I’ll be speaking on a panel about one of the most pressing topics today: 𝗔𝗜'𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗷𝗼𝗯𝘀. As AI reshapes industries, it brings incredible opportunities—but also challenges that require careful consideration. We'll explore both sides of the conversation, focusing on how we can leverage AI's benefits while creating the right framework conditions to minimize societal risks. Recent discussions, like the one featured in this article https://lnkd.in/dYSMwyXB, highlight the urgency for industries to adapt. The Indian IT sector, for example, has just a few years left to align with AI's demands before facing potential disruption. How can we ensure that transitions like these are beneficial for everyone? Join us at #TIS24 to dive deeper into these important conversations! #AI #FutureOfWork #Innovation #TechnologySummit #JobsAndAI #TIS24 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘰𝘧 3 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘈𝘻𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘈𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘈𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵.

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On the first day of the K5 conference, you can join me on a very special guided tour - the Marketplace Universe Tour at K5 in Berlin. 🤝 It starts on 25 June 2024 (first day of K5) at 4 pm. We will spend a interesting and entertaining hour together with lots of valuable information and contacts! You will get first hand insights from me as a Marketplace expert. I am looking forward to answer your marketplace related questions.  I will introduce you to four great marketplaces and marketplace service partners. I will share with you my stories and insights I have about them and we will meet them at their booth to ask all your questions. I won´t tell you upfront whom we meet. But you can be sure that we will have a insightful and great hour together! You can find all the information about the program here: https://lnkd.in/dMSDhMd5 You definitely want to be part of my guided tour? Then register now in the K5 App (And please note, the number of participants is limited.): Marketplaces Universe Tour: ‘Your journey through Marketplaces and Marketplace Service Partners’ 📅 25 June 2024 🕓 4-5 pm. Looking forward to meet you in Berlin! And if you can´t make it to the tour - just come to me and talk with me at the conference wherever you will see me :) #marketplaces #marktplatzmanager #marketplacemanager #platformbusiness #platform #marktplätze #marketplacebusiness #k5 #ecommerce

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Due to some lunch talks in the last weeks about books, i thought it could be valuable for you, to share a bit about my book readings from this year. No. 1 "Gamification, Digitization and Industry 4.0" is an interesting book for anyone dealing with the creation of new SaaS products, the future of work and general tech. management. It offers from my opinion valuable insights into the opportunities that arise from the digital transformation and shows how gamification can be used to seize these opportunities. In all of the three dimensions: product development, future of work and management as such. Everything explained on real gamification examples. Target group: all product developer, product manager and software manager, software developer, ux folks which are or want to work in the SaaS business or/and are (they should!) interested in the future of work. https://lnkd.in/eAWYGMUB #gamification #industry40 #digital #futureofwork #book #recommendation

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Get a glimpse into the world of IT with our Schnupperkurs on June 10th at 10:00 AM! Learn how a Softwareentwicklerin works and gain valuable insights. Don't miss out - Link in bio for more details and to get tickets. #Schnupperkurs #IT #Softwareentwicklerin #GetTicketsNow #DontMissOut

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I've just returned (tired but happy 😅) from Karlsruhe, where I spent the last few days as a speaker at the #TYPO3 Developer Days. Apart from reconnecting with lots of old friends that I've made in the TYPO3 community over the past few years (and making new ones), I also had the privilege to present two talks: In "The Art of Deployment" on Friday evening (slides at https://lnkd.in/gDkZueEW), I explored the evolution of deployment strategies for PHP and TYPO3 projects, starting with simple (S)FTP uploads to sophisticated, containerized deployments on #Kubernetes. The talk also included a few tangents on successfully deploying breaking database schema changes, and on using feature flags to decouple feature delivery from actual code deployments in distributed applications. In "How to build your own cloud platform" on Saturday morning (slides at https://lnkd.in/gEDEEHeB), I shared how new demands for scalability, automation and technological flexibility drove our development effort in building the mittwald cloud platform, based on Kubernetes and #OpenStack. I gave insights into how the platform works under the hood (and into all the things you can do with Kubernetes Operators). I also discussed the lessons we learned (some of them the hard way) in development and operations, and the strategies we employed (and are employing) to overcome them. A big thank you to everyone who attended, and to all the folks who approached me after my talks with feedback and new suggestions for techniques and tools - that helped me gain quite a few new perspectives on both topics, and I've got some reading to do over the next few days. 😉

