„Da ich das System meiner Träume nicht finden konnte, habe ich beschlossen, es selbst zu bauen.“
— Uli Held, CEO Softwarehelden
At the beginning of 2024, we celebrated a special anniversary: 10 years of Softwarehelden.
However, the idea for our company was born much earlier. In the 1990s, our founder Uli Held worked at Porsche's research and development center, where he was responsible for data analysis software. He quickly realized that true efficiency does not come from better software alone, but from better information flow.
When analyzing vehicle tests, the same problem kept cropping up: decisions were delayed because data was missing, scattered, or not clearly consolidated. The decisive idea came from the organizational structure itself: managers often work with assistants who bundle, organize, and provide information at the right time.
So why not develop a system that does exactly that?
Since no such system existed, Uli Held began developing one himself. The result was Cluu – a platform that connects existing data sources and makes them usable without copying them.
What started as a side project quickly gained attention within Porsche and eventually developed into a separate company. Together with two former interns, Jörg Metzler and Anton Feoktistov, as well as investor Hertha Thoma, Uli Held finally founded Softwarehelden.
Ten years later, this idea has grown into a company that helps organizations implement digitalization faster and more flexibly.
Of course, we celebrated this milestone together—with good food, lots of conversation, and a brief moment to look back on what we have achieved.
And at the same time,
the first ten years were just the beginning.
With the latest developments in large language models and AI, the original vision of a truly intelligent digital assistant is closer than ever.
We look forward to everything that is yet to come. 🎉
