I'm Ben, engineer, ex-founder and chronic prototype builder from Vienna.
I fell into technology because I'm a guy. I pursued it academically and way too ambitiously because my grandmother said I absolutely had to use my gigantic ahem talent.
But what's always fascinated me is how the world works. And how to make it better. Today I try to make a living from what I enjoy: having ideas, building them, and sharing what happens along the way.
nista, Build, Fail, Keep Going
The nista.io team In 2019 we founded nista, a platform to help industrial companies make sense of their energy data. My doctoral thesis as the foundation. The idea: if you understand your data, you can reduce your energy consumption. And save money. Let's go.
Over 6 years we raised 1.5 million euros from investors, ran 600+ recorded conversations with energy managers, won 32 industrial clients and Schneider Electric as a strategic partner. ARR in the six-figure range.
At the same time we scaled the team to 8 FTE, then threw the entire strategy overboard when Russia's war upended the energy landscape. While I had to focus on sales, nothing customer-relevant happened in the product anymore. Scalability and architecture instead of features that excite. AI companies left us behind from 2022 onwards, despite a massive head start, we became spectators. In 2025 we had to give up.
After the most expensive MBA of all time, I'd do several things differently. We built a solution to a problem the market didn't find urgent enough. And we got stuck on technology that wouldn't have been our problem for a long time.
The Atelier is what remains when you strip away the pressure to scale. Working on ideas and building them. Learning together. And having fun honestly sharing what comes out of it.
Today – Fractional CTO/CPO
Since 2025 I work as a fractional CTO/CPO with energy and industrial companies. Embedded with the client team, 2-4 days a week, owning architecture, prototype, and go-to-market. Active mandates include TTTech-Voith (industrial OEM, edge AI deployment) and Enery (CEE renewables, 500+ MW). Additional engagements under NDA. On the side, startup mentor for the EDIH Elevator Ignite Accelerator (16 teams).
In parallel I ship my own AI products on Mistral and Supabase. Gridbert as an energy agent for Austrian consumers, plus my internal operating system (os.moerzinger.eu) running my advisory business on top of Mistral pipelines. I use LLMs daily across the stack, Mistral in the products, Claude for deep work and code.
What I Bring
I'm not afraid to tackle big, complex topics. Not despite their complexity, but because of it.
PhD, TU Wien
Manufacturing data and knowledge graphs. Engineer since HTL Mödling.
600+ Customer Conversations
Energy managers across DACH, from ISO 50001 to biogas to CO₂ capture.
Teaching at TU Wien
Currently teaching "AI in Energy" at TU Wien. Explaining tech you've actually built yourself.
6 Years Scout Leader
Learned how to bring people along. No budget, no hierarchy.
What sets me apart from most engineers: I mix disciplines. Pragmatic and creative, with a fraction of the resources others need.
Beyond the Workshop
Christina, Ada and me I live in Vienna with my wife Christina and our dog Ada. I box three times a week, cook, and play Magic the Gathering. Try to get to the water as often as possible to injure myself kitesurfing. Music from German rap to hardstyle, as long as it hits.