Klaus looks back on more than four decades of industry experience in software and systems engineering, including five years of delegation as Managing Director in Eastern Europe. With degrees in mathematics and philosophy, he started his career in software engineering at Nemetschek AG, a leading information technology company in the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) sector.

In 2002, he moved to Siemens Corporate Technology as head of the technology field "Software and System Engineering" and was responsible for global research and technology transfer of innovative engineering technologies for software-intensive systems and digital technologies. From 2019 until the end of 2023, Klaus was CEO of EIT Manufacturing, the innovation community for production and manufacturing technologies within the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).