Hi, I’m Johannes.
My path into AI began with art. As a teenager, I attended art school and wanted to become an architect. Then I discovered neural style transfer: an image keeps its content and takes on the style of another. Two worlds came together that still shape my work today – design and technology.
Today, I work on turning AI into something useful: as a founder, as a teacher, and now as VP Growth at Edgeless Systems. Applied by Hand is my sketchbook for that work. Here, I share ideas and lessons from practice, explained by hand.
From art school to applied AI
A path with a few detours. And a common thread: designing, understanding, and sharing.
Growing up
First, drawing.
Art school was where I explored design. My plan was to become an architect. I still enjoy sketching – even though most of the things I build today are made of software.
The turning point
One image. Another style. A new direction.
Neural style transfer fascinated me like little else before: AI could work with images and design. It was my introduction to a field I wanted to work in.
Illustration: image content meets image style. 2016–2019
Learning the craft
Business Information Systems at Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg. My interest in technology became a foundation for building systems of my own.
2019–2026
Data Engineering, with a startup in between
I went to the Hasso Plattner Institute for my master’s. In 2020, I paused my studies to co-found Kern AI. I completed my master’s in August 2026.
2020–2026
Kern AI: turning an idea into a company
As co-founder and CEO, I built Kern AI across product, engineering, marketing, sales, and customer projects. 2023: €2.7 million seed funding. In May 2025, Kern AI was acquired by accompio.
About the acquisition (opens in a new tab)
Illustration based on a photo: Kern AI · TechCrunch, 2023 2020–2023
Passing it on
Alongside building the company, I created three AI and machine learning courses on openHPI. They reached more than 50,000 learners. Making complicated things understandable is still part of my work.
The courses on openHPI (opens in a new tab)Since July 2026
Today: connecting AI, product, and growth
As VP Growth at Edgeless Systems, I shape the journey from first contact to adoption: positioning, marketing, sales, and product working together. The question stays the same: how does technology become something people actually use?
Edgeless Systems (opens in a new tab)
My AI usage
My token usage across (almost) all the AI tools I use.
Compare AI models →Last 7 days
4.41bn
Tokens
Per day, on average
605.61m
Tokens
Busy hours
09:00 · 21:00
Europe/Berlin
The last six months
Select a day to see its token count.
242.23m – 1.23bn Tokens / day
13 Apr 2026 – 11 Oct 2026
Across the week
Average per weekday. Highest: Wed.
Across the day
Most active in the morning and evening.
The weekly trend
Some variation from week to week, with a gradual upward trend.
Through: 11 Oct 2026 · Europe/Berlin. Daily values modeled from my approximate weekly usage.
- Processes
- Coding
- Organisation
- Design
- Architecture