Our Hosts

Christian Woese

Christian is an experienced operator turned builder, having spent five years scaling SaaS go-to-market teams across Europe before shifting his focus to developing AI systems that replace traditionally manual, department-heavy processes. He previously led the growth unit at Predium, overseeing marketing, sales, and customer success, and at Yokoy, where he built the entire post-sales organization from the ground up—scaling from two to 35 team members and managing over 500 enterprise clients across six European offices through a data-driven approach to expansion and retention. Today, alongside Melanie Gabriel, he co-runs Follow the Gradient, a platform exploring how to build and scale companies in Europe.

Melanie Gabriel

Melanie serves as Co-Director and COO at the ETH AI Center, where she operates at the intersection of artificial intelligence, research, and real-world application. She is also a co-founder of Yokoy (later acquired by Perk) and followthegradient.io, a weekly podcast and newsletter focused on building sustainable businesses from Europe. Alongside her entrepreneurial work, she lectures at ETH Zurich and the University of St. Gallen, teaching courses in Entrepreneurship and Technology, as well as Tech Investing. She is actively involved in the startup ecosystem as a board member of SICTIC and Moodtalk, and contributes to multiple advisory boards, bringing strategic insight across technology, investment, and innovation.