July 2, 2024
What do cloud services and artificial intelligence (AI) have in common? How can we streamline processes and make information more accessible within a company? These are the questions that Hannes Breitfeld deals with in his role as Lead Cloud Architect Innovation Automation at Fresenius Digital Technology. Read the interview below to get the lowdown.
I am Lead Cloud Architect for Innovation and Automation. Within this role, I am responsible for driving forward innovation and am also part of the AI CoE (Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence). This currently covers the latest developments in artificial intelligence within the field of generative AI. In addition, I ensure that we can provide our services and an infrastructure for AI to our internal customers in an automated way.
We are responsible for all cloud services. It is our job to ensure that our operating environment is sustainable, resilient, and scalable. But how do you achieve this? Well, one example is by using infrastructure as code. In other words, we describe our entire infrastructure in code – Terraform is the most popular coding language for this. It allows us to make extensive adjustments to our infrastructure with just a few changes to the code. This in turn means that we can be agile, work quickly and react much better to changing requirements. And this contributes to the group’s overarching goals of saving time and money.
One of my tasks relating to AI is to exploit the potential that AI offers while also managing the associated risks. Our aim is to be the one-stop shop for AI applications within the group.
In addition to automating the entire platform, we also provide what are known as “application landing zones”. These are separate areas within our infrastructure in which the business units can manage and offer their own services. The landing zones provision is automated so we can respond to requirements quickly and cost-effectively here too.
Another benefit of our approach is that, with infrastructure as code, we don’t “click together” the different services from the portal; instead, we describe the desired state in code. This code can then be easily converted into documentation, which is very important for us as a healthcare group.
We really do have unrestricted access to all state-of-the-art technologies. It is very exciting and, in my opinion, the Fresenius Group has nothing to hide when it comes to the current and future use of IT. We are moving everything to the cloud and are only continuing to hold information in local data centers when there are really pertinent reasons to do so. One example of this is when there is an application that requires extremely low latencies. Or if regulatory requirements prevent certain data from being stored in the cloud. As a healthcare group, we must of course comply with regulations. AI is currently an extremely exciting topic and we are working at the forefront of AI – in a healthcare company. Our work has a real, direct impact on our patients.
As an IT service provider, we are not detached from our core business. On the contrary, we work very closely with the business units and keep a close eye on their work. We need this proximity to them to understand their requirements and improve their use cases and processes. As a team, we treat each other with respect and communicate as equals; there is no top-down mentality. I really like this.
I am an IT specialist. After completing my training, I went on to work in a number of IT consultancies. While working, I studied Business Informatics and completed a Master’s degree in Big Data and Business Analytics. I have been working at Fresenius Digital Technology in Cloud Services as Lead Cloud Architect Innovation Automation since July 2021.
It’s great to be part of a team that plays such a key role in the entire group IT. Our services make such a big contribution and it is great to see that this is also recognized within the company. As a team, I think we’ve got a really good reputation for always supporting everyone and always finding a good solution to the problem. Sensing people’s appreciation brings me great joy.