Community of Practice

Co-President

Florian Andresen

Dr Florian Andresen is Co-President of the Archipelago of Design and Co-Founder and Managing Director of Aperion Systems (Hamburg, Germany), where he works at the intersection of strategy, organizational design, defence innovation, and transformation. He previously conducted research at Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg, focusing on strategic management, organizational ambidexterity, innovation, and Military Design Thinking. His doctoral dissertation, awarded summa cum laude, examined how organizations develop new capabilities bottom up, using meso-level dynamic capabilities. Florian served as a Manager at PwC in 2021 and at Strategy& in 2025, supporting public-sector and defence-related transformation. A former German Armed Forces officer from 2002 until 2021, he has been a reservist since October 2021 and holds the rank of Major. Through his work with AOD, Aperion Systems, research partners, and defence organizations, he develops and applies design-led approaches to complex security challenges, decision-making, institutional learning, and capability development. At the Archipelago, apart from his duties as Co-President, Florian is focussing on the annual conference, the training & certification, as well as the transition of the overall community model.