Our alumnus Peter Heidkamp (class of 2003) studied Business Administration at the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Cologne and joined KPMG immediately after graduating. There, he held various management roles, most recently as a Partner in the Financial Services Technology Consulting division and as head of the in-house Technology Centre of Excellence. After more than 20 years at KPMG, he moved to Deutsche Börse in 2022, where he established the IT Governance, Risk & Transformation division. In this role, he focused particularly on group-wide IT management and strengthening internal control systems. As Chief Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Risk Officer and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Deutsche Börse, he drove forward the implementation of resilience requirements within the framework of the European DORA regulation (Digital Operational Resilience Act). In February 2025, he finally moved to Aleph Alpha, Germany's leading scale-up for generative AI. Here, he works as Vice President Financial Services Industry on innovative AI solutions for banks and insurance companies. In our alumni interview, we spoke with him about how he applied strategic foresight during his studies in view of the emerging digital transformation, his thoughts on the future of the financial services sector over the next five years, and the innovative idea of a tokeniser-free architecture for more efficient and resource-saving AI.

Dear Mr. Heidkamp, after completing your studies at WiSo, you joined KPMG straight away and held a variety of management positions there for over 20 years, most recently as a partner in the Financial Services Technology Consulting division. What aspects of your studies at WiSo helped you most in the transition from the lecture hall to the conference table? 

When I began my studies in the late 1990s, the internet was booming and the importance of technology in all industries was growing rapidly. My major subjects in particular really helped me when I was starting out in my career: Media and Technology Management gave me the strategic foresight for the emerging digital transformation, while in Information Systems we learned the basics of information technology and important tools such as process modelling, the structure of information systems and programming languages. I was able to write my thesis on internal control systems for operational information systems, which gave me practical experience. This made me an expert in my professional field right from the start. In addition, studying at the large University of Cologne prepared me to organise myself and build personal networks.  

After more than 20 years at KPMG, you moved to Deutsche Börse in 2022, where you established the IT Governance, Risk & Transformation division and subsequently the Chief ICT Risk Office. What made this job so special? And what attracted you to this new opportunity after such a long time? 

The Deutsche Börse Group is one of Europe's largest operators of financial market infrastructure and, in a sense, a technology company with the risks and regulatory requirements of a financial institution. I was very attracted by the challenges posed by this prominent role. After spending such a long time in consulting at KPMG, I wanted to get to know the client side, take holistic responsibility for transformation and drive it forward from within.

Since early 2025, you have been with Aleph Alpha, Germany's leading scale-up for generative AI. As Vice President Financial Services Industry, you are responsible for the finance and banking areas. In your opinion, what are currently the most important applications for AI in these areas?

In my professional career, I have witnessed major technological transformations brought about by the internet and later by cloud services. Generative AI will change our world in an even more fundamental way and will transform the knowledge based economy.

The financial sector offers great potential for generative AI – particularly in the efficient management of regulatory requirements, fraud detection and the automation of critical processes.

You can hardly get any closer to innovation than at Aleph Alpha. Where do you see the financial services sector heading over the next five years?

In five years, generative AI will be an integral part of economic processes. It will not only assist, but also help shape customer service, product development and regulatory audit. Multimodal models that can process text, images, audio and structured data will become standard. At the same time, companies will use AI in a more differentiated and strategic way – instead of generic solutions, tailor-made, explainable systems will emerge. It is crucial that we lay the foundations now: with a secure infrastructure, clear governance and targeted training.

Which AI development in general has impressed you the most recently? Was there a lightbulb moment that surprised or inspired you?

AI infrastructure is not an end in itself – it only creates digital sovereignty if it enables concrete AI applications. Usability and economic viability are crucial, not sheer size. I am therefore particularly impressed by European research results on the efficient and domain-specific use of AI. Aleph Alpha, for example, is using a tokeniser-free architecture (T-FREE, Hierarchical Autoregressive Transformers) to develop models that are significantly more efficient and resource-friendly. They are optimised for operating in European data centres – even with limited resources – and for domain-specific, regulated applications such as those in the financial sector.

Before we finish, could you please complete the following sentence: When I think back to my time as a student in Cologne, I remember...

... a wonderful city, great parties and stressful exam periods with lots of coffee in the university library.

Is there anything else would you like to share with our current students? Do you have three tips for studying?

• Accept challenges and pursue your own goals with ambition.
• Don't lose sight of business practice.
• Enjoy your time at the University of Cologne.

Mr. Heidkamp, thank you very much for your time and for this interview!

Questions by Pascal Tambornino