Dr. Jan Philip Göpfert
AI Consultant & Entrepreneur | Machine Learning PhD
Executive Summary
Machine Learning PhD and AI entrepreneur with a decade of experience transforming complex AI concepts into scalable business solutions. Proven track record of delivering practical AI systems with measurable ROI across enterprise clients and startups. Combines deep technical expertise in adversarial robustness, data engineering, and system architecture with strategic business acumen to drive AI adoption and digital transformation.
Core Competencies
Professional Experience
AI Consultant & Entrepreneur
Independent Practice
Strategic Consulting: Advise businesses on AI adoption strategies, automation opportunities, and digital transformation roadmaps
Industry Speaking: Deliver keynote presentations and technical talks at industry conferences on AI applications and implementation strategies
Product Development: Architect and develop AI-powered systems including content generation platforms and intelligent community engagement tools
Technical Writing: Author influential articles on RAG implementation realities, API-first architecture, and practical AI deployment challenges
Principal Artificial Intelligence Engineer
VisionAI
Technical Leadership: Led R&D team expansion and advanced AI product development following success of semantic search platform
Customer Development: Conducted customer research and requirements analysis to drive product roadmap and technical architecture decisions
Product Strategy: Guided technical vision for next-generation e-commerce AI applications and platform scalability
Senior Data Scientist
VisionAI (formerly Recommendy)
Pipeline Optimization: Rewrote ML training infrastructure, achieving 200x performance improvement through architectural redesign
Infrastructure Modernization: Migrated from Jupyter/Colab to production-grade architecture using FastAPI, SQL databases, and Google Cloud Platform
Product Innovation: Developed semantic search platform enabling natural language product discovery - became company's flagship product and drove company rebrand to VisionAI
Research Assistant — Machine Learning
CITEC, Bielefeld University
Research Leadership: Led investigations into adversarial robustness, uncertainty quantification, and human-machine interaction
PhD Completion: Completed doctoral thesis "Robustness in Machine Learning: Adversarial Perturbations, Explanations & Intuition" (2022)
Team Management: Supervised 15+ Bachelor and Master theses, developing next-generation researchers
Publication Success: Co-authored papers in top-tier venues (IEEE, ICANN, ECML) with significant industry impact
Research Assistant — Computer Graphics & AI
CITEC, Bielefeld University
Applied Research: Pioneered machine learning applications in 3D scanning and geometry processing
Educational Leadership: Designed and delivered Scientific Computing lecture to 50+ students
Cross-Disciplinary Innovation: Bridged computer graphics and ML, contributing to 3D head reconstruction using CNNs
International Experience
SAP Labs Shanghai
Researched Monte Carlo Methods and Predictive Analytics for SAP HANA in-memory database
Conducted market analysis and developed prototypes for enterprise-scale analytics
Education
PhD, Machine Learning
Bielefeld University
Robustness in Machine Learning: Adversarial Perturbations, Explanations & Intuition
MSc, Intelligent Systems
Bielefeld University
Self-Improving Blendshape Models
BSc, Mathematics
Bielefeld University
Knot Theory and the Jones Polynomial
A Levels
Gordonstoun School, Scotland
Technical Expertise
AI & Machine Learning
Data Engineering & Architecture
Programming & Development
Business Intelligence
Languages
Selected Publications & Research Impact
Robustness in Machine Learning
Comprehensive investigation of adversarial robustness in neural networks with practical implications for production AI systems.
Deep Learning for Understanding Satellite Imagery
Co-authored survey achieving state-of-the-art results in building detection using U-Net and Mask R-CNN architectures.
Intuitiveness in Active Teaching
Proposed framework for human-AI interaction, directly applicable to enterprise AI adoption strategies.
Additional Publications: 15+ peer-reviewed papers in machine learning, computer graphics, and human-computer interaction.
Leadership & Management
Team Development
Mentorship: Supervised 15+ graduate theses, developing talent pipeline for AI industry
Teaching Excellence: Delivered university-level courses to 250+ students
Cross-Cultural Leadership: Managed international student programs
Strategic Initiatives
Community Building: Founded and led student organizations
Process Innovation: Developed research-to-production AI workflows
International Experience: Research across Germany, China, and Scotland
Philosophy & Approach
My approach to technology leadership combines rigorous scientific thinking with practical business acumen. I believe in building AI systems that deliver measurable value while maintaining ethical standards and technical robustness. My experience spans the complete spectrum from fundamental research to production deployment, enabling me to guide organizations through the complexities of AI adoption with both technical depth and strategic clarity.
I'm particularly passionate about bridging the gap between AI hype and practical implementation, helping organizations avoid common pitfalls while maximizing the transformative potential of intelligent systems.