Wilfried Schaffner Email & Phone Number

Vienna, Vienna, At

Cultivating innovation and growth by providing structure, processes, and autonomy to our team of seasoned professionals. Join us at 5G Systems and unleash your potential in a dynamic environment.

Vienna, Austria, At

As CTO and Head of Products at Speech Processing Solutions, I spearheaded the evolution of the mainly hardware focussed Philips dictation business into a modern powerhouse of software and hardware development with innovative workflow management and intelligent speech recognition tools. By leveraging deep learning AI models and cutting-edge technologies, we revolutionized professional dictation and speech management on a global scale. Applying startup principles and modern web and app concepts, we merged these innovations with the world-class expertise of the Speech Processing Solutions team, resulting in the development of cutting-edge products within a state-of-the-art development environment. Our commitment to excellence and continuous innovation propelled us to maintain our position as the global leader in professional dictation and speech management solutions.

As CEO of tripwolf, I led the transformation of an Austrian startup into a global leader with over 13 million mobile app downloads. Embracing a 'mobile-first' strategy, I cultivated a high-performing mobile marketing team focused on ASO and performance marketing, propelling our apps to the forefront of the travel industry. By prioritizing user experience and implementing lean methodologies, we achieved remarkable increases in app store ratings. Our revenue soared through strategic adoption of freemium models, targeted communication, and key affiliate partnerships, solidifying tripwolf's position as a market leader in interactive travel guides.

Barangaroo, Nsw, Au

As CTO and Head of Products at Nearmap.com, I led the transformation of our online SaaS platform by harnessing the power of AI to deliver high-quality, up-to-date PhotoMaps covering over 75% of Australia's population in a fully automated fashion. Spearheading the integration of AI technologies, we seamlessly stitched together single images into expansive canvases, providing users with unprecedented detail and accuracy. Our migration to cloud infrastructure, with over 100 servers and petabytes of data, positioned nearmap.com as a trailblazer in cloud adoption, earning us the distinction of being the largest AWS customer in the Southern Hemisphere. By implementing agile methodologies and lean principles, we fostered enhanced collaboration and rapid iteration cycles, facilitating the introduction of innovative e-commerce solutions and subscription services. Addressing the unique challenges of managing vast amounts of digital imagery, we architected storage solutions that balanced persistence with high-speed access, ensuring an unparalleled user experience.

Los Angeles, Ca, Us

Responsible for all e-commerce product lines of the entire global business of Mobile Messenger, which are generating annual revenue of over $300 Million. Built up a subscription business with a powerful distributed subscription engine in the background.In charge of product roadmaps for all product lines and main interface between IT and business. Driving force behind building new product features and new product lines to improve user experience resulting in increased Average Revenue Per User (ARPU).Built and established a new product management team following a new agile based product life cycle process with a high grade of automation, which allows the team to coordinate the complete cycle for 24 different product lines. Served as the department evangelist for reporting and analysis. Created and established P&L analysis for all product lines. Member of the Mobile Messenger leadership team. Part of 3 due diligences (1 in the USA, 2 in Europe).

Los Angeles, Ca, Us

I was brought on board to lead the restructuring of our dynamic IT team, imbuing it with stability and scalability to accommodate rapid growth. Guided by a startup mentality, I orchestrated the formation of a robust and agile engineering team, implementing essential structures, processes, and quality assurance protocols.A key aspect of my role involved defining and implementing a new development life cycle to drive efficiency and collaboration across all teams. I established a dedicated project management office, optimizing project delivery by facilitating seamless coordination and communication among team members.Managing an offshore outsourcing team in India comprising over 30 developers, system analysts, testers, and project managers, I ensured effective collaboration and alignment with organizational goals. Concurrently, I initiated the creation of a specialized QA team, crafting comprehensive testing frameworks and core test cases to uphold product quality.Through the introduction of tools like HP Quality Centre, I augmented our testing capabilities and spearheaded the integration of test automation, enhancing regression testing efficiency and performance.Additionally, I assumed responsibility for leading the Technical Support Team, implementing ITIL best practices and instituting new processes to enhance service delivery standards and effectively manage technical escalations.My tenure as Director marked a period of transformative change, where strategic leadership and innovative initiatives propelled Mobile Messenger towards operational excellence, laying the groundwork for sustained growth and success.

I was responsible to build a mobile product (before the time of iPhones) with an online web application to locate trucks on a map and communicate via mobile networks of scratch. We designed the product, built it, and launched it successfully in the market. The product was on of the first profitable e-commerce businesses in Germany.Commercially I established a subscription business with mobile hardware and flat-fee mobile communications at a time this was not offered in the market, showing our innovative thinking and approach.I had full budget responsibility.Truck24 made a successful exit and was sold to Cybit Holding Plc, a global force in Telematics, operating within three core sectors: Internet-based vehicle Telematics solutions, Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ) Management, and Private Mobile Radio (PMR) based asset tracking and precise positioning solutions.

Project management, design and implementation of an onboard computer system for trucks (Windows CE and Windows Mobile based) equipped with GSM module (communication over SMS and GPRS) and GPS receiver, written in embedded Visual C++ and the newer generation in C#.When I started in the company I did the whole software design, implementation and coding (C++ and C #), testing and bug fixing together with an outsourced team. As the company grew later we expanded the team and hired additional developers for the mobile department. In the year 2004 we had 3000 installed systems, which made Truck24 the market leader in Germany.I contributed a lot in the design and the architecture of the GSM communication server, which communicates via SMS and GPRS over the GSM network.The implementation and design was done in a full JEE architecture.I also did analyses and research to establish a new product segment with Nokia Symbian smart phones. For this I started with the implementation of a prototype for a Nokia 6600 written in C++. Later I built a small team around this idea, run the product and project management, contributed in the software design and managed the roll-out to production.

Software Engineering And Architecture

Bs, Electronics, Informatics And Telecommunication Technologies