We already have an IoT platform. Is this still worth it?
Often precisely then. The usual question is not whether the platform works, but whether the business model on top of it holds — and whether you could still switch in three years if you had to.
This is the discipline I have worked in for 25 years. I took an IoT platform from internal tooling to low double-digit million euro third-party revenue, and carried accountability for FOTA programmes under UNECE R156. If your connected product works technically but not commercially — or the other way round — this is my ground.
Build, buy or platform — and which interfaces you will still be able to change in five years. Open standards first, so the negotiating power stays with you.
FOTA and OTA in a regulated environment: UNECE R155/R156 in vehicles, the Cyber Resilience Act for everything else with digital elements, NIS2 for operations. A product you cannot update safely is not a connected product.
Where most IoT programmes fail: pricing model, operating model, ownership. Technology alone has never made a business.
Build, buy or platform — assessed on total cost, dependencies and replaceability. Not on what is currently being shown at conferences.
Where you can rely on open interfaces and where you cannot — and what that means for your negotiating position in five years.
FOTA/OTA strategy in a regulated environment: UNECE R155/R156 in vehicles, the Cyber Resilience Act for everything else with digital elements, NIS2 for operations — including rollout governance and fallback paths.
Pricing and operating model for a connected product: recurring revenue, cost centres, ownership. The step where most IoT programmes get stuck.
Selective introductions into the industrial OEM, standards and open-source network where they fit the mandate.
Prioritised, with owners, milestones and a cost envelope — aligned between board and engineering before execution starts.
Operational accountability for the FOTA mandates of a global automotive manufacturer in a regulated environment — updates in the field, not in the lab.
OSGi gateways in over a million households and a million connected industrial engines. Connected products in the field, operated over years.
In the OSGi Alliance since 2001. Four of those years on the board, four on the Steering Committee of the OSGi Working Group at the Eclipse Foundation, plus co-chair of the OTA SIG at the Industrial Internet Consortium.
Architecture review, roadmap, readiness or tech DD in an M&A context. Output: a written memo with current state and a 12-month roadmap.
From customer problems to engineering requirements, with a phased plan and a roadmap the board and engineering both own.
In the line for product, platform or programme — with first verifiable results within 60 days and a documented handover at the end.
Often precisely then. The usual question is not whether the platform works, but whether the business model on top of it holds — and whether you could still switch in three years if you had to.
No. I carried commercial responsibility for an IoT platform rather than building it — with a P&L, a team and customers. I answer the technical questions because they have commercial consequences.
Closely. An agent is only as good as the context it can reach — and that context is exactly the asset semantics and data layer this is about. Without the IoT foundation, agents on the plant floor are not a conversation yet.
EU-wide with a base in Germany and Athens. Outside Europe selectively, through existing OEM or platform-vendor relationships.
What transfers across them: managing devices at scale, standardisation, regulatory compliance, the real opex of telemetry, the governance of connected data.
Sitting at the table when an open standard is written tells you which ecosystem bets compound — and which become technical debt.
Over two decades involved with the consortium behind the OSGi standard, four of them on the board — foundational technology for smart-home and connected-vehicle platforms powering billions of devices.
Four years on the Steering Committee of the OSGi Working Group at the Eclipse Foundation — guiding the evolution of the OSGi standard after the integration of the OSGi Alliance. Active in Eclipse IoT projects (Kanto, hawkBit, Ditto).
Two years as co-chair of the OTA SIG: defined OTA use cases and testbeds, chaired member sessions with automotive OEMs, directly influencing industry-wide FOTA/SOTA standards — foundational infrastructure for Physical AI systems.