WHOIS …? Thomas Koelzer

WHOIS…? is a format in our tech blog where we present you the many faces of our tech community. These are the people, that work every day on our state-of-the-art technical solutions to make BurdaForward so unique.

For the first WHOIS…? interview, we are thrilled that our CTO, Thomas Koelzer, took the time to answer our questions and give us insights into his daily work. 

What’s your name & role at BurdaForward? 

My name is Thomas Koelzer, I am the chief technology officer (CTO) of BurdaForward.

What techie cliché is totally true for you? 

I sometimes break things to understand how they work. And I work in the basement in artificial light. Who needs the sun? The important thing is that the internet connection is fast. I also have a lot of plaid shirts. 

What do you do as a CTO? 

My goal is to support BurdaForward's strategy and organization with a suitable tech platform. It is for example important to find a sensible answer to the question of where the infrastructure ends and the application begins: Too little infrastructure makes application teams slow and expensive because they have to build too much of the basics themselves. Too much infrastructure restricts the application teams because too much is predefined.

Which I am explicitly not: I am not the person who knows best how to solve a technical challenge. 

When & Why did you start to work in tech? 

I started programming in 1983 on an Apple II, back then in UCSD Pascal.

I earned my degree with software development, mainly developing in C and Lisp, but also addressing complex measuring devices directly - then in assembler. After graduating, I always stayed in tech, albeit in different roles (sales, product, general management).

The reason why I work in tech is quite simple: it was and is my passion. 

To the emulation

New technological developments are a fitting analogy for our BurdaForward tech platform: As operating systems got better and better, developers weren’t forced anymore to work on the basics (like i/o basics, windows, dialog boxes etc) anymore. Just as our tech platform enables our developers by providing them with just the right balance of central infrastructure. 

What is your favorite part about working in tech? 

The feeling when a sophisticated system suddenly works and performs well still electrifies me today. It gives me a sense of "Mission Accomplished" when I see a system generate a desired outcome, when manual processes get automated and/or when previously non-existent tasks get implemented. It could be compared to the satisfaction you might experience while building a marble run when all the used components interact with one another and create a fascinating race. 

What is your “tech superpower”? 

Tough question. I would say it’s being able to see the “big picture” and drilling down to details where necessary. 

As an expert, it is crucial to focus on a specific area. However, there is a certain risk of getting lost in the details.  I would compare it to landing a plane: You need to calculate all factors like distance, altitude, and speed to recognize the overall situation to eventually bring an aircraft down safely. 

And how did you use it recently? 

At our recent Tech Board Offsite in the Alps, where I gathered the Tech Board* colleagues to review our tech platform as a whole.

What advice would you like to give techies out there? 

I have two pieces of advice which might seem like a contradiction at first sight: 

1. “Always consider the entire system. Tech is never an end in itself - no matter how tempting it may be."
2. “The higher you climb, not in terms of hierarchy but perspective, the more you lose sight of the details” 

In reality, it is difficult to simultaneously keep an eye on the overall situation and be an expert in the details. So, my overall advice is to "Keep the context in mind". Whatever you do, it is usually part of a greater whole which is worth keeping in mind. 

Did you find any nice tool/software/technology/… recently that you would like to share? 

Not new but relatively unknown and fundamentally powerful: eID function of the German ID card. It can be used with an NFC phone to complete official tasks from home in just a few seconds. 

With this feature, you can check your digital pension overview, open bank accounts without PostIdent or even check your traffic violation points balance (“Punkte in Flensburg”) 

In the past, you needed a specialized device to extract the information – now there’s a built-in NFC chip in practically every smartphone. Your terminal is right with you in your pocket. 

Here’s how it works: You need the ID card app, connect it to your ID Card and enter your PIN. 

Use cases

A nice example for securely transmitting sensitive information without relying on traditional mail services! 

How can people get in touch with you? 

DM me via Xing or LinkedIn. 

Any famous last words? 

From my perspective, having an IT background is not a prerequisite for making a meaningful impact in the tech industry. At BurdaForward, we don't view our tech community as an “exclusive circle” that revolves only around itself. On the contrary, we wholeheartedly encourage people without a tech history in their CV to dive right in. We have many success stories to support this belief.  

This is why I am looking forward to seeing our tech blog flourish, richly filled with exciting content to open our tech community to everyone.