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AI strategy & adoption
From a first credible use case to AI agents running inside core, regulated processes, with the governance to keep them there.
Counsel for boards and executive teams
Mithun A.Sridharan
I help leadership teams decide where AI and technology investment will pay off, and then make sure it does. Twenty years across Oracle, KPMG, Publicis Sapient and AWS, in the boardroom, on stage and in print.
Open to advisory mandates and keynote invitations
Founder, MASCon
Fractional CxO
Strategy,
delivered.
20+ years in enterprise technology
Based in Heidelberg, Germany
Two decades inside
Amazon Web Services KPMG Publicis Sapient Oracle MASCon BlueOS
Technology rarely fails on the technology. It fails on the choices made around it: what to fund, what to stop, who owns the result.
20+ Years across engineering, consulting and executive advisory
20K Executives reached through 50+ workshops and webinars
$250M Partner commitments secured for one Industrial Cloud portfolio
20+ Years across engineering, sales, consulting and executive advisory in Europe and the US.
Background
From writing the code to advising the people who fund it.
I started as a software engineer at Oracle, then moved through product management and enterprise sales. I founded a technology advisory and led it to an acquisition, built consulting practices at Publicis Sapient and KPMG, and steered global industry portfolios at Amazon Web Services. Today I run MASCon, advising executives and consultancies on AI and transformation.
- I have sat on every side of the table: builder, seller, practice leader, steward of a nine-figure portfolio.
- Recommendations come with a number attached, and I stay accountable for it.
- Regulation is designed in from the first day: EU AI Act, Data Act, DORA, CSRD.
Advisory
Six ways leadership teams put me to work.
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Enterprise transformation
Large programmes led as the single accountable executive, on an interim or fractional basis, until your organisation carries them alone.
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Investment & portfolio governance
Decide what to fund, what to defer and what to stop, and keep technology spending tied to the strategy it is meant to serve.
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Data & cloud platforms
Modernise the data and cloud foundations that AI depends on, at a cost the business can sustain.
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Regulation & AI governance
Meet the EU AI Act, Data Act, DORA and CSRD with policies and controls that speed decisions up instead of slowing them down.
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Growth advisory for consultancies
Shape the AI proposition, win the complex bid and build the practice that delivers it.
On stage
From the TEDx stage to the executive offsite.
I translate what is happening in AI and technology into what it means for the people who have to decide. No jargon, no hype, and something the audience can act on the next morning.
Two talks on the TEDx stage
One on what leadership demands once AI changes the work itself. One on how nations win, or lose, the contest for innovation. I also organised TEDxParadeplatz.
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Winning the Innovation Game as a Nation TEDxUniMannheim · 2026 - Leadership in the Era of AI TEDxKarlshochschule International University · 2023
- 2
- TEDx talks
- 50+
- Workshops and webinars delivered
- ~20,000
- Executives reached worldwide
Keynotes
A main-stage talk that gives a large audience one clear argument and the evidence behind it.
Executive workshops
A working session with a leadership team that ends in priorities, owners and next steps.
Webinars & panels
Moderated conversations and virtual briefings for customers, partners or internal communities.
In print
Books on strategy, innovation and decisions that cannot wait.
The questions I work on with clients, taken at book length: how to decide well when the stakes are highest, and how nations and companies compete once technology becomes a matter of national interest.
Decisions under pressure
Mayday! Mayday!
Decision-making Under Duress
How sound decisions get made when time, information and margin for error have all run out, and what leaders can learn from those who face that every day.
Get the book
High-stakes leadership
Betrayed By Fog
Lessons In High-Stakes Decision-Making From The Tenerife Disaster
The Tenerife runway collision read as a case study in how experienced people and well-run organisations arrive at catastrophic decisions, with lessons for anyone who leads under pressure.
Get the book
Innovation & techno-nationalism
The Protopian Path
Winning The Innovation Game As A Nation
How nations compete for technological advantage, and what winning the innovation game asks of governments, companies and the people who lead them. The subject of my TEDxUniMannheim talk.
Get the book
Science for curious minds
Nuclinus and Atom Friends
A Journey Through The Periodic Table
A journey through the periodic table in the company of Nuclinus and the atom friends, written to make the building blocks of everything approachable.
Get the bookReviewer and contributor
The Standard for Artificial Intelligence in Portfolio, Program and Project Management
I reviewed and contributed to the PMI standard that sets out how AI should be applied and governed across portfolios, programmes and projects.
Selected outcomes
What the work looks like once the numbers are in.
