Petra is a serial tech entrepreneur and has more than 40 years of business experience in the US, Europe and Asia.

She moved to the US in 1980 and has been a Bay Area resident since 1981.

Petra is Founding Partner of the AI.GROUP which consists of the not for profit AI network AI.HAMBURG, the Venture Capital Fund AI.FUND and the Venture Studio AI.IMPACT.

She is also Co- Founder of the AI.STARTUP.HUB, an excelerator funded by the German Government; the Transatlantic aiXchange and the AI4Germany network.

All activities have the aim of bringing AI into the economy, promoting AI startups and providing international AI expertise to companies. Accelerating AI adoption, working with universities to implement AI education programs, as well as supporting the growth of promising AI start-ups and deepen the exchange between the US and Germany between experts, startups, investors in the AI ecosystems is the goal.

AI with a positive Impact for humanity is at the heart of all her activities.

As a pioneer in the mobile industry, she is one of the first women globally to co- found a mobile company in 2005. Under her leadership, Smaato became the largest independent Global Mobile Advertising and Real Time Bidding Exchange in the mobile advertising industry, with its headquarters in San Francisco and offices in the US, Europe and Asia. She was responsible for overseeing global corporate branding, positioning Smaato as one of the most valuable global mobile brands, creating the corporate culture and forging alliances with key ad tech, government, university and business entities. Additionally, she increased Smaato’s corporate visibility via board seats, honorary appointments and ambassadorships and positions Smaato as a responsible corporate citizen in San Francisco, Hamburg and Singapore. She also had primary responsibility for the opening, distinctive design and expansion of Smaato’s office locations, which included its San Francisco headquarters on Union Square, its New York City office in the Empire State Building, its Hamburg office in the Emporio Tower and its Singapore Financial Center office location.

Prior to her occupation in mobile she had a successful career in e- commerce. As founding member of Intershop in 1996, Petra was instrumental in growing the company from a start-up to a publicly listed company with a market cap of $12Billion. As VP of Business Development and Strategic Alliances Petra had global responsibility for all strategic, business and technical partnerships. She was the driving force behind Intershop’s $25 million licensing deal with Deutsche Telekom and their subsequent investment in the company.

Prior to Intershop she created market entry strategies for IT companies in the US and in Europe.

Petra is very well connected in European and U.S. innovation ecosystem and serves on several boards and committees.

Currently she serves as:

• Supervisory Board Member of Hamburg Invest
• Supervisory Board Member of Hamburg Marketing
• Board Member of the European ECIU University (with the aim for lifelong learning and funded by the European Union)
• UHH Advisory Board Member – Faculty of Business Administration- at Hamburg University
• TUHH Ambassador of the Technical University of Hamburg appointed by the president of the university
• Expert on the Calls For Transfer Board of Hamburg Innovation
• Committee Member for Innovation and Research of the Handelskammer Hamburg
• Board Member of the Amerikazentrum
• Vice President of the American Club
• Board Member of Hamburg@work, responsible for International Alliances.
• Chairman Global Hamburg Ambassador Alumni
• Advisory Board Member Hafen Hamburg Marketing

She was for many years Co- Chair Mobile and AI for GABA.

She was a member of the Global Leadership team of mBolden (formerly Women in Wireless),

She was appointed Hamburg Ambassador for San Francisco by, then Governor of the State and First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz, now the German Chancellor, which she served for 7 years. She then was appointed and now is the Chairman of the Global Hamburg Ambassador Alumni.

Petra is widely recognized by the press as a key female executive in technology. She was was named ‘Mobile Women to Watch’ by Mobile Marketer, ‘Women Entrepreneur Who Launched A Successful Mobile Startup’ by Forbes; ‘Top Female Executive’ by Mobile Entertainment; ‘One of the most powerful and influential women in the mobile adverting industry’ by Business Insider; ‘Lovely Leading Lady in Mobile’ by Lovely Mobile News and ‘One of the most inspiring women in Tech’ by InspiringFifty.