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Dr. Stefan Hild

Chief Executive Officer

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Dr. Stefan G. Hild is a seasoned leader in the global IT industry with over 30 years of experience. Known for his ability to spot emerging trends and turn them into impactful products, he holds 44 issued patents and has authored numerous scientific publications, books, and conference papers. A frequent speaker on AI, Data Science, and industrial innovation, Dr. Hild brings deep technical expertise and strategic vision to every endeavor.

In 2017, Dr. Hild founded what would become Spur Insights with the goal of delivering AI-powered solutions tailored to the manufacturing sector. This vision evolved further in 2021 through a strategic partnership with ei3 Corporation (New York), resulting in ConnectedAI—a breakthrough technology that brings advanced AI problem-solving to the broader industrial IoT ecosystem.

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Before his entrepreneurial journey, Dr. Hild held senior leadership roles at IBM, including Executive Partner for Industrial Solutions, where he led high-profile client engagements and multi-layered digital transformation projects.

Dr. Hild holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge, England, is a life fellow of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, member of the Association for Computing Imagery (ACM), the Institution of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE), and Mensa. Outside of work, he enjoys flying his Piper Malibu to new destinations and sharing fine food and wine with family and friends.

Early Life and Education

Dr. Hild attended Regiomontanus-Gymnasium in Hassfurt, Germany, where he specialized in mathematics and physics in his final year. As a secondary student, Dr. Hild won a “Jugend Forscht” Young Scientist award, which granted him the opportunity to conduct research at the University of Wuerzburg, as well as an internship with the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics. At the University of Wuerzburg, Dr. Hild helped conduct research for a PAKMA project involved with creating software capable of measuring and modeling experiments. PAKMA stands for Physik Aktiv Messen, Modellieren, Analysieren. He designed the software conceptually, implemented the software, and delivered a functioning system which garnered recognition from project members.

While still in high school Dr. Hild became contributor to “Bit, Byte, Gebissen”, Germany’s first radio show focussed on the topic of “home” computers and video game consoles, which was produced and broadcast by German broadcaster “Bayerischer Rundfunk” from 1985 to 1993.

He completed his undergraduate degree at King’s College, and St. John’s College at the University of Cambridge, England, where he received both his Masters and his PhD in Computer Science. He holds distinction as a life fellow of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, and published his Ph.D. thesis, “Managing mobile connections” in 1997 while working under Professor Peter Robinson, at the University of Cambridge “Rainbow” Graphics and Interaction Group.

Also in Cambridge, Dr. Hild published “A brief history of mobile telephony” in 1995. Dr. Hild attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a visiting student during the 1995-1996 academic year, where he worked in the group of Professor David L. Tennenhouse. He is also a member of the Association for Computing Imagery (ACM), the Institution of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE), Mensa, and StartAngels Network.

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Dr. Hild on right at the set of Bit, Byte, Gebissen in 1991
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Dr. Hild on the right at the Cambridge University campus in 1996

Career

Dr. Hild’s professional career spans consulting, project management, IT strategy, solutions architecture and integration. He is often referenced as an expert on the industrial applications of artificial intelligence.

 

IBM

He began his career at IBM in 1997 as a manager and research staff member at the renowned IBM Zurich Research Laboratory in Ruschlikon, Switzerland. In 2002 he transitioned to a senior manager role at IBM’s Research headquarters in Yorktown Heights, New York. His early work included a mobile phone-based check-in solution developed for Swissair, which was built upon his PhD research at Cambridge and completed during his tenure in Zurich. This project marked the first implementation of software providing customers with online scheduling information and flight change notices.

In 2006, Dr. Hild was appointed to an executive role and returned to Zurich, where he led IBM’s customer project development activities, managing relationships with clients in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa (CEEMEA), and Austria and Switzerland. He also led the IBM Industrial Sector group and played a key role in the launch of Watson products, which integrated natural language processing (NLP), speech-to-text, and translation techniques to deliver AI-driven insights tailored to specific industry needs.

Among the major projects developed under his leadership was the delivery of a “digital consultant” for LafargeHolcim, which helped cement manufacturing operators make more informed and efficient decisions. This initiative contributed significantly to advancements in sustainable and efficient industrial manufacturing processes.

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Dr. Stefan Hild (third from the left) accepting the special jury award from the Association of Swiss Management Consulting Organization ASCO in 2016 for the "Plant Advisor" Project for Lafarge Holcim

COGNITIVE SOLUTIONS AND INNOVATION AG

In January 2017, Dr. Hild founded Cognitive Solutions and Innovation AG, a company focused on developing AI- and data-driven solutions for challenges in industrial manufacturing. The company aimed to deliver analytics-based insights into operator practices, asset utilization, and sustainable development strategies.

