Artificial Intelligence Governance · Munich · Global · Freelance since 2014
PatrickUpmann
The Architect of Defensible AI Governance — building the global infrastructure that makes AI accountable when it matters most.
Founder & Architect · AIGN.Global · AIGN OS 4.0
Author · Defensible Trust & Governing Outsourced Intelligence
Keynote Speaker · TRT World Forum · NATO SPS · EBS Symposium · Fintech Week Frankfurt
18+ DOI-Registered Frameworks · SSRN & Zenodo · 25+ Years Governance Experience
Author · Defensible Trust & Governing Outsourced Intelligence
Keynote Speaker · TRT World Forum · NATO SPS · EBS Symposium · Fintech Week Frankfurt
18+ DOI-Registered Frameworks · SSRN & Zenodo · 25+ Years Governance Experience
Available immediately · 50–100%
Interim · Advisory · Europe / Remote / Hybrid
Interim · Advisory · Europe / Remote / Hybrid
Available Now
Referenced by global media
on AI governance & institutional sovereignty.
on AI governance & institutional sovereignty.
International Media Coverage
Infobae Mundo · The New Africa Magazine
Infobae Mundo · The New Africa Magazine
International Media Coverage · External Recognition
When it matters globally,
When it matters globally,
independent media quotes Upmann.
Infobae Mundo · June 2026 · Latin America’s largest news platform
Experts warn of risks in adopting Chinese AI models in sensitive sectors
Quoted as an independent expert on AI governance, geopolitical model dependency, and institutional sovereignty — alongside global specialists on the strategic and regulatory risks of AI supply chain concentration.
Read article at Infobae
The New Africa Magazine · May–June 2025 · Pan-African print & digital
AI Governance on the African agenda — a continent’s strategic moment
Featured in the pan-African edition covering the governance and regulatory landscape for AI across emerging markets — positioning AIGN’s frameworks as relevant infrastructure for the Global South.
Read in flipbook edition
Thought Leadership & Global Impact
Defining governance —
Defining governance —
operationally, globally, auditably.
Patrick Upmann is not the typical governance consultant. He is the architect of the world’s first certifiable AI governance operating system — AIGN OS 4.0 — and one of the few practitioners globally who treats governance not as a policy exercise, but as a matter of operational infrastructure.
With over 25 years of operational governance experience at E.ON, MEAG/Munich Re, Volkswagen Group, and BCG — and as an invited speaker at the TRT World Forum, NATO SPS Conference, 37th EBS Symposium, and Fintech Week Frankfurt — Upmann is one of the defining voices in global AI governance.
His DOI-registered frameworks, two books published on Amazon KDP, and 27 issues of the AI Governance Gap Brief establish „Defensible AI Governance“ as a distinct global discipline in its own right.
01
Keynotes & Global Speaking
TRT World Forum Istanbul · NATO SPS Armenia · 37th EBS Symposium · Fintech Week Frankfurt · Direct Booking Summit Mexico City
02
Books & Publications
Defensible Trust · Governing Outsourced Intelligence · 18+ DOI-Registered Frameworks · SSRN · Zenodo · 27 Issues AI Governance Gap Brief
03
Architecture & Frameworks
AIGN OS 4.0 · ASGR Index · REG Framework · Runtime Economic Governance · AIGN GovPass Plugin · DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19450612
04
Community & Reach
18,600+ LinkedIn Followers · 2,100+ AIGN Members · 3,100+ Gap Brief Subscribers · 50+ Countries · Regulators, Universities, Industry
Verifiable Authority
AIGN OS 4.0 — DOI-Registered
8-layer AI governance operating system. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19450612 · Referenced by governments, universities, and standardisation bodies worldwide.
TRT World Forum 2025 — Istanbul
Invited speaker alongside heads of state, regulators, and global technology leaders. Officially confirmed on the speaker page.
NATO SPS 2026 — Armenia
Invited expert on AI governance in geopolitical and security contexts. NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme.
2 Books on Amazon KDP
Defensible Trust (2026) · Governing Outsourced Intelligence (2026) — reference works for boards, AI offices, CFOs, and compliance leaders.
Quoted by Infobae Mundo — June 2026
Latin America’s largest news platform cited Upmann on AI model dependency, geopolitical governance risk, and institutional sovereignty.
Education Trust Label — Seoul 2025
First-ever DOI-registered AI governance trust label for educational institutions worldwide. Pioneer pilot in Asia.
