All Team

Major General Gerfried Promberger serves as Commander of the Austrian Air Force and Air Chief of the Austrian Armed Forces. He is a graduate of the 16th General Staff Course, completed the US Air War College with distinction, and was inducted into the „International Honor Roll“ by the former Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, General David W. Allvin.

With the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Max Pollak began delivering primarily medical supplies to frontline areas. Over time, he shifted his focus to the evacuation of wounded individuals and to providing tactical medical training for members of the armed forces.

Markus Piendl is a security technology expert from Munich who is recognised both in Germany and abroad. His areas of expertise are perimeter security and drone defence. Markus Piendl has a proven track record of operational and project experience and publishes articles on both topics in publications such as „Git Sicherheit“.

Mark Pfeiffer is Head of Business Development for Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic at Shield AI. The US-based defence and aerospace company is considered one of the most innovative providers of AI-enabled defence technologies, developing autonomous aircraft and effectors, AI-based „combat pilots“, and software solutions for military operations.

Lieutenant Colonel Robert Toni Pfaffenbauer serves as policy officer for space and defence industry at the Defence Policy and Strategy Division of the Austrian Ministry of Defence. He focuses on the institutional transformation driven by developments and requirements in the sectors space and defence industry.

Gili Perl is Director International Sales at Eurobotics GmbH, Europe’s new mission-ready uncrewed systems house. She also serves as Director Business Development at Munich-based INTEC Group, a product-neutral systems integrator. She previously held senior positions at ESG Elektroniksystem- und Logistik-GmbH and Israel Aerospace Industries, and served in policy roles at the Austrian Ministry of Defence.

Bernhard Müller is Industry Lead Aerospace & Defence at PwC Austria, specializing in „Defence & Security“ and public commercial law. As a reserve officer, he has more than 30 years of practical experience in the field of defence. From 2023 to 2025, he served as Chairman of the Procurement Review Commission at the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence, which oversees key acquisition projects under the „Aufbauplan 2032+“.

Yuliya Maltseva is a Co-Founder of Women in Defense Tech, where she fosters partnerships and knowledge exchange and innovation of the defense tech ecosystem. She engages governments, Armed Forces, the industry and adjacent players in Germany and Ukraine in customized frameworks aimed at strengthening industrial collaboration across borders. Yuliya has a background in political science and is a part of a German defense scale-up.

Tobias Lehmann is a Product Manager with extensive experience in product strategy, digital business cases, and lifecycle ownership of mission‑critical systems. His work focuses on AI‑enabled Command and Control (C2) products in Air Defense domain, including licensing and commercialization models that strengthen client and OEM relationships. He began his career as an officer in the German Army, since 2024, he has been with Rheinmetall Air Defence.

Kevin Lamshöft is C-UAS Solution Architect at Thales Germany and Cyber Security Researcher at the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg. He holds a PhD in Cyber Security for Cyber-Physical Systems and joined Thales in 2024 as an OT Security Consultant. His work has since evolved toward the intersection of Cyber Security, AI, and Unmanned Vehicle Systems in counter-drone architectures.

Stephan Kraschansky is a former officer and counter-drone specialist with the Austrian Armed Forces. After leaving the military, he became Managing Director and owner of the Austrian branch of Aaronia, an internationally active specialist in drone detection systems. Today, he is regarded as one of Europe’s leading experts in counter-UAS technologies.

Josef Kranawetvogl is a graduate of the 17th General Staff/Admiral Staff Course of the German Armed Forces. Most recently, he served at the Federal Ministry of Defence with responsibility for space security and oversaw civil-military cooperation between the Bundeswehr Space Command and the German Space Agency at DLR. Since 2024, he has been serving as Senior Vice President at Stark.