2020 – 2023
2.5x Return on invested capital on a US$100M investment
A 2.5x return on an Industrial Cloud portfolio
US$100M invested, US$250M in partner commitments 2023 – present
15+ Agentic AI use cases across three lines of business
Agentic AI across three lines of business
15+ use cases, and adoption that followed 2018 – 2020
~13,000 Consultants using the platform
A platform for 13,000 consultants
KPMG Cosmos, from budget line to recurring revenue 2023 – present
60–80% Reduction in CSRD readiness gaps
Regulatory readiness for European financial services
CSRD, DORA and the EU AI Act, without the standstill 2020 – 2023
~50% Fewer reconciliation defects at a global bank
Data foundations for European banks
Standardised architectures and data lakes for BCBS 239 2013 – 2016
~150K Hours of manual work saved every year
150,000 hours returned to a global retailer
Business process automation at scaleDepth
Where boardroom questions meet engineering answers.
I can hold the conversation with the CFO about return and with the architects about the stack. Most programmes stall in the gap between the two.
Agentic AI From first use case to regulated AI factories running at scale.
Investment portfolios Intake, prioritisation and governance that follow the strategy.
Operating models Target operating models, SAFe and OKRs people actually use.
Data platforms Lakehouse modernisation, data governance and stewardship.
Cloud & DevSecOps Multi-cloud strategy, migration and FinOps across AWS, Azure and GCP.
Regulation EU AI Act, Data Act, DORA, CSRD, BCBS 239, GDPR.
Deal strategy Complex bids, pricing and partner ecosystems.
Change & adoption Playbooks, coaching and enablement that make it stick.
Career
Twenty years, six vantage points.
MASCon
Founder and fractional CxO. Advising executives and consultancies on AI go-to-market, transformation and portfolio decisions.
HeidelbergAmazon Web Services
Global industry advisor and portfolio lead. Counsel to executives on strategic digital transformation investments.
Heidelberg · SeattleKPMG
Senior Manager and Prokurist. Established new consulting practices and partnerships to deliver technology platforms.
Mannheim · New JerseyPublicis Sapient
Practice leader. Incubated and scaled business-technology consulting practices across EMEA.
Frankfurt · LondonBlueOS
Founder and managing director. Built a technology advisory and led it through to a successful acquisition.
Eschborn · ZürichOracle
Engineering, product management, technology advocacy and enterprise account management.
WalldorfJournal
Questions executives keep asking about AI.
AI's Role In Bridging Data Skills Gap
The data management skills gap presents a significant challenge for the financial sector and beyond.
AI in Municipality
How Soon Will Complaints Handling Be Automated?
How do you define AI talent?
AI talent encompasses individuals with specialized skills and knowledge in Artificial Intelligence and related fields
FAQ
Asked before most mandates begin.
Something else on your mind?
Send a few lines about the decision or the event you have in view. You will get a straight answer on whether and how I can help.
Get in touchWho do you typically work with?
Boards, executive teams and the consultancies that serve them. Most of my work has been in financial services, automotive and manufacturing, and telecommunications and utilities, with further mandates in retail, healthcare and aviation.
Can you step in as an interim or part-time executive?
Yes. A good share of my work is fractional: holding a technology, data or transformation remit for a defined period, as the single accountable lead, until the organisation is ready to carry it without me.
Do you speak at conferences and company events?
Regularly. Alongside two TEDx talks I have spoken at conferences such as NDC Porto, AI DevWorld, DWX and SHRM Atlanta, and delivered more than 50 workshops and webinars reaching around 20,000 executives worldwide. Formats range from a main-stage keynote to a half-day working session with a leadership team.
Can you help us with AI regulation and compliance?
That is a core part of the work. I have put in place policies and guardrails for DORA, the EU AI Act and the EU Data Act, aligned to ISO 27001, ISO 42001 and NIS2, and built CSRD readiness roadmaps for banks.
Do you advise consultancies as well as their clients?
Yes. I help consulting firms shape their AI propositions, lead complex bids and structure deals, and build the practices that deliver them. I have incubated and scaled practices at Publicis Sapient and KPMG.
How does an engagement begin?
With a conversation about the decision in front of you. If I can help, you get a short written proposal with scope, outcomes and how we will measure them. If I am not the right person, I will say so.
Open to advisory mandates and keynote invitations
Facing a decision on AI or transformation that has to be right?
Tell me what is at stake, who has to be convinced and by when. Whether you need an advisor in the room or a voice on your stage, that is enough to start.