"The European interconnected grid is the largest machine on Earth. It is one vast safety net."
heise online · Missing Link · 04 December 2022
Michael Freiherr v. Roeder Between startup and enterprise, technology and the boardroom. Today, through exigo capital: builder, investor, board member, and senior advisor at the intersection of agentic AI, the security of critical infrastructure, and European sovereignty.
Family roots in Baden, born in Stuttgart, based in Berlin. My path led from software development at Fraunhofer through international IT and technology-strategy consulting at Accenture to a global role at Vodafone — Head of Global User Experience, with postings in London, Tokyo, and Düsseldorf. Then executive board roles at iconmobile and Sensorberg, in parallel with the founding of exigo capital. Most recently six years as Group CDO, CIO, and Chief AI Officer at Elia Group, concluded in December 2025. Today through exigo capital — focused on three intertwined topics: agentic AI in enterprises, the security of critical infrastructure, and European sovereignty.
Full bio →Agentic AI in the enterprise. The step from pilot to production isn't decided by the model but by the organisation: where does the agent sit in the line, who does it report to, how is it paid? I help companies put AI agents to work where they measurably take on tasks — and invest, through exigo capital, in the tools that carry it.
Security of critical infrastructure. Cyber, physical, hybrid. Six years at Elia made it clear: resilience is a question of architecture — technical and organisational. It is decided at interfaces, supply chains, and escalation paths, long before the first incident. And it reaches beyond corporate boundaries: borne by an ecosystem of suppliers, authorities, and partners.
European sovereignty. Sovereignty, to me, is Choice and Control. Choice means: no critical dependency on a single vendor — from network to AI model. Control means: being able to understand, operate, and if needed further develop the technology I deploy — across software, infrastructure, and data. In the enterprise, in the nation-state, in Europe — the same question at growing scale.
Builder and investor in one. Through exigo capital I finance, found, and accompany — with my own capital, and through senior-advisor, supervisory-board, and advisory-board mandates. In practice that means helping agentic AI move from experiment to reliable operation, and securing critical infrastructure against cyber and physical threats. Three roles, one pattern — twenty years between startup and enterprise, applied where technology meets responsibility.
B2B platform for the decarbonisation of commercial real estate — photovoltaics, battery storage, heat pumps, charging infrastructure, and technical building services from a single source.
Agentic decision intelligence for supply chain and operations.
An operating platform since 2011 — own projects, investments, board mandates, and senior-advisor work.
"The European interconnected grid is the largest machine on Earth. It is one vast safety net."
heise online · Missing Link · 04 December 2022
"Change in the energy industry is no longer optional. It has become a duty."
changement! Magazin · · 03 February 2023
"We have a democratic majority for the expansion. But once the situation becomes concrete on the ground, many local stakeholders are suddenly against it."
Tagesspiegel Background · Digitalisierung & KI · 02 November 2023
Fireside chat on the role of data and start-ups in building the modern power grid.
Watch recording →Without a digital, flexible grid, 50 hertz remains just a number — with data it becomes the backbone for 100 % renewables.