Reference Clients
E.ON · MEAG / Munich Re · Volkswagen Group · BCG · TEDi · GenoAkademie · BSR · Mobility Inside
Proven Impact
+30% efficiency gain through consent automation (E.ON) · 5 organisations guided through Big-4 and BaFin audits · Role and access matrix models rebuilt for enterprise systems · DORA, NIS2, GDPR, and ISO 27001 translated into operational SAP control structures
Publications · Amazon KDP · 2026
Two books. One argument:
Two books. One argument:
Governance must be provable.
01
Book · 2026 · Amazon KDP
Defensible Trust:
From AI Governance Principles
to Operational Evidence
From AI Governance Principles
to Operational Evidence
The reference work for the next stage of AI governance — the shift from principles to operational evidence. When AI acts inside real workflows, a new question emerges: can the organisation prove control? Which AI system was used? What was it permitted to do? Who reviewed the result? What costs were created? This book introduces Defensible Trust as a practical governance category for boards, AI offices, risk, legal, and compliance leaders.
Order on Amazon →
02
Book · 2026 · Amazon KDP
Governing Outsourced Intelligence:
Runtime Economic Governance
for AI-Enabled Enterprises
Runtime Economic Governance
for AI-Enabled Enterprises
What happens when an enterprise redesigns itself around intelligence it does not own? This book examines the emerging economics of AI-enabled enterprises: token consumption, agentic workflows, supplier concentration, operational lock-in, and the strategic consequences of renting cognitive capacity from external providers. Runtime Economic Governance — keeping AI-enabled work economically controllable, stoppable, and strategically reversible while it is running.
Order on Amazon →
„AI governance can no longer remain a policy exercise. The next era will be defined by evidence, classification, permission, runtime control, and board-level assurance.“— Patrick Upmann · Defensible Trust, 2026
Keynotes & Global Speaking
On the stages that
On the stages that
shape governance.
Invited as an independent voice at international conferences, NATO forums, economic symposia, and financial events — from Istanbul to Armenia, Frankfurt to Mexico City.
„AI governance does not fail because principles are missing — it fails because no one stands behind decisions when it matters. That is what I build: governance that holds under real conditions.“
— Patrick Upmann · Founder, AIGN.Global
2025
TRT World Forum
Istanbul, Turkey
Invited speaker on AI governance as global infrastructure — alongside heads of state, regulators, and international technology leaders. Officially confirmed speaker at one of the world’s most significant geopolitical forums.
Confirmed Speaker · trtworldforum.com/speaker/patrick-upmann
2026
NATO Science for Peace & Security (SPS)
Armenia
Invited expert on AI governance in geopolitical and security-policy contexts. NATO SPS Programme — focus on trustworthy AI governance as security-relevant infrastructure.
NATO SPS Programme · 2026
2026
37th EBS Symposium
EBS University, Germany
Invited to the renowned economic symposium of EBS University for Business and Law — one of Europe’s leading platforms for business, law, and leadership in dialogue with top decision-makers.
ebs-symposium.de · 37th Edition
2026
5th Fintech Week Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Official Keynote Speaker · Panel: „AI Governance, Risk & Regulation: From Black Box to Explainable Finance“ — Europe’s leading fintech forum focused on regulatory AI governance in financial services.
Official Keynote Speaker · Frankfurt
2025
Direct Booking Summit
Mexico City, Mexico
Keynote on AI governance in the hospitality industry — how hotel companies can deploy AI systems responsibly while keeping direct bookings governance-compliant.
International Speaker · 2025
2025
Education Trust Label — Pilot Seoul
Seoul, South Korea
Launch of the first DOI-registered AI governance trust label for educational institutions in Asia. Pioneer certification — a milestone for international AI governance standards in education.
Pioneer Pilot · Seoul 2025
Academic Publications · DOI-Registered
18+ Frameworks.
18+ Frameworks.
Peer-reviewed. Referenced worldwide.
All frameworks are DOI-registered on Zenodo and SSRN — cited by regulators, universities, and standardisation bodies across Europe, Asia, and North America.
