At Conduktor, we take pride in the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our team. In this installment of our ‘Meet the Team’ series, we sit down with Christoph Schubert, Head of Sales Engineering, to learn more about his career path, his passion for technology, and his journey to Conduktor.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Outside of work, I live in the countryside near Bremen, Germany, where I enjoy being outdoors and dabbling in photography. One of my biggest commitments outside of work is being a volunteer firefighter, which has been a huge part of my life. 

How did you end up teaching in China?

My journey to China was largely a personal decision—I moved there because my then-girlfriend was Chinese, and I was looking for a new challenge. I ended up lecturing at three different universities, primarily in software development. My introduction to big data came when one of the deans at my last university suggested I explore it due to my background in Java and mathematics. Initially, I was skeptical, but as I started teaching courses on big data technologies and cloud computing, I found myself increasingly drawn to the field.

What led you to work with Kafka?

When I moved back to Germany, I joined a small consultancy specializing in SAP. They had just won a few projects involving Kafka, and they needed people with some experience in the field. That’s how I got my first real exposure to Kafka. At first, I was more focused on Spark programming and big data, but we quickly realized that Kafka was a better fit for our needs. 

Did you expect to work in streaming long-term?

Not at all! My initial plan was simply to work with new technologies and gain experience. But when I started using Kafka, it became clear that it was solving real, pressing problems for enterprises.

A turning point came when our client brought in a Confluent Solutions Architect to evaluate our Kafka implementation. After a two-hour session, he offered me a job at Confluent! It was surreal—working for a Silicon Valley company had always seemed out of reach. But that experience made me realize that I was actually pretty good at what I was doing.

What was your transition into sales engineering like?

At Confluent, I initially worked in professional services (PS), helping customers implement Kafka solutions. But over time, I found myself enjoying the sales aspect of my role—scoping projects, understanding customer challenges, and demonstrating technical solutions. That led me to explore sales engineering, even though I had no formal experience in selling software.

When Jean-Louis Boudart, whom I knew from Confluent, reached out about Conduktor, it felt like the right opportunity. I wanted to move away from professional services, where you’re often fixing problems, and instead be part of a team delivering a fully-fledged product. Conduktor was the perfect place to make that shift.

What’s your role at Conduktor?

My job is to showcase Conduktor’s technical value to customers. That means:

• Demoing our platform and helping customers envision how it fits into their architecture.

• Guiding customers through proofs of value (POVs)—troubleshooting, advising, and ensuring a smooth experience.

• Collaborating cross-functionally with product, marketing, and customer success teams.

Recently, my role has evolved into more of a coaching position, where I help onboard new team members and formalize how we interact with customers. It’s a shift from being a player to being a coach, and I’m enjoying the challenge.

What’s the best thing about working at Conduktor?

Definitely the collaboration and agility. Coming from a larger company, I love that at Conduktor, we can rally around a problem and solve it quickly. If a customer has feedback, we can engage the right people immediately. It’s fast-paced, but that’s what makes it exciting.

What advice would you give to someone looking to break into sales engineering?

• Jump in! Don’t wait for the “perfect” experience—learn on the job.

• Develop empathy. Understanding customers and their pain points is crucial.

• Ask the right questions. Sometimes customers don’t articulate their needs clearly, so it’s your job to read between the lines and map their challenges to solutions.

• Keep learning. The best sales engineers aren’t just technical—they know how to communicate value effectively.

Final Question: Are you a cat or a dog person?

I grew up with both, so I don’t have a strong preference. But if I had to choose—probably cats.

Interested in joining a team where collaboration, innovation, and problem-solving thrive? We’re always looking for passionate people to help shape the future of streaming data.

Explore our careers and find your next opportunity at Conduktor!