A business is ready for its next chapter
The next phase needs a leader who owns the result and develops the team for lasting success.
CEO / Managing Director · Profitable Growth · Europe ↔ Asia
From the factory floor to international leadership. I turn industrial capability into a business that grows.
I started at Thyssen as a production worker. Customer projects and global sales led to CEO and CFO responsibility across Europe and Asia.
That range shapes my decisions: What does the customer need? What can production deliver? What makes economic sense? I bring these perspectives together and work with the team to put the next steps into practice.
- 25+
- years of executive impact
- €8.7m
- new business secured in 2020
- 2008
- continuous China engagement since 2008
Max Brandt
Global Industrial Executive · Author
Leadership focus
CEO / MD · Regional GM · CCO
Turnaround · growth · international expansion
CEO / Managing DirectorTurnaround & Profitable GrowthInternational ExpansionEurope ↔ AsiaCommercial ResetAI from Pilot to Operations
Where I add value
Build the next phase of the business.
I take long-term responsibility for the business: winning customers, strengthening margins, developing people and building an organisation that can grow.
A transformation has stalled
Decisions slip, workstreams drift and no one owns the whole result.
A business unit is underperforming
Revenue, margin, cash or customer confidence must be stabilised and rebuilt.
International expansion needs an owner
A market entry needs customers, partners, operations and governance — not just a strategy deck.
Europe and Asia are talking past each other
Local speed, regulation, customer expectations and headquarters logic need practical translation.
An AI pilot has to become real work
The use case is promising, but process, decision rights, data and accountability are still unclear.
How I work
Direction → Mobilise → Lead → Develop
- 01Responsibilityresult · authority · priorities
- 02Mobilisefacts · people · decision rhythm
- 03Leadchoices · milestones · accountability
- 04Developpeople · capability · lasting growth
AI in management
AI only matters when the work changes.
I connect AI and technology roadmaps with customer value, market priorities and the way an organisation works. Clear decision rights and human accountability turn promising technology into better decisions and reliable execution.
From pilot to practice
Better work
Process · decision · accountability
Machine intelligence
×
Human responsibility
Sense
Use AI-supported research and structured inputs to see relevant signals sooner — with sources and assumptions visible.
Decide
Turn scenarios into explicit choices. Define who decides, what evidence matters and where human judgement is non-negotiable.
Act
Build the use case into roles, workflows and review routines so that the organisation learns from real execution.
Work already done
Developed AI-supported management routines around earlier signals, shorter decision loops and explicit accountability.
Led C-level work that translated AI and technology roadmaps into market-entry, growth and operating-model choices.
Built cross-border advisory capability linking AI-enabled engineering and AD/ADAS data with regulation, market access and customer value.
The leadership task
“I do not measure AI progress by the number of pilots. I look for better decisions, changed workflows and accountable execution.”Concrete work, not AI theatre
Executive track record
What changed because I led it.
Selected, rounded figures from industrial leadership roles. Company names remain confidential here; the scale and outcomes do not.
€8.7mnew business secured in 2020
€3.6mqualified order volume built in 24 months
400k+ tmaterial sales and +4pp profitability
€180m+portfolio across 50+ global programmes
~€260mChina transaction and post-merger integration
€650msales volume stabilisation responsibility
From restructuring to profitable growth
- Challenge
- A restructured metal-processing business needed credible growth, stronger governance and new market relevance.
- Responsibility
- Managing Director / CEO & CFO with responsibility for strategy, cash, people, customers and execution.
- What I changed
- Repositioned the company as a technology-led supplier, opened new regions and sectors, tightened governance and advanced patented high-speed machining.
Volume and margin moved together
- Challenge
- A global materials business needed stronger commercial discipline without sacrificing innovation or customer reach.
- Responsibility
- Global responsibility for sales, marketing and R&D, including pricing, portfolio and two M&A projects.
- What I changed
- Introduced active pricing and portfolio steering, strengthened commercial routines and linked new alloys and coatings to market demand.
Cross-border integration became new business
- Challenge
- A major China transaction had to become a functioning joint operation across different management, customer and industrial systems.
- Responsibility
- On-site integration, technical business development, sales and strategy in Wuhan for 2.5 years.
- What I changed
- Connected European and Chinese stakeholders, translated customer requirements into industrial delivery and co-developed new material and manufacturing solutions.
Europe ↔ Asia
I did not learn China from presentations.