18+
DOI-Registered
Frameworks
Frameworks
2
Books
(Amazon KDP)
(Amazon KDP)
SSRN
Zenodo · ORCID
Published
Published
3+
Continents
cited
cited
2026
AIGN Runtime Economic Governance: Governing AI Cost, Usage and Value in the Token Economy
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.20638267
Zenodo · AIGN
2026
AIGN EOS: Education Operating System for Trustworthy AI Decisions Affecting Children
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.19450612
Zenodo · Preprint
2026
The Control–Liability Paradox in AI Governance: Where AI Liability Actually Begins
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.19383750
Zenodo · Report
2026
The Geopolitics of AI Governance — AI Governance as a Geopolitical Infrastructure
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.19064602
AIGN Global · Preprint
2026
Operationalizing Responsible AI: A Systemic AI Governance Architecture for Organizational Implementation
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.19047363
AIGN Global · Report
2026
AI Slop in the Enterprise: Synthetic Knowledge Amplification and the Governance of Organisational Knowledge Infrastructures
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.18936597
AIGN OS Research
2025
AIGN OS — AI Agents: The AI Governance Stack as a New Regulatory Infrastructure
DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.5543162
SSRN Working Paper
2025
AIGN OS — Trust Infrastructure: Certification, Licensing, and Market Enforcement for Responsible AI
DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.5561078
SSRN Working Paper
2025
AIGN — Procurement Governance Gate
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17936982
Zenodo · Working Paper
2025
The AI Navigation Gap: A Cross-Domain Analysis of Why Modern Organizations Cannot Form a Unified Future Logic
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17702876
Zenodo · Working Paper
2025
AIGN OS 2.0 — The Operating System for Responsible AI Governance (Architecture, Compliance & Trust Infrastructure)
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17659911
Zenodo · Working Paper
2025
The ASGR Index — Establishing the First Global Benchmark for Systemic AI Governance Readiness
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17475315
Zenodo · Working Paper
2025
The AIGN Declaration on Systemic AI Governance: Defining the Operating Principles for the Age of Intelligent Systems
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17481653
Zenodo · Working Paper
2025
AIGN Systemic AI Governance Stress Test
DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.5489746
SSRN Working Paper
2025
AIGN — AI Governance Compliance Framework for SAP® S/4HANA
DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.5494068
SSRN Working Paper
2025
AIGN OS — The Operating System for Responsible AI Governance
DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.5382603
SSRN Working Paper
2025
The AIGN Academy — Institutionalizing Systemic AI Governance Education
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17462559
Zenodo · Working Paper
2025
AIGN Legal — From Law to Architecture: Institutionalising Systemic Legal AI Governance
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17573539
Zenodo · Working Paper
Monthly Newsletter · LinkedIn · 27 Issues
The AI Governance
The AI Governance
Gap Brief.
27 issues. One structural gap per issue. Written for boards, regulators, and senior leaders — not where governance looks good on paper, but where it actually breaks.
From agentic AI collapse to procurement gaps, from EU AI Act liability exposure to cultural governance failure — the sharpest monthly signal on what organisations are getting wrong, and why.
3,100+
Global Subscribers — Regulators · Board Members
Researchers · Compliance Leaders · Executives
Researchers · Compliance Leaders · Executives
Block 1 — Technology & AI Systems · 7 Issues
Block 2 — Organisation & Culture · 10 Issues
#24
The Human-in-the-Loop Gap
#23
The Advisory Board Gap
#22
The Job Market Gap
#17
The Interoperability Gap
#16
The Cultural Gap
#13
The AI Governance Gap Is the Time Gap
#12
Why We Still Don’t Budget for AI Governance Integration
#8
The Procurement Governance Gap
#2
The Human AI Governance Gap
#1
Why Architecture Beats Checklists
Block 3 — Regulation & Liability · 10 Issues
#27 · New
The Governance Gap — The Evidence Gap
#26
The Capture Gap
#25
The Voluntary Gap
#21
Why the EU AI Act Delay Does Not Delay Enterprise Risk
#15
The False Data Protection Reflex
#11
Insurability Is the New Reality Test for AI Governance
#10
The Governance Responsibility Gap
#9
The Year Governance Went Operational
#4
The High-Risk Finance AI Governance Gap
#3
How Systemic AI Governance Ends Techno-Feudalism
Interim Management & Advisory Engagements · 2014–2026
Governance that holds —
Governance that holds —
under real conditions.
