Over the years I've helped establish operational processes & efficiencies for high growth companies and was part of global large scale project implementations. Until recently I have been looking after operations at www.interel.com, creating sustainable intelligent environments in the smart building industry through proprietary hardware, software, and services. Previously, I oversaw product development for www.iris.net, a mobile applications SaaS provider in the hospitality space. In these positions I've been lucky enough to work with several high end clients, winning numerous awards for the products in the process. I was a mentor for www.newchip.com’s accelerator program, and right now I’m part of www.gainadvisors.com, helping hospitality companies to optimize their operation, and am advising SMEs and founders such as Alphaben on digital and strategy topics.

Work

My expertise lies in R&D, Product, Supply Chain & Operations strategy in the technology space, where I was able to build a track record of managing cloud based mobile products and IoT solutions across enterprise platforms from idea to support phase through all organizational departments in fast growing businesses in the hospitality industry.

Selected Industry Articles

Hotelier Middle East, (2019) “Academy Rewards” (Interview)

Hotelier Middle East, (2019) “Academy Rewards” (Interview)

Florian Kriechbaumer, (2017) “Big Things Are Coming This Way”, Hotel News ME

Academia

Research on digital transformation in hospitality is an interest for me and I’m currently a Research Fellow at The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management. As part of this, I was able to publish a number of research papers with the aim to bring industry insights to academia, spoke at industry conferences and share insights through guest lectures and mentoring students at universities on related topics.

In November 2023 I started my next academic project and joint the dual Master of Science and Doctorate of Business Administrate program by MCI - The Entrepreneurial School in Innsbruck, Austria, and the University of Monaco. My research here is focused on effective mentorship strategies for solo founders, so if you have insights into this area or look to collaborate on, please get in touch.

Selected Research Papers

Nadkarni, S., Kriechbaumer, F., Christodoulidou, N., & Rothenberger, M. A. (2023). Industry 4.0 applications towards sustainability in hospitality: First waves in the guest room. Journal of Global Business Insights, 8(1), 31-48. https://www.doi.org/10.5038/2640-6489.8.1.1216

Nadkarni, S., Kriechbaumer, F., Rothenberger, M. and Christodoulidou, N.(2019), "The path to the Hotel of Things: Internet of Things and Big Data converging in hospitality", Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 93-107. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-12-2018-0120

Kriechbaumer, F. (2019), "SOLOMO – are hospitality SMEs able to move beyond traditional websites in their digital marketing roadmap for Expo 2020?", Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 298-313. https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-02-2019-0010

Here are a few thoughts I was able to share as part of the Alumni series for my former university, in the hope that they will support students in their career choices.

Startups

I’ve been an angel investor in more than a dozen companies by directly funding seed stage ventures, or join later stage pre-IPO rounds via crowdfunding and private placements. I am open to joining NPOs or advisory boards and to support early stage founders, particularly solo entrepreneurs in the UAE.

Selected investments:

  • El Grocer - UAE (acquired by e&)

  • Instacart - USA (exited via private sale)

  • Gingko Bioworks - USA (exited via merger to Soaring Eagle)

  • Impossible Foods - USA

  • Groq - USA

  • Scale AI - USA

  • SaaScada - UK

  • OneMoto - UAE

  • Udrive - UAE

Further Writing