Services Track record Career Principles Contact

Mario Lock — IT & AI — Berlin

Systems that run. Not slides that shine.

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I implement AI, build software and run infrastructure — for companies that want results, not concept papers. Over 20 years of operational responsibility: fleet logistics, hospitality, a tech scale-up, my own company, an accounting firm. That's why what I build survives everyday use.

0+
Years of hands-on operations
0 → 0 %
Team productivity raised as MD
0
Companies led & digitized
0+
Apps running in production, self-operated

Services

What I do for you — from idea to operation.

Not a grab bag, but a chain: I analyze, decide with you, build — and operate what I've built. You get one person accountable for the whole thing, not five trades.

/01

AI Consulting & Implementation

From use-case analysis to a system in production: AI assistants that work with your own documents and data, and agents that actually get tasks done — wired into your real processes, not left as a toy on the side.

Claude / GPTRAGAgentsMCP
/02

AI Compliance & Data Protection

EU AI Act and GDPR considered from day one: risk classification, data processing agreements, deletion concepts. Where it matters, the AI runs on your infrastructure — not at a US provider.

EU AI ActGDPRDPASelf-hosted AI
/03

Software Architecture & Development

Portals, business applications, add-ons and integrations built to last ten years. Architecture driven by need, not fashion — and code the next person can still understand.

Next.jsTypeScriptPythonPostgreSQL
/04

Automation

Whatever happens manually three times a week in your business gets automated: workflows, interfaces, email routing, reporting. I administer both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace — and wire them into your systems, or replace them with something of your own.

BullMQAPIsM365Google Workspace
/05

IT Security

Security as standard equipment, not an upsell: two-factor sign-in, centralized logins, tiered access rights and complete audit trails. Implemented pragmatically instead of buried in policy documents.

2FA / TOTPSSO / OAuthRBACAudit logs
/06

Servers & Infrastructure

Your own servers instead of cloud dependency: I set them up, harden them and run them — including encryption, backups and monitoring. Predictable costs, full control — and your data verifiably stays yours.

DockerTraefikLinuxBackups

Track record

Built, not claimed.

I don't sell anything I don't run in production myself. Everything here is live — every day, with real users and real data.

Platform

StebOS — an operating system for an accounting firm

A fully self-developed operating platform for an accounting firm: client CRM, accounting and payroll workflows, kanban case management with automatic conversion of incoming emails into cases, invoicing with a four-stage dunning process and DATEV export, a client portal with document upload and digitally signed powers of attorney, prospect onboarding, BI dashboards with KPIs and AI assistance with cost tracking — secured with 2FA, role-based access and audit logs. Runs in production at an accounting firm serving 120+ clients.

stebos · demo (anonymized sample data) Full screen ↗ Live ↗
120+
Clients in production
Reporting & BI

Stebex Ops — reporting & BI portal

A web app that automates an accounting firm's entire weekly reporting: KPI dashboards (revenue, billable hours, intake, new clients, receivables), anonymized per-employee team utilization, cashflow analysis straight from CAMT bank data with automatic transaction categorization, account-balance tracking and one-click generation of four reports per week. Python/FastAPI backend, PostgreSQL, on my own server behind a login. Public demo view with sample data.

stebex-ops · interactive demo (sample data) Full screen ↗
4
Reports per week
Turnaround

Stebex Accounting GmbH — digitization as managing director

As managing director I rebuilt a team of up to ten people: standardized the processes and moved the entire operation onto StebOS, our own platform — with automated digital processes, end-to-end reporting and BI dashboards with meaningful KPIs. I significantly reduced outstanding receivables and put management on solid metrics. Billable productivity rose from 44 to 74 percent.

44→74 %
Productivity
Web platform

moviecar.de — rental platform for film vehicles

B2B platform for film-vehicle rental, live at moviecar.de (Next.js, Supabase): a public catalog of 50+ vehicles, an admin CRM with quote-to-invoice flow via sevDesk, deep Google Workspace integration (Gmail, Calendar, Drive) and AI-powered image import with automatic tagging.

moviecar · fleet demo (sample vehicles) Full screen ↗ Live ↗
50+
Vehicles in the catalog
Portal

Partner portal for an accounting group

Evolved from a prototype into a production portal for the group's freelance staff: Next.js with PostgreSQL, case and deadline management with background workers for OCR, mail and deadlines, sevDesk billing sync, AI features, two-factor auth with login anomaly detection, Playwright end-to-end tests, and separate staging and production environments with a changelog and QA system.

