Christine Knackfuss-Nikolic will take on the newly created role of Chief Sovereignty Officer on September 1. Her key responsibilities will include defining and implementing a company-wide sovereignty strategy tailored to customer-specific, regulatory, and geopolitical requirements. Christine Knackfuss-Nikolic, currently Chief Technology Officer, will focus in particular on developing differentiated value propositions across the entire portfolio to address the various sovereignty challenges faced by all customers. In her new role, she will continue to be responsible for T-Systems' entire security business and remain part of the management team.
“The call for digital sovereignty is growing louder. Due to geopolitical uncertainties, more and more companies in Germany and Europe are demanding sovereign cloud solutions. They want to free themselves from dependence on hyperscalers and regain control over their own data,” explains Ferri Abolhassan, CEO of T-Systems and member of the Telekom Board of Management. “With the appointment of Christine Knackfuss-Nikolic as Chief Sovereignty Officer and the launch of our new T Cloud offering, we are underscoring that we take this need very seriously and are driving our efforts in this area with full commitment. Our aim is to become the leading provider of secure and sovereign cloud and AI solutions across Europe.”
Andreas Schlegel is a new addition to the T-Systems management team. He will take up the position of Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer on September 1. In this role, he will continue the successful work of Christine Knackfuss-Nikolic in the areas of portfolio strategy, market intelligence & relations, and partner management. His position also includes the development and implementation of a comprehensive corporate strategy. This focuses in particular on innovation leadership, competitive differentiation, and lean portfolio management. “Andreas knows our company inside out. Combined with his extensive strategic expertise and his large network within Deutsche Telekom, he is a great asset to our team,” emphasizes Abolhassan.
In his last role, Andreas Schlegel was deputy head of the Group Strategy & Transformation department at Deutsche Telekom AG. He had been working for this corporate unit since 2014 and served as interim head for eight months in 2023. Prior to that, he worked for the management consulting firm Bain & Company since 2001, becoming a partner and vice president in 2010 with a focus on technology strategies for international telecommunications companies. Andreas Schlegel holds a degree in business administration from the University of Mannheim and an MBA from the University of Oregon, Eugene.
