Max Senges (1978) is Professor for Entrepreneurship at the University of the Arts Berlin, as well as Director of the IEB a research & transfer institute associate with the University of the Arts Berlin. He is also Entrepreneur in Residence at the Entrepreneurship Foundation (www.entrepreneurship.de) and offers consulting and philosophical coaching.
Max is passionately thinking and working on the crossroads between academia and the private sector, politics, innovation, culture and philosophy. In the last twenty years he worked with academic, governmental and private organizations to build knowledge ecosystems, promote entrepreneurship, learning and multistakeholder Internet governance.
From 2020 to 2023 Max was the founding CEO and Headmaster of 42 Wolfsburg and www.42.berlin. Before Max worked at Google for 10 years, mostly on Research Partnerships and Internet Governance. While in California (2014-2018) Max was the Program Manager for Google Research where he build and led Google‘s IoT R&D Expedition (in partnership with e.g. Carnegie Mellon, Cornell Tech and Stanford). Later he became the Head of Google‘s Hardware User Research team. For more than 10 years Max works for and collaborates with Vint Cerf on Internet Governance, interoperability and open standards.
Max holds a PhD and a Master’s Degree in the Information and Knowledge Society Program from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) in Barcelona as well as a Masters in Business Information Systems from the University of Applied Sciences Wildau (Berlin).
Personal Data
- born September 9, 1978, in Heidelberg, Germany
- married with two children
- Master in Business Information Systems
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD & Master on the Information Society)
Education & Research
Nov. 2014 – 2018 STANFORD UNIVERSITY, PALO ALTO
Visiting Scholar at Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) focusing on research about Democracy Emergence of Multistakeholder Internet Governance Based on Democratic Values with Prof. Larry Diamond.
Jun. 2010 – Jun. 2011 STANFORD UNIVERSITY, PALO ALTO
Non-resident Fellow at Stanford’s Center for Internet & Society (CIS) working on privicons.org; a project to develop an “icon sets” for privacy preferences in emails.
Jan. 2008 – Aug. 2008 Stanford University, Palo Alto
Post-doctorial visiting scholarship at Stanford’s School of Education to conduct a research project on the relation of different Internet uses and use intensity with academic performance of Catalan university students.
Training in „design thinking“ at the Hasso Plattner Design School.
Sep. 2004 – Dec. 2007 Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), Barcelona
Information and Knowledge Society PhD program, a post-graduate program on the uses of information and communications technologies (ICT) and the global transformations brought on by the emergence of the network society. Aug. 2005 completion Master Program with ‘average grade sobresaliente’ (second best grade).
Since Sep. 2005 work on PhD research project on ‘Knowledge Entrepreneurship in Universities: Practice and strategy in the case of internet based innovation appropriation’. Since Jan. 2006 recipient of doctoral research scholarship from the Catalonian government. On Dec. 10th 2007 the PhD Defence Tribunal evaluated the research with the best grade possible. Further information at www.knowledgeentrepreneur.com
June 28 – July 1st, 2006 Eudokma PhD Seminar 2006, Amsterdam
Collaborative seminar on “Organizational Learning, Networks and Communities: Innovations in the Emerging Strategic Entrepreneurship Field”. Organized by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Public Administration & Organization Science.
May 16 – June 24, 2005 United Nations University, Tokyo
The course “Ecology – Science and Policies” offered a unique opportunity to learn about current best practices in regards implementing a sustainable information society.
April 15 – 30, 2005 European Doctoral Training Program, Strasbourg
The Program offers young researchers a specific training in the new developments of the Economics of Technological and Institutional Change.
1999 – 2003 University of Applied Sciences Wildau, Berlin
Graduate Studies (Diplom-Wirtschaftsinformatiker) of Business and Information Management; final grade ‘sehr gut’ (best grade); certified academic foci on Database Management, Knowledge Management and e-Business.
2001 – 2003 Freie Universität, Berlin
Audit at courses on communication sciences (Digital Divide, Internet Economics) and political science (International Relations, The Role of NGO`s in American Politics, American Foreign Policy).
Employment & Internships
Sept 2020 – July 2023 42 Wolfsburg & 42 Berlin
- CEO and Headmaster
Sept. 2018 – Aug 2020 Google Germany
- Lead for Public Affairs DACH and Central Europe
May 2014 – Aug. 2018 Google Inc
- Program Manager for Google Research & Education
Sept. 2009 – May 2014 Google Germany
- Responsible for Multistakeholder Cooperations in Google’s Policy Team Berlin
Oct. – Nov. 2008 Google Inc.
- Research project with Maggie Johnson (Director of Engineering Education) investigating practice-based learning and mentoring in the context of onboarding Nooglers.
- Research project with Carolyn Yates (Internal Organizational Development Expert; EngEdu & EngHR) exploring how Google can benefit from insights of research on Complex Adaptive Systems.
