From self-driving cars to AI avatars: the same problem in a new suit
Perception, trust, and teaching machines to understand humans — why my job barely changed when I left autonomous vehicles for voice AI.
Vienna, Austria · Co-Founder & CTO, Kugelblitz
Hello. I'm Matthias.
I build AI systems that amplify human potential. I spent years teaching cars to see; now I'm co-founding Kugelblitz, where we give creators a voice you can actually talk back to.
This site is mostly a place to write — essays on building, engineering, leadership, and the occasional detour into photography or faith.
Photography is how I pay attention. It's the same instinct that makes a decent engineer: notice the thing everyone else walks past.
Selected writing
Essays & notes
What safety-critical engineering taught me about shipping
At Cruise, a bug could put two tons of steel through a red light. Here's what that pressure taught me about moving fast without being reckless.
How I run a small engineering team
Concrete, honest, occasionally uncomfortable — the operating rules I use to keep a small team fast, aligned, and sane.
Careers aren't linear
On reinventing yourself every few years — why the winding path is the point, not a detour to apologize for.
Careers don't have to be linear. Mine has run from autonomous vehicles to industrial vision to a voice-AI startup — and I think that's the normal shape of a builder's life, not the exception.