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Robert Kilian
Digital business models in highly regulated markets I CEO CertifAI I Board Member German AI Association
Professional Background
Robert Kilian is a distinguished professional with a robust educational and career background centered around law, management, and technological innovation. He has significantly impacted various sectors, primarily in the legal and fintech industries, showcasing a blend of expertise that enhances strategic decision-making and organizational effectiveness. His career has evolved through various high-level roles, where he has continuously demonstrated leadership, innovation, and a commitment to excellence.
Kilian has a strong foundation in law, having pursued rigorous academic training, which includes both a Ph.D. in Law and the completion of the 1st State Exam from the prestigious University of Cologne. His scholarly pursuits are complemented by practical experience gained as a former Senior Associate and Associate at Hengeler Mueller, one of Europe’s leading law firms. During his tenure, he specialized in legal advisory roles, understanding the intricate dynamics of corporate law, compliance, and financial regulations. This legal acumen positioned him as a pivotal asset in the fintech arena, particularly in his roles at N26, where he served as Chief Representative (Generalbevollmächtigter) and General Counsel. Under his counsel, the company navigated complex legal landscapes, ensuring compliance while driving innovation.
Kilian’s leadership extends into academia as well, where he served as a lecturer at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. His ability to convey complex legal and management concepts to students reflects his expertise and passion for education. The intersection of legal knowledge and management is further emphasized by his pursuit of an Executive Diploma in Management from the renowned University of St.Gallen, which provided him with advanced insights into corporate governance and strategic management, essential for overseeing expansive operations in the tech space.
Beyond his work at N26, Kilian's influence in the fintech sector is marked by his previous role as a member of the FinTech Council (FinTechRat) at the Bundesministerium der Finanzen, where he collaborated with policymakers to streamline regulations and foster innovation within the financial technology landscape. In addition, he was a vital part of the supervisory board at the N26 Group, overseeing strategic directions and contributing to the growth trajectory of the company as it scaled operations internationally.
Education and Achievements
Robert Kilian's educational qualifications form a solid foundation for his impressive career. He studied for a Ph.D. in Law at the University of Cologne, equipping him with advanced legal research and analytical skills that are invaluable in today’s complex regulatory environment. Additionally, his completion of the 1st State Exam in Law at the same university demonstrates a commitment to achieving significant legal proficiency early in his professional journey. Kilian’s academic accomplishments are complemented by his studies at Heidelberg University, where he completed his Midterm Exam in Law, further enhancing his credentials in legal theory and practice.
Notably, his military training as an Officer of the Reserve at Offizierschule des Heeres highlights his leadership qualities and discipline, traits that have been evident throughout his professional life. The combination of military experience and legal education has provided him with a unique perspective on organizational structure and governance, enabling him to implement effective strategies in business settings.
Kilian's former role as the CEO of CertifAI showcases his entrepreneurial spirit and his dedication to advancing technological solutions in the field of artificial intelligence, particularly in relation to how these technologies can be utilized in law. As the founder of Beams, he further displayed his innovation and leadership skills, creating platforms and solutions that bridge the gap between technology and legal applications.
Achievements
Throughout his professional career, Robert Kilian has earned several notable achievements that underscore his capabilities and contributions across multiple industries:
- Strategic Leadership: As a member of the Board at KI Bundesverband, he played a crucial role in shaping industry standards and policies that govern AI technologies, fostering a collaborative environment among stakeholders.
- Regulatory Impact: His participation in the FinTech Council at Bundesministerium der Finanzen allowed him to influence important legal frameworks governing the fintech space, contributing to a balanced and progressive regulatory environment.
- Innovating Legal Solutions: As CEO of CertifAI and founder of Beams, Kilian pioneered solutions that integrate legal practice with technological advancements, demonstrating his foresight in the growing intersection of law and technology.
- Academic Contributions: His lecturing position at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin not only illustrates his expertise but also his commitment to shaping the next generation of legal professionals. His contributions to academia aim to inspire a new wave of thinkers in law and management.
- Corporate Governance: Serving on the Supervisory Board at N26 Group allowed him to provide insight and strategic direction at one of Europe's leading fintech firms, ensuring that regulatory compliance and innovative growth go hand-in-hand.
Through these achievements, Robert Kilian has carved a distinct niche for himself as a leader who possesses a deep understanding of both legal intricacies and technological growth. His extensive network within the fintech space and his dedication to innovation continue to influence the evolving dynamics of law and technology integration. With a blend of academic rigor, professional experience, and a passion for innovation, Kilian stands as a testament to what it means to excel at the intersection of law, management, and technological advancement.
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Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.