Continuous executive engagement with China since 2008, including 2.5 years of operational responsibility in Wuhan, shapes how I lead across regions. I connect local knowledge with international expectations and give different perspectives a voice in decisions about customers, technology and delivery.
-
01
Operate on site 2.5 years · Wuhan · integration
-
02
Build trust repeatedly Continuous engagement since 2008
-
03
Turn insight into business ~€240m portfolio & new-product business
The decisions behind my CV
No two jobs were alike.
My career began in production at Thyssen. Customer projects, integration in Wuhan, global sales and CEO responsibility followed. Each move brought different questions, people and responsibilities. Changes of direction, setbacks and curiosity are part of that story.
Thyssen · production & materials
Production work, materials testing and production planning
Sino-European automotive joint venture
Wuhan integration and China operations
Automation · metals · automotive supply
Global projects, sales, pricing and growth
Advanced manufacturing · new mobility
CEO leadership, mobility and special situations
Engineering & transformation consulting
Strategy, engineering and technology commercialization
More than a CV
“What you see is what you get. Every one of these steps belongs to my story.”
The person behind the milestones
What you see is what you get.
I used to keep quiet about starting at Thyssen as a production worker. Being a global executive always made it onto my CV, of course.
I filled my CV with achievements. I also tended to leave out that I hadn’t gone straight from school to a top university. Today, I’m coming to understand just how valuable those early steps were.
A date and a title tell you little about what led me to a decision. No two jobs were alike. There were changes of direction and setbacks, and curiosity kept drawing me towards the next step. Those experiences belong to the person you work with today.
Art, design, craftsmanship and music keep me curious: recognising patterns, combining distinct elements and discovering what emerges between them.
What I bring into leadership
Author & thought leader
China Speed — Schnelle neue Welt.
“China Speed is neither praise nor accusation. It is an attempt to understand a phenomenon that challenges our familiar speed of thinking.”
A practical and analytical perspective on infrastructure, digitalization, mobility, industrial scaling and the question of how Europe can respond with greater clarity, responsibility and speed.
Featured in leading business media and executive watch lists.
In conversation
Ideas become useful when they survive dialogue.
Conversations about the future of industry: China’s automotive rise, Europe’s opportunities, and the leadership that turns ideas into execution.
LOAD BEARING · LATEST EPISODE
China’s automotive rise. Can Germany’s carmakers fight back?
· 67 min · English
On Load Bearing, I discuss China’s rise in the automotive industry, the pressure on German carmakers and Europe’s opportunities — from updatable vehicles to industrial AI.
Watch on YouTube ↗YouTube loads only when you press play. This sends connection data to YouTube. Privacy
ATREUS · FUTURE AT ITS BEST · #22
Video short · 1:09 min · German subtitles
China Speed: What Europe needs to learn now
With Petra Becker · 50:10 min · German
How can Europe move faster while building on its own strengths? A conversation about experimentation, clear priorities and the leadership culture that makes change possible.
Open video short ↗Audio is loaded from Podigee only after activation.
INDUSTRY · MOBILITY · TRANSFORMATION
From technological potential to execution
With Sebastian Henßler · 1:15 min excerpt · German
Industrial transformation, mobility and the gap between what technology makes possible and what companies put into practice.
Open video excerpt ↗The next thesis
Die Langsamkeitsfalle — Blockierte Zukunftskraft.
“Europe does not have a knowledge problem. Europe has an execution problem.”
The manuscript connects productivity, capital, industrial scaling, mobility, regulation, leadership, talent and energy. Its conclusion is democratic speed: clear priorities, shorter learning loops and accountable execution — without authoritarian imitation.
Knowledge
→
Capability
→
Impact
New manuscript
Operating experience
I connect industrial depth with commercial responsibility.
My experience spans manufacturing, materials, automotive systems, automation, mobility, engineering services and international commercial leadership.
My advisory experience also includes work with executive and business-unit leaders in aerospace and logistics.
Automotive & Mobility
Robotics & Automation
Industrial Technology
Global / Asia-Pacific
Metals & Materials
Engineering Services
Technology Commercialization
Advanced Manufacturing
Supply Chain & Logistics
Growth & Transformation
AI-shaped Management
PE Portfolio Leadership
Start a conversation
Let us discuss the business you want to build.
hello@maxbrandt.net
Available from 1 October 2026 for permanent CEO, Managing Director, regional general management and commercial leadership roles. I seek full responsibility for the business and its people. Internationally mobile across Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America; relocation or a practical multi-hub arrangement is possible.