“I’ve realized that the field of crypto presents a significant opportunity.”
Release date: 17 February 2025
Julian is a Partner at zeb and plays a key role in the “Capital Markets & Securities Operations” project area, focusing on the DLT & Digital Assets sector. His journey at zeb is remarkable: starting as an intern, he steadily climbed the career ladder from permanent employee to Partner. In his interview, he shares insights into his journey to becoming a Partner and how this achievement is linked to the rapidly expanding field of digital assets.
Tell us about your academic background and what motivated you to join zeb afterwards?
I completed my Master’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Controlling, and Taxation at WFI – Ingolstadt School of Management. In 2013, during my studies, I had the opportunity to intern at zeb, where I gained in-depth experience in restructuring a private bank. Following my internship, I was offered to become part of the newly launched zeb.talents program.
As a zeb.talent, you have the opportunity to stay in contact with zeb after your internship, and that’s exactly what I did. I finally joined the company permanently as Consultant in 2016.
Why have you stayed with zeb to this day?
I liked many things that encouraged me to stay at zeb. Firstly, the team spirit throughout the company is exceptional, with a strong willingness to help and support each other.
Secondly, all employees have very different areas of expertise. If a problem arises in a client project, you will always find someone at zeb who has already dealt with the issue or is familiar with it.
And last but not least: the well-known “reasoning beats hierarchy” principle is lived not only in theory, but also in practice. There is great potential to contribute your own ideas and discuss them with others on an equal footing, regardless of one’s own position. In my opinion, this is unique in the industry.
How did you manage the career path from student to Partner?
Since starting at zeb, I have focused on business and operation models, addressing issues in the securities business within this area. My first projects were in the fintech environment, where I came into contact with the topic of crypto. I realized there was an opportunity for us and zeb, since at that time, very few consulting companies could offer solutions, let alone expertise, in this specific area.
Over the past five years, our Digital Assets team has grown significantly. There are now around 10–12 employees working on projects related to this topic.
What makes your department so special?
Due to its strong growth, the Digital Assets team is obviously very young, consisting of many Consultants and Senior Consultants. However, it also includes experienced colleagues who are fully committed to the topic.
Together with our clients, we are currently working on shaping the financial market infrastructure of the future. We are therefore experiencing a very dynamic environment in which you can always learn something new.
Why are digital assets particularly interesting at zeb and not elsewhere?
What makes digital assets so exciting at zeb is that we support our clients along the entire value chain. This comprehensive approach fosters productive and valuable collaboration within the entire zeb team. The transformation to “Digital Assets & DLT” significantly impacts our clients’ entire value chain, making the topic a perfect fit for zeb.
We advise our clients on various topics, including target operating models, money laundering, compliance, risk management, and the development of business models in the digital assets sector.
What was the last team event you took part in?
At our last team event, we went to play padel tennis with a project team. It was a sport that immediately got me and my colleagues hooked, which is why we now play it regularly.
Do you also travel outside of Germany for projects?
In the last few months I’ve been involved in projects in the Netherlands and Austria. I also regularly travel to Zurich and Zug in Switzerland, as the market there is highly relevant, especially for crypto and digital assets.
A very special experience was being invited by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs to be present in the German Pavilion at the Singapore FinTech Festival and at the Insight Forum.
What advice would you like to give to potential candidates?
In addition to the classic requirements, I believe it is very important to be open to new topics. Because that’s exactly the beauty of our job: not only do you come into contact with new specialist topics, but also always learn something new.
Has Julian's interview about his tasks and his path at zeb made you curious? Here you can find more information about starting at zeb.
