Hamburg - Witten - Barcelona: Richard Knudsen's path into the world of artificial intelligence

UW/H graduate Richard Knudsen is a founder, visionary and thought leader: he founded Newtone.ai, a company that develops AI software for content marketing teams. The application is used in particular in the fast-moving fashion industry, where content plays a central role: The software helps content producers to create enormous amounts of high-quality content that is perfectly aligned with the brand. "Chanel wants and needs to sound and look like Chanel, not Louis Vuitton," says Richard, explaining the challenge that his software solves for customers.

He laid the foundations for his business start-up at UW/H, where he studied economics from 2012 to 2016 and moved from Hamburg to the Ruhr region to do so. "I perceived Witten as a place that supports young personalities in finding their own path - wherever that leads," says Richard looking back. "For me, the three core values of UW/H were decisive, which I saw on the flags in front of the university during my taster day, felt in the seminars and was able to confirm over an evening beer with students: Freedom, truth and responsibility are lived in Witten."

The combination of theory and practice particularly characterised his time at university. "Working as a board member of the StudierendenGesellschaft showed me how to translate theoretical knowledge into practical action," says Richard. This practical experience was not only decisive for his later professional career, but also for the development of skills that are essential in professional life: Communication skills, the ability to reflect and the ability to weigh up options for action in different contexts.

UW/H's collaborative approach - the dialogue between students, staff and professors on an equal footing - enabled him to develop self-confidence and acquire the skills that he uses on a daily basis in his current position as an entrepreneur. "In addition to solid business and technical skills, my current role requires a lot of courage, imagination, vision, passion and persuasiveness. There is probably no better place to feel and learn this than at UW/H."

Studium fundamentale helped Richard to think outside the box

"Personality rarely grows when learning accounting standards," he remarks with a grin. Instead, he remembers courses such as "The joy of speaking" with Blanche Kommerell or the deep reflections in Jürgen Werner's rhetoric seminars. These experiences, says Richard, have shaped him for life - and given him the know-how to solve complex problems creatively and empathetically.

After his studies, Richard moved to Barcelona, where he completed a Master's in Data Science at the renowned Barcelona School of Economics. This decision was no coincidence, but a direct result of his intensive involvement with statistics and data analysis during his semester abroad in London. "The Barcelona School of Economics offered a leading European programme for data science/artificial intelligence with a social science focus," he explains. The logical consequence: to fully enter the software industry and eventually found Newtone.ai.

With a mixture of expertise and personal development, UW/H has sent Richard Knudsen on a journey that has taken him from Hamburg via Witten and London to Barcelona - and which is far from over. His journey shows how Witten/Herdecke University not only shapes careers, but also people who are ready to shape the world with courage, creativity and responsibility.