Under Dr. Hild’s leadership, Cognitive Solutions AG quickly became profitable and successfully executed AI projects for major industrial clients, including ABB, Andritz, Milacron, and Bobst.

In September 2019, Dr. Hild presented “From Hype to Reality“ at Fachpack in Nuremberg, where he showcased real-world use cases to highlight the practical benefits and measurable value of artificial intelligence beyond the prevailing industry hype.

 

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Dr. Hild with the team during the early days.

ei3

Cognitive Solutions was acquired by ei3 based on a stock-swap agreement in 2021. Since then, Dr. Hild has served as Vice President of Data Science at ei3 and holds a position on the company’s Board of Directors. In this role, he has overseen the development of ConnectedAI, a suite of AI-based solutions designed to help manufacturers enhance industrial efficiency and reduce operating costs. Dr. Hild also led the creation of LIFECYCLE, a SaaS platform that monitors the health of critical machine components and predicts their remaining useful life. 

A notable success story under Dr. Hild’s leadership comes from ORBIS, a leading manufacturer of reusable plastic packaging solutions. By leveraging ConnectedAI, ORBIS achieved energy savings per machine per day that exceeded the average monthly consumption of a typical American household. 

As Dr. Hild explains, “AI-powered Data Science is a powerful tool that unlocks insights to run machines more safely, sustainably, and efficiently—delivering better products at lower cost.”

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Dr. Stefan Hild presents "The Future of Artificial Intelligence is Human" at the ITMF in Porto in 2019

SPUR INSIGHTS

In May 2025, Dr. Hild launched “Spur Insights” at the ARC European Industry Forum in Sitges. He was joined by two of the company’s partners, Hitachi Energy and Pronetiqs, who presented collaborative innovations developed under the new brand. The showcased solutions included a supply chain optimization platform and an SaaS diagnostic solution, highlighting the brand’s focus on cutting-edge, AI-driven industrial technologies.

Patents

Dr. Stefan Hild holds 44 issued patents in the fields of network monitoring, wireless communication, and industrial AI applications. His inventions include methods for monitoring events in computer networks and managing access to wireless communications within enclosed systems. Selected patents include:

  • US8452286B2 – Wireless communication
    Inventors: Carl Binding, Stefan G. Hild
    Filed: November 11, 2002 | Issued: May 28, 2013
  • US7930312B2 – System for consolidating data from distributed databases
    Inventors: Stefan G. Hild, Rene A. Pawlitzek, Walid W. Rjaibi et al.
    Filed: April 28, 2003 | Issued: April 19, 2011
  • US7482929B2 – Point-of-sale activation of consumer electronics
    Inventors: Richard G. Bowers, Stefan G. Hild, Paul D. Lindsey et al.
    Filed: May 1, 2006 | Issued: January 27, 2009
  • US7324108B2 – Monitoring events in a computer network
    Inventors: Stefan G. Hild, Rene Pawlitzek, Markus Stolze
    Filed: March 12, 2003 | Issued: January 29, 2008
  • US7024413B2 – Method of externalizing legacy database in ASN.1-formatted data into XML format
    Inventors: Carl Binding, Stefan G. Hild, Daniela Bourges-Waldegg, Kjell Beisland, Andreas Schade
    Filed: July 24, 2001 | Issued: April 04, 2006
  • US6763460B1 – Method of transmitting information data from a sender to a receiver via a transcoder
    Inventors: Stefan G. Hild, Luke J. O’Connor
    Filed: July 13, 1999 | Issued: July 13, 2004

Awards and Fellowships

  • IBM master inventor honorific award, 2009
  • Elected student fellow of the IEEE, 1996
  • Life fellow of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 1995
  • Alan Fairburn Memorial Prize for BSc Thesis at King’s College, Cambridge, 1995
  • Sambrooke Exhibition Prize, 1992
  • Scholarship of the British Council; Scholarship of the “Max-Plank Gesellschaft”, 1991
  • Schaeffler FAGF.A.G Foundation Prize, 1991

Selected Publications

Personal Life

Stefan Hild is a certified private pilot with instrument ratings, having accumulated more than 1500 flight hours. He enjoys flying his Piper Malibu (a 1985 PA46-310P)  in his spare time. His flight experience spans instrument flying in the European and North American airspace environment including multiple crossings of the North Atlantic.

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Dr. Hild making a stop in Iceland during North Atlantic crossing in his Piper Malibu in May 2021

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