Karl Sponholz

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT KARL SPONHOLZ

Technology was never the hard part. I’ve spent 15+ years building products across fintech, e-commerce, AI and B2B software, and the bottleneck was almost always the same: clarity. Knowing what should exist. What must never happen. And how you’ll know whether it actually works. Today, I’m Chief Technology Officer at Spread Group, where I lead technology for a global e-commerce and print-on-demand business:$200M+ in revenue, 2.5M+ customers and 10M+ items shipped. The thread through my career: I build, then I scale. Usually in fast, ambiguous environments. Fintech: built an award-winning lending platform from scratch at Spotcap: €50M+ raised, Top 50 Global Fintech Innovator (2015), and KPMG FinTech Innovation Challenge winner. AI: founded XPAI, a privacy-first edge AI solution that measures real-world customer experience without ever storing an image. Trusted by brands like Porsche, Telekom, Tomorrowland, OMR and Handelsblatt, and the basis for a filed patent. Leadership: scaled product & technology across international organizations: modernizing platforms, building operating models, leading transformation, and turning strategic ambition into execution. What I believe: AI is not a shortcut around business clarity. It makes clarity more valuable. Because once execution becomes cheaper, the real bottleneck moves upstream: to intent, constraints, operating models and decision quality. The companies that win the next decade will not be the ones with the most AI. They will be the ones that can explain their business clearly enough to automate it. A bit more about me: LinkedIn Top Voice for AI Speaker: AWS Summit, NOAH, Handelsblatt, EHI Retail Institute Advisory board: AI Accelerator Institute · Expert member, KI Bundesverband Patent: privacy-preserving computer vision I write about AI-native products, agentic commerce, product leadership and what it really takes to turn AI into P&L impact beyond demos, pilots and hype. If you are building, transforming or investing in that space, feel free to reach out.