Markus Weiland – Freelance Solution Architect

What I do

System integration and automation projects fail for predictable reasons: requirements that do not survive contact with technical reality, architectures that grow faster than anyone planned, and development teams working without sufficient oversight from the client side.

My focus is on designing architectures that make agentic AI usable and governable in real business processes: defining where automation creates value, how AI output is controlled and traced, and how systems are connected to make it work in practice.

I engage at the level of technical and business management, bridge between development teams and stakeholders, and document architectural decisions in a way that outlasts the project.

I work fully remote, with occasional on-site meetings where it genuinely contributes to project success.

What clients achieve through working with me

Architectural clarity in complex projects

• Independent assessment of system landscapes in relation to strategic business goals
• Design and evaluation of target architectures for integration and automation projects
• Prototyping and technical validation of new architectural approaches

Requirements that actually reflect the business

• Identification and resolution of gaps between business requirements and technical implementation
• Structured requirements work with stakeholders at management and team level
• Translation between business needs and technical constraints in both directions

Projects that stay on track

• Architectural oversight throughout delivery, not only at the start
• Coordination between client stakeholders and external development teams
• Documentation of architectural decisions that remains useful after the project ends

Selected experience

Over more than ten years of project work in system integration and solution architecture, I have worked with manufacturers and distributors in sectors including industrial supplies, building materials, and lighting, as well as with the digital agencies that serve them. Projects have ranged from MACH architecture and ecommerce replatforming to global CMS rollouts, ML-based applications, and AI workflow automation.

Earlier, I built and led the engineering function of a B2B ecommerce marketplace for the German metal trade as CTO, from early stage through product-market fit. The platform's approach to independent marketplace positioning and guided product search was recognised in FAZ and WirtschaftsWoche.

I hold a Diplom in Media Informatics from Technische Universität Dresden, with a minor in Business Administration.

Technology focus

AI & automation: Claude (Anthropic), agentic workflow design, n8n

Integration & APIs: GraphQL, Apollo Server, REST, Commitspark

Version control & DevOps: Git, GitHub, GitHub Actions, Docker, Kubernetes, AWS

Frontend & backend: Next.js, Node.js, TypeScript, NestJS, PHP

Content management: Contentful, Payload CMS

Ecommerce platforms: commercetools, Vendure, Shopify Plus

PIM / CRM / Payment: Akeneo, Salesforce Sales Cloud, Adyen, Stripe

Languages: German (native), English (fluent), French (business fluent)