Aug. 2008 – Sept. 2009 Illuminate Consulting Group
- Member of Academic Advisory Board and consultant for online community, social media and IT governance at Illuminate International Academic Consulting.
Oct. – Nov. 2007 Free University Berlin
- Freelance consultation on IT governance structure and practices. In depth consultations with directors of IT related departments and moderation of the development process of a report outlining improved role based governance & collaboration practices.
Feb. – Jun. 2007 Teaching Assistant: Applied Philosophy/Phil. Of Technology
- Co-development of course design, co-selection of reading material and setup of innovative e-Learning platform as well as in class and virtual teaching and moderation in the undergraduate course on applied philosophy at the Autonomous University Barcelona.
Sep. 2006 – Sep. 2007 Researcher PIC University
- Contribution to Project Internet Catalonia’s research track on the use of the Internet in universities.
Sep. – Dec. 2005 eLab European Union EQUAL Project
- Coordination and consulting on the development and implementation of an online course on entrepreneurship (enterprise creation).
Jan. – Apr. 2005 DEP Consultaria Estratégia / European Union Project
- Research and consulting on Best Practices regarding software tools and social engineering to create a sustainable virtual community for job-seekers.
Oct. – Dec. 2004 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New York
- Consulting on UNDP’s online practice workspace setup and implementation. Specification of content publishing procedure in RedHat content management system.
Jan. – Apr. 2004 United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), New York
- Planning and support of a knowledge networking project with focus on enterprise content management and online collaboration tools.
May – Oct. 2003 United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Copenhagen
- Launch and coaching of knowledge networking community for UNOPS procurement practitioners as knowledge networking pilot project.
Apr. – Aug. 2002 Afghan Embassy, Berlin
- Project management and content consultancy of the website-development for the Afghan Embassy in Berlin
Oct. 2001 – Mar. 2002 German Chamber of Commerce, Beijing
- Project management and implementation of the website for the German Embassy to China. Also editing and development for German–Chinese business portal (www.ahk-china.org).
Jun. 2000 – Apr. 2001 imStall (Branding and Internet Agency), Berlin
- Three-months-internship with focus on website usability testing. Subsequent eight months as Consultant Usability Engineer.
Art & Culture
2011 – conceptual co-creation Speakers Corner by Zentrum für Politische Schönheit (video @ Spiegel)
2019 – Co-Host & Organizer Human Digital Identity – World Frontier Forum 2019 i.e. panel discussion with Hans Ulrich Obrist,
2020 – Consulting German Pavillon at the Architecture Biennale 2020
2021 – Marketing for The Best of the “BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors”
2022 – Conceptual and technical consulting The Drone Dance Dialog, with Max Rambaek
2024 – Educational consulting and moderation of workshops Survival in the 21st Century exhibition and educational happening at Hamburg Deichtorhallen
Voluntary Work
2007 Betterplace.org
- Pro-bono strategy consulting with focus on organisational philosophy, branding and product launch for a peer to peer charity project platform www.betterplace.org.
2007-2012 Dynamic Coalition on the Internet Bill of Rights Framework
- Moderation and active advancement of the multi-stakeholder coalition working on a framework to promote and enforce rights on the Internet.
2004 Coordinator for Internet Governance Issues for CDUN
- Responsability for contributions to the discourse on Internet governance in the Committee for a Democratic United Nations, an NGO lobbying for global democratic governance structures in general with a special focus on UN reform. (see my publications for more details)
Jan. 2002 German Embassy School, Beijing, China
- Computer training and introduction to online services and Internet for students of 8th and 9th grade.
Jan. – Feb. 2000 Turtle Research Centre, Mazunte, Mexico
- Voluntary work to protect and research sea turtles in danger of extinction.
Sep. 1998 – Oct. 1999 Civil Service, Heidelberg
- Special care and medical attendance for severely handicapped and elderly people.
Jul. – Sep. 1998 International Volunteer Work Camps, Ghana, West-Africa
- Building and renovation of schoolhouses and sanitary buildings in several locations and in cooperation with local volunteers.
Scholarships
- Research scholarship for PhD thesis project from Generalitat de Catalunya
- Research scholarship for diploma thesis project from the BFIO (German office for executives in international organisations)
Memberships (Past and Current)
- The Awesome Foundation
- Creative Commons
- Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
- Internet Rights & Principles Coalition
- Kiva
- Wikimedia
- Internet Society (ISOC)
- Committee for the Democratisation of the UN (CDUN)
- German WSIS Civil Society Alliance
Languages
- German: native speaker
- English: excellent
- Spanish: advanced level
Personal Interest
- Mountaineering, rock climbing, back-country skiing/snowboarding
- Chess, reading, party
- Travelling