Not describing governance — building it. 30+ mandates since 2014. Always with verifiable outcomes: audit-ready structures, regulatory compliance readiness, operational control systems. That is not theater. That is operations.
| Period | Client | Role | Focus | Outcomes / Deliverables |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | TEDi (Retail) | Data Governance Lead (Interim) | Data Governance |
|
| 2025 | AIGN Global | AI Governance Lead & Founder | AI Governance · EU AI Act |
|
| 2025 | Boston Consulting Group | EU Data Act Advisor | EU Data Act |
|
| 2025 | GenoAkademie | AI Governance Advisor & Trainer | EU Data Act / AI Governance |
|
| 2024 | E.ON (Energy) | Data Governance & Controls Architect (Interim) | Customer Data & Consent Governance / AI Readiness |
|
| 2024 | BSR (Public Sector / KRITIS) | Regulatory Governance Lead – GDPR / NIS2 (Interim) | GDPR / NIS1 Baseline / S/4HANA Migration |
|
| 2024 | Volkswagen Group | AI Act / Data Act Governance Expert (Interim) | EU Data Act / AI Act |
|
| 2023 | Uniper | Data Governance & Data Protection | GDPR / Archiving |
|
| 2023 | MEAG (Munich Re) | Risk & Audit Readiness Lead – DORA / NIS (Interim) | ISO 27001 / DORA / NIS2 |
|
| 2023 | Viridium (Insurance) | Governance & Access Control Lead – GDPR / ICT (Interim) | GDPR / ICT Security / SAP |
|
| 2021–23 | Mobility Inside | ISMS & Data Protection & Governance Lead (Interim) | ISMS / BSI Grundschutz |
|
| 2020 | Volkswagen Group | Data Protection & ISMS Consultant (Interim) | Data Protection / ISMS |
|
| 2019–20 | MEAG (Munich Re) | Data Protection & Governance Consultant (Interim) | Data Protection |
|
| 2015–19 | MediaMarkt DE/CH/ES · Aldi Süd · Vorwerk International | Data Governance & Compliance Consultant (Interim) | Data Governance · Data Protection · Compliance |
|
| 2014–17 | Deutsche Bahn · ERGO · Verivox · Payback · Deutschland Card | Governance & Compliance Consultant (Interim) | Compliance · Data Governance · Processes |
|
Prior to independent practice: permanent employment in the banking sector (credit card business, 1997–2010)
Core Competencies
Skills & Methods
Governance & Regulation
Data & AI Governance
Architecture & Organisation
Security & Resilience
Technologies & Tools
Thought Leadership
Sector Expertise
Industries & Reference Clients
Finance & Insurance
NIS1 / BSI Grundschutz · ISMS · ICT Risk · DORA Readiness · Data Governance · Operational Resilience Frameworks · Third-Party Risk · Access & Role Concepts
MEAG · Viridium · ERGO · Munich Re
Energy & Critical Infrastructure
Data Governance · Consent Management · AI Readiness · NIS2 Governance · Critical Infrastructure Compliance
E.ON · Uniper · BSR
Automotive & Mobility
EU Data Act · In-Vehicle Data · AI Governance · Data Act Compliance & Usage Control
Volkswagen Group · Mobility Inside
Retail & E-Commerce
SAP Data Governance · Reporting · Data Quality · Consent Automation & AI Transparency
TEDi · MediaMarkt · Aldi Süd · Vorwerk
Public Sector
BSI · NIS2 · Resilience Programmes · Public Sector Governance · AI Governance under EU AI Act
BSR · Deutsche Bahn · Mobility Inside
Consulting & Education
EU Data Act Advisory · AI Governance Training · Leadership Seminars · Framework Development
BCG · GenoAkademie · AIGN Global
Target Roles & Engagement Areas
Where I create immediate impact
Interim DORA / NIS2 Governance Lead
AI Governance / EU AI Act Implementation Lead
Data Governance Lead / Data Owner Operating Model
Data Protection Lead (GDPR)
Interim Regulatory Transformation Lead (AI, Data, Resilience)
Role & Access Concept Architecture
AI Risk & Assurance Lead
Governance & Compliance Advisor (AI, Data & Resilience Programmes)
NIS2 Implementation Lead (Governance, Policies, Risk Analysis, Reporting)
Advisor — NIS2 Board-Level Obligations (Accountability & Audit Readiness)
NIS2 Supplier & ICT Third-Party Risk Management Lead
Fractional CAIO / Chief AI & Governance Officer
„
AI governance is real only when it is admissible. When responsibility becomes real — governance must stand, not on paper, but in practice. That is not theater. That is operations.
— Patrick Upmann · Founder, AIGN.Global · Architect, AIGN OS 4.0