Speakers of the SCHUMANN Conference 2025

Philipp Prechtl is Managing Director of Koehler Innovative Solutions GmbH and Koehler Invest GmbH. Both companies are part of the Koehler Group with the core business areas of speciality paper and renewable energy. In this role, he is responsible for the future fields of digital transformation, innovation and sustainability. Innovation at Koehler not only takes place from within, but also through targeted collaboration with young companies as part of venture clienting and venture partnering. In this context, targeted investments are also made by Koehler Invest. He is a member of various advisory boards and a supervisory board.

Philipp Prechtl is the father of two children, holds a degree in business administration from Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, a Power MBA and is a certified supervisory board member of the German stock exchange. He has many years of experience in various management consultancies and operational management functions.

Alexander Niemeyer has been with R+V since 1997.

Positions during this time:

• Joined as Head of Strategic Policy Issues Sales and subsequently Group Development in the Chief Executive Officer department
• Head of Commercial Credit Insurance
• Head of surety insurance

Since 2016, he has had overall responsibility for these areas as Head of Credit/Surety and Fidelity Insurance.

He previously completed a banking apprenticeship and then studied business administration with a subsequent trainee programme at R+V.

Niemeyer lives in the Rheingau near Wiesbaden and spends his free time rowing and cycling.

Tom Würfel is Director Solution Sales at Dun & Bradstreet Germany. As a data expert, he has over 20 years of experience in establishing data-driven business processes. A current focus of his work is supporting global B2B organisations in creating AI readiness for their data and automating risk management processes.

Thomas Schulte has been with Henrich Baustoffzentrum GmbH & Co. KG since 1995. As Head of Credit Management, he is responsible for risk management, credit issuance, and optimizing receivables management. He successfully implemented a Credit Management System and developed a sustainable Credit Policy. In 2015, he initiated the founding of BauTreff, a network of building materials wholesalers. Schulte serves on the board of the Bundesverband Credit Management and as a group spokesperson for BauTreff. He also volunteers as Managing Director of FC Hennef 05.

Lallinger has been Chief Executive "Financial Risks" at Munich Re since 2010, with global responsibility for the Credit Insurance, Credit Reinsurance and Digital Factoring business at Munich Re, the world's leading Reinsurer. Lallinger serves also as Member of the Supervisory Board of a Spanish Credit Insurer, Member of the Board of Directors of a US Inc. Company and in the Credit Committee of the German Insurance Association. Lallinger is also responsible for the Automated Credit Risk Assessment and Value-chain Enhancement initiatives at Munich Re. 

Between 2008 and 2010, Mr. Lallinger built up and headed the "Global Reinsurance Strategy and Organisation" division, with responsibility for the strategy, mid-term planning, organisational structure and efficiency of the Munich Re Reinsurance Group. Since 2006, he has been “Head of Strategy” for the Munich Re Group, having joined the same department in 2002 as a Strategy Consultant. 

Prior to joining Munich Re, Lallinger was Financial Risks Underwriter at GE Frankona Re, having started his insurance career in 1993 as a Trainee at Gerling Credit Insurance, Cologne. 

He was born 1965 in Göttingen, Germany, is married, 3 children, and holds a Master of Business Administration from Georg-August-Universität.

Dr. Adam Melski is a seasoned top-level executive with proven expertise in driving digital and agile transformations across large, business-critical organizations. As Managing Director and CTO at SCHUMANN, he is currently responsible for the company’s digital strategy. Previously, he served as Managing Director of MachDigital GmbH – an award-winning joint venture between HDI and Neodigital. Leadership roles at HDI Group (including as Head of Claims IT) and VHV Group (including as Head of Agile Transformation and Program Lead) underscore his deep industry experience. Dr. Adam Melski holds a PhD in Information Systems from the University of Göttingen and brings over 15 years of leadership experience to the table.

Since 1991, Prof. Dr. Matthias Schumann has held a professorship in Business Administration and Information Systems (Chair of Application Systems and E-Business) at the University of Göttingen. He also heads the joint computing center of the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Social Sciences. He is a shareholder of Prof. Schumann GmbH.

Prof. Schumann's research interests include information systems at financial service providers and systems for credit management, as well as issues related to knowledge and education management. Prof. Schumann has a wide range of experience in consulting companies, extensive lecturing activities and more than 350 publications.

Tobias Nießner holds a PhD in Business Information Systems from the Georg-August University of Göttingen. He studied mathematics and business information systems with a focus on data science. During his PhD, he worked on risk use cases in accounts receivable management.

He joined SCHUMANN in 2023 as Product Owner to enable the product landscape with AI capabilities