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BERlean IN Circle 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗣𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 The Lean In evening on burnout at Scout24 SE wasn’t just informative—it was a reality check. It wasn’t the usual conversation about stress; it dove deep into what burnout looks like when it’s lived, and how we, as a society, need to do better. Fabienne opened with a clear breakdown of burnout’s stages, but what hit hardest were Kazia's and 🥙Abdo’s personal stories. They didn’t just describe burnout—they showed us what it feels like. Kazia’s analogy stuck with me: “If your leg is broken, you rest and let it heal. But with mental health, we push through until we completely break.” It made me realize how different we treat mental pain from physical pain—often ignoring it until we’re too far gone. Abdo’s story mirrored this struggle. He was deeply frightened to be seen by his work as "a broken man" who is no longer capable of handling his previous responsibilities. "You are not a broken human if you suffer from mental health issues." But what was most relieving, especially as a people leader, was Fabienne’s candid explanation of who is truly responsible for addressing burnout in organizations. It’s not just on managers or team leaders, but the responsibility of those 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗽. “The responsibility lies with the owners and shareholders because they are the ones making the key decisions. It’s their job to ensure that healthy systems are in place from day one—because healthy is sustainable, and ultimately more profitable. If the CEO doesn’t buy into it, or the shareholders don’t care, nothing will get realized that actually matters.” People leaders can do everything in their power to support their teams, but if the company’s structures and values don’t align with promoting employee well-being, change will never take root. Fabienne also pointed out that companies often treat people like machines, planning workloads as if humans can perform at 100% every day. “We are cyclical creatures,” she said. Some days we perform at our peak, and other days we need rest—it’s simply part of being human. Yet, organizations often don’t account for this natural rhythm. Budgets and capacity plans are created with the assumption that people won’t get sick or need breaks. It’s this kind of thinking that drives burnout. Julia’s moderation let the conversation breathe, creating space for the raw emotions in the room. We didn’t just talk about burnout as a concept—we felt it, and that built a deep sense of empathy. Oliver S.’s BE LIGHT Now GmbH mediation app demo was brilliant, but what touched me most was seeing him later at the train station, quietly handing out leftover food to the homeless. No big announcements—just kindness in action. It was a reminder that compassion should always have a place in our busy lives. #MentalHealth

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Our Summer Offsite is right around the corner. Next week, we’ll spend a week with 40+ aworkies in a remote location near Hamburg to work on awork’s future together. In a mix of presentations, workshops, team activities, and parties, we’ll spend quality time together in person that is otherwise rare in our hybrid setup. Every year, we start planning the offsite early on. We secured the perfect location for this already in October, organized the team’s travel plans to Hamburg, settled on a goal and theme for the week together, and crafted a design that will be used throughout the event. We try to keep all of this as a surprise for the team. They don’t know where we’re going until they arrive at the location. Also, every year we try to add the awork cherry on top. There are always going to be a couple of things new or different that the team won’t expect. So let’s see how they like this year’s special events. However, the best part of our offsite is spending time with the team. Especially for me, being fully remote, seeing everyone in person and having a good time together is invaluable. These memories last well beyond the offsite. I can't wait for another amazing week together! ☀️🍹🥳 #offsite #team #hybridwork #teamculture

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Mindplayfield is back from the summer break with new articles. Our focus this autumn is on the topic of resilience. We Bei Bei Yu Dovile Kietzmann Dr. Judith Praßer and me got together here in Berlin and discussed the topic. After all, we combine over 180 years of life experience with very different intercultural and biographical backgrounds. In this article, we share our perspectives and look forward to joining you on our journey! https://lnkd.in/eb8kV_57 #mindplayfield #blogger #autumn #resilience #diversity #lifeExpierience #mindful #direction PS: More articles will follow in the coming weeks.

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I’ll be speaking in Digitale Leute on November 13th in #Cologne, and I'd love to see you there! In this talk, I will demonstrate how the Jobs-to-be-Done (#JTBD) framework can transform how you impact #productroadmaps. It will help you become a Champion who can confidently advocate for user needs during roadmap planning and prioritize features based on what truly matters to your users. The conference organizers were so kind as to let me extend a 20% discount on the conference tickets... because learning in a team is always better! Your discount code is DLS24ITAMAR20, and it is limited to 10 uses, so you had better hurry! #prioritization #productmanagement #designstrategy #ux #userexperience

