KONUX’s AI tech team to host DNI.Munich on April 20th
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With the widespread integration of AI technology, we all anticipate that every aspect of our lives and industries, including traditional ones like transportation and railway, will be affected. In our quest to understand this phenomenon, we spoke with KONUX’s tech team to uncover the secrets behind their company’s AI technology, its rapid growth, and what it means to work as part of their tech team.
Greetings, and thank you for joining us again, KONUX team! We are eager to learn more about your company and how your technology experts are integrating AI into the railway industry, which is known for its long-standing traditions. Could you please share with us some insights on this topic?
The railway is the safest, most efficient, and most sustainable motorized mode of transport but is in major need of transformation. The reality for railways is different from many modern technology-driven industries. While complexity and control are inherent to the railway system, when it comes to information, siloed approaches fail to produce the kind of solutions which will set the railway to be the mobility choice of tomorrow. It is time to boldly re-envision how things are done. We’re the first company that takes all of the revolution brought by Al and applies it to this conservative industry. Combining industrial IoT and machine learning and seeing the exponential value of data when grown and shared, our solutions bridge the information gap between infrastructure maintenance and operations by addressing some of the hardest problems in railways. From helping to minimize downtimes of critical assets to intelligent traffic management — We’re transforming railway operations for a sustainable future by increasing capacity, reliability, and cost efficiency. For our team, this means not only working with cutting-edge technologies but also driving culture change to help the modal shift to more sustainable mobility.
Can you elaborate on the distinctive features that set your Munich-based tech team and office apart from others? We would love to learn more about what makes them unique.
You’ve probably met a few people crazy enough to think they can transform an industry, but to actually do it… At KONUX, we get excited about tough challenges, because we’re convinced that these are the ones with a big impact. We’re transforming the way the railway industry operates — impacting future mobility and climate change. And we’re actually doing things that have never been done before. That requires a very broad variety of people with different skills, backgrounds, and perspectives. At the same time, we know that we can only accomplish them as a team. That shows through in our culture and office vibes: We foster an environment of openness and curiosity, in which people can own their topic, speak up, try new things — be at their best, and contribute to the company’s vision. It’s a very energetic, very social work environment, with a flat hierarchy and strong feedback culture. You see people from across the organization working together a lot, sharing ideas and having fun along the way.
Name three words, which describe the atmosphere at your office?
Vibrant, collaborative, fun
What makes working for KONUX so special?
The team. We’re a diverse bunch of witty, creative nerd builders who are very passionate about what we do and strongly collaborate to achieve our common mission. There are plenty of opportunities for everyone to bring themselves in and have an impact. In doing so, you’ll always be supported by your colleagues. And while we care about what we do, we don’t take ourselves too seriously.
What’s your impact on the Munich tech community, and what was the biggest lesson your tech team learned during the pandemic?
It’s no secret that KONUX has been growing a lot. From our humble beginnings as a small startup to our current status as a well-funded scale-up with industry leaders from around the world among our customers, we created more than 150 jobs in the Munich ecosystem and are well-known as one of the city’s successful tech startups pushing the limits of AI. In a quest to hire the brightest minds and greatest talent, we know that we have to create a work environment in which people love coming to work. We have to lead in diversity, equity, and inclusion, in order to stay ahead of the competition and our People & Culture team is walking the walk, breaking down barriers and creating an inclusive workplace valuing everyone’s unique perspective. We’ve implemented policies to promote work-life balance and flexible working arrangements to empower people to be at their best. This also helped us, when Covid hit and we had to send our people into the home office.
One of the biggest lessons back then was about the importance of agility and adaptability: within the organization, within different teams and projects or even with customers. As a company in the B2G sector, our business model isn’t as directly affected by crises as others. Obviously, our operations changed as we shifted to remote work and couldn’t travel as intended, but we were able to adapt quickly and ensure that our people could continue to work effectively from home. As important as providing material for a home office setup, is the social aspect: giving support to people in this strange time, and maintaining a sense of community. Overall, we came out stronger from the pandemic than before, because we stuck together as a team. Also, we added diversity and experience to our management team, welcoming our new CEO, Adam Bonniefield, former VP of AI at Airbus and Presidential Innovation Fellow for the White House, and our new Head of Sales, Huschke Diekmann, former CTO at Siemens and Director at GE. Since then, we have changed and adapted our organization and our way of working, thriving to become the best IioT and an A-player with an impact on the railway industry.
Can you provide us with an overview of your current technology job openings for the spring/summer of 2023? Also, which of these positions do you anticipate being the most challenging to fill, and what are the reasons behind it?
Overall, KONUX is a rapidly growing technology company that focuses on Industrial IoT and AI-based solutions, specializing in providing smart sensors, software, and analytics. As a result, we are typically hiring for software engineering roles, data science and machine learning, IoT engineering, and product-related ones. Such roles are Backend & Frontend Developers, DevOps Engineers, Embedded Engineers, Data Scientists, or Product Managers.
It’s hard to predict which positions will be the most challenging to fill, as it depends on various factors such as the job market, industry trends that are rapidly changing and evolving, specific skill sets required, and competition with other employers. However, it is usually about those that involve emerging technologies and or those that have a high demand in the market, especially those which involve a combination of software engineering and cloud technologies plus AI/IoT.
Join us at the KONUX headquarters on April 20th by registering here, if you are a software engineer, data scientist, PM, or UI/UX designer located in Munich.
