Committed to a safer internet
Dagmar Möbius
Tom Siegel is now CEO of his company Trustlab in San Francisco.
Tom Siegel is the founder and CEO of a Silicon Valley company. The 50-year-old studied industrial engineering and management at TU Dresden, specializing in mechanical engineering. A scholarship program of the US Embassy in Germany over three decades ago set the course for the Dresden native to make the US his home.
Tom Siegel has always wanted to combine technology and business. TUD was just down the road from his high school in the southern suburb of Dresden. In 1993, he enrolled in industrial engineering and management, specializing in mechanical engineering, The wide range of high-quality academic programs available contributed to his decision to study in his hometown.
Hats from America
Graduates' Ball (on the left, the then Dean Prof. Werner Esswein)
Just one year later, he took part in a one-year scholarship program for students from East Germany at Ball State University in Indiana, funded by the American Embassy. "I took a lot of economics courses," he recalls. Back in Dresden, Tom Siegel got involved in the Faculty Student Council alongside his studies. After twelve semesters and numerous internships – including at Daimler in Argentina – he defended his Diplom thesis on measurements and benchmarks of corporate innovation capacity in 1999. Looking back, he says his studies were highly relevant: "They were the basic building blocks and initial foundation in many respects." He has fond memories of Professor Volker Ulricht (†). "A lot of time has passed since than," the engineer says with a grin. He was also a founding member of nexus, the alumni network of the Faculty of Business and Economics. "I was the first to organize an American-style graduation ceremony," he says. In the early years, they even wore hats from America. And he was a speaker at the ceremony.
A wealth of industry insights worldwide
He started his career as a management consultant for an American company immediately after graduating. After just one year, he was assigned international projects in the United States and Mexico. From 2002 to 2004, Tom Siegel also completed an MBA at Stanford University. After that, he worked for Google for about 15 years in various positions in the field of internet safety. The fact that search results cannot be manipulated, for example, requires an algorithm system that he helped to develop. Just like hundreds of other products for global use.
Making the internet a safer place
Anyone who has ever been confronted with "zoom bombing" immediately understands why Tom Siegel says: "Internet safety is getting worse rather than better." That is why he founded his own technology company Trustlab in San Francisco in 2020. He wants to help people make the internet a safer place. "If you want to build your own eBay, there aren't many solutions out there yet. That's a white space," he says. Other practical examples include solutions that enable people to avoid seeing violence or falling for scams when using the internet. To do this, his team works mainly with artificial intelligence. The company is also active in the field of IT safety and compliance. It assesses for the European Union and governments how well official safety standards are being adhered to.