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I lately finished an assignment as Interim CTO / fractional CTO where I focused on: ➡️ Supporting the founders on MVP ideation, user-story-mapping, roadmaps OKRs and getting to market FAST! Davide Vitiello and Constantin Langholz-Baikousis. Thanks for that opportunity, thanks for being so dedicated and still kind and friendly. I’ve learned so much on how to approach selling and talking with prospects. Your founder experience shows so much - all the very very best for your endeavours 🙏 ➡️ SUPERCHARGING the amazing things the TECH team built to make them scalable and future proof. A big THANKS goes to the talented team of Dmitryi Serebrich at UData. You are amazing and it was such a joy working with all of you. (And sorry for being too opinionated sometimes) 💻 ➡️ HIRING Finding a permanent CTO that will support the founders and the tech team. I am extremely happy that we found Claudemiro Feitosa. You are amazing and I’ve already got so many insights from our conversations. Enjoy the great journey!!!! 💪 The whole assignment was so much fun. It’s also a great reminder that a fractional CTO and Interim CTO can boost your business and allows you to go to market much much faster. That's the real value I provide. Let's rock! 🤘 #interim #fractional #okr #roadmap #cto #engineering #vc #mvp #duediligence #dd #techstrategy

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AI Transformation

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What an amazing day! ✨   Today we had our first UPTIMIZE User Meetup. It was so exciting to bring users and the product owners of the products in our Data & Analytics Ecosystem UPTIMIZE together.🙏   I want to give a big shout out to the amazing Matthias Stede for the idea, vision and spirit to make this dream come true. And of course for the realization team Anna Valerie Smeljanski, Johannes Mann, Soraya Permatasari, Maria Herrmann Katharina Scherf for making this happen. 🚀   It was great to witness the launch of two very important elements in our Data & Analytics ecosystem: 👏👏   1)       UPTIMIZE Data Central with a.       UPTIMIZE Data Central Explorer -             the place where everyone at Merck can find data. b.       UPTIMIZE Data Central Studio - the place where Data Stewards, Data Domain Owners can make data products available.   Congratulations to Marius Wagner, Sriram R M, Laura Patzer, Pradeepkumar M, Sushmitha Shetty, Emre Esendir, Patrick Kaiser, Dennis Bade, Vishal Venkatesan, Swetha N, Ivonne Appleyard, Solomon R and the whole team for the successful launch! 💪   2)       UPTIMIZE Tableau – the place for meaningful insights where data can be visualized for impact   Congratulations to Matthias Stede, Preetham Kumar Boda Vittal, Shiyazudeen Abdul Gafoor, Rainer Schink, sai krishna, Juan Diego Lorenzo, Kamal Saade, PMP , Lakshman T,  Carsten Goepp, Paul Schmitt, Hemanth Teegala, Sergious D, Daniel Wegmann, Arash Askari, R Nagarjuna, Tom Isaac, Alexander Schäfer, Yallamgari Munikrishnar for the successful launch! 💪   A big shout out also to all the other product owners for the great breakout sessions and booths Foundry – Florian Metz AWS – Niousha Hormozi Snowflake – Wael Atawya Data Ingestion – Andreas Grimm myGPT – David Kreutzer, Pratamesh Karmalkar. Supply Chain Analytics – Manuel Bierwirth, Simon Vehma, Sangamesh Hanumantha Sangamad Adoptimizers – Taylor Ribeiro and Katharina Scherf   It was a blast. We had around 100 people onsite and 100 people online when Walid Mehanna shared our Data & AI Vision and the ambitions for both data & AI and Matthias Ernst elaborated on our new product centric organization and operating model and Florian Grzonka explained the capabilities in our ecoystem. #meetup #foundry #aws #snowflake #Fivetran #OpenAI #dataculture #herd #usercentric

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Happy to share my thoughts on the efficiency and impact of immersive learning experiences in the latest issue of Personal Magazin - neues lernen ! The article highlights the exciting developments and immense potential of immersive learning. 🚀🎉 At Demodern — Creative Technologies we are leveraging innovative learning methods such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR) to make learning more efficient and impactful. Studies show that XR technologies significantly enhance engagement and learning outcomes.💡 What excites me even more is the combination of XR with Artificial Intelligence (AI). This fusion opens up incredible possibilities for personalized and adaptive learning, creating a whole new dimension of educational experiences. A big thank you to Gudrun Porath for the excellent article and the opportunity to discuss the future of learning. If you want to learn more about our approaches and the benefits of XR technologies, be sure to check out the article or get in touch with me anytime 🙌 #ImmersiveLearning #ExtendedReality #Innovation #LearningTechnology #ArtificialIntelligence #Demodern #PersonalMagazin #NeuesLernen

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