Born in Ravensburg, Kai Diekmann grew up in Bielefeld in beautiful Lower Saxony. He discovered his enthusiasm for journalism at an early age. In his school, the Catholic Marian School of the Ursulines, he was editor of the conservative school newspaper “Passepartout”. After graduating from high school, he did his basic military service and then decided to study history, German and politics at the Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster.
At the age of 21, he was offered the opportunity to join the Axel Springer publishing house as a trainee. For the Axel Springer School of Journalism in Hamburg with stations in Bonn and New York, he dropped out of his studies – the starting signal for his career as one of the most powerful journalists in Germany has been given. First parliamentary correspondent for the “Bild” and “Bild am Sonntag” in Bonn, then chief reporter for the “Bunte”. In 1992, after a brief stint as editor-in-chief at the “B.Z.”, he moved to Hamburg as head of politics at the “Bild”.
After a short time out, Kai Diekmann resumed his professional activities under Claus Larass as editor-in-chief of the “Welt am Sonntag”. Two years later he was appointed editor-in-chief of the “Bild”. Later he became editor of the “Bild” and the “Bild am Sonntag”. To revolutionize the German media landscape, Diekmann moved to Silicon Valley from 2012 to 2013. According to his own statement, California has given him a variety of ideas and a new spirit, which he would like to put into practice, back as editor-in-chief in Germany.
He is using his drive as an upswing. He sees the opportunity and uses his enthusiasm to transform a company from print into a digital medium. Away from business shirts, tailor-made suits and ties to hoodies, chinos, canvas shoes and beards. Kai Diekmann perfectly slipped into the role of a person living in the Valley, which he embodies with passion and puts into practice in real life, even back in Germany.
If you ask Kai Diekmann whether his interest in events lies in frontal lectures or interviews, his answer is clear. The participants should receive and take away the greatest possible added value of the event. For him, this is clearly in the interview format. Open to spontaneous questions from the audience, criticism, exchange and discussion, Kai Diekmann is one of the speakers who opens eyes and starts talks fearlessly.
Kai Diekmann speaker topics
- 30 years fall of the Berlin Wall
- Digitization – opportunities, risks, possibilities and limits
- Social media as an opportunity? How Europe’s largest daily newspaper reacts to media change
- The success of the “Bild” brand
After 30 years of affiliation with Springer-Verlag, Kai Diekmann has left the company at his own request in January 2017 – he is taking on new challenges and tasks. In 2017 he became an advisor to the American service company UBER, which he advises primarily in political matters.
In the same year, together with the German entrepreneur Michael Mronz and the former editor-in-chief of stern.de Philipp Jessen, he founds the media agency “Storymachine” based in Berlin.
The office radiates an incredible charm, invites to work and open with each other. We have already visited him and got to know him there – he has put his experiences from Silicon Valley to best use in cooperation with his wife, photo columnist Katja Kessler. As he told us and as we could see, she created a masterful interior design for “Storymachine”. Together with Leonhard Fischer, a former investment banker and Diekmann’s childhood friend, he founded the digital asset management company “Zukunftsfonds” in 2018.
Would you like to have an honest and open exchange at your event? You want to wake up, motivate, digitize and be amazed? Book Kai Diekmann as a speaker at your event: Kai-Diekmann@premium-speakers.com