3
Background workers
Infrastructure

Server infrastructure — set up, hardened, operated

Linux administration from the ground up: Docker deployments behind a Traefik reverse proxy with automatic SSL, firewall hardening and intrusion prevention (Fail2ban, CrowdSec), automated backups with a cross-server strategy (restic, nightly database dumps), uptime and resource monitoring with alerting, centralized log management — spread across two servers. Running an accounting platform, client portals, databases and automations in production.

25+
Containers in production
Documentation & handover

Ops-Doku — operations & handover documentation

How I hand over projects: complete operations documentation (MkDocs) with architecture, runbooks, monitoring, security and backup — so a project can be handed over seamlessly to the client or another IT team at any time. Core principle: the client owns the code and the database; no lock-in to long-term service contracts, ongoing support optional.

ops-doku · demo (anonymized) Full screen ↗
0
Vendor lock-in
Monitoring & operations

Server monitoring — metrics, logs & uptime

Round-the-clock monitoring of the infrastructure: live metrics (CPU, RAM, disk, network, containers) via Beszel, centralized Docker logs via Dozzle and HTTP uptime checks via Uptime Kuma — with threshold alerts via push. Keeps platforms, portals and databases running provably stable.

monitoring · demo (sample data) Full screen ↗
99.9 %+
Uptime
Early work

OCC Oldies & Classic Cars GmbH — digitizing my own company

My own business: over 100 vehicles for film and media productions. Built the booking system, CRM and resource management myself, moved the operation onto Google Workspace and fully digitized it — long before "digital transformation" became a consulting product.

100+
Vehicles in the system

Career

Not a straight CV. A broad one.

Logistics on a NATO deployment, state visits, a corporation, a scale-up, my own company, film production, West Africa, an accounting firm. I know businesses from the inside — that's why I build software that holds up in the real world.

Download CV (PDF)
2024 — today

Managing Director (employed) · Stebex Accounting GmbH, Berlin

Operational leadership, team of up to 10, digitization of the entire firm. Productivity from 44 to 74% and significantly reduced receivables — with self-built software (StebOS).

2023 — 2024

Remote Projects · Ghana

Three months across Accra, Kumasi and Koforidua: web development, design and accounting for German and Ghanaian clients — fully remote.

2022 — 2023

Picture Vehicle Coordinator · UFA Fiction

Vehicle and boat logistics for the series production "Helgoland 513" — procurement and coordination under shooting-schedule pressure.

2017 — 2025

Founder & Managing Director · OCC Oldies & Classic Cars GmbH

Over 100 vehicles for media productions. Built the booking system, CRM and automated workflows myself — from concept to code.

2012 — 2017

Blacklane GmbH · Division Leader & Senior Event Manager

Built up distribution partners in the scale-up, later VIP logistics for major events like the G20 summit.

2015 — 2016

Operations Manager · Libassa Ecolodge, Liberia

Hotel operations in West Africa: staff, payroll, procurement — operations under conditions where processes really have to hold.

2012

Product Consultant · Apple Distribution International, Cork

User acceptance testing and product quality — learned how a global company defines "done".

2005 — 2012

Dispatcher & Manager · United Limousines AG

Chauffeur logistics for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the 2008 POTUS visit and the Munich Security Conference. Interim management of the Munich branch.

2001 — 2005

German Armed Forces (KFOR Kosovo) & Interpreter, US Army

Logistics unit on a NATO mission, then language mediation and intercultural training in Hohenfels. Learned responsibility early.

The common thread

Operations. Fleet, hotel, film production or accounting firm — in the end it's always about people, processes and systems working together. That's exactly what I build software for today.

Principles

Where you stand with me.

/01

Your data belongs to you.

Data ownership is an architectural principle for me, not a marketing word: own servers, open formats, documented exports. You can leave at any time — which is why you stay.

/02

Practice before theory.

I ran businesses before I digitized them. What I recommend, I've operated myself — in my own company, with my own money, with my own team.

/03

Operable, or not at all.

I don't hand over anything I wouldn't want to maintain myself. Every system ships with documentation, backups and a plan for the day something breaks.

/04

Honest, even when it's uncomfortable.

If AI is the wrong answer to your problem, I'll say so. If an 80-percent solution is enough, I won't send a 100-percent invoice.

Mario Lock

Contact

Let's talk about your project.

A first call costs you 30 minutes and nothing else. Afterwards you'll have clarity on feasibility, approach and budget.

+49 159 01411977 LinkedIn ↗ Berlin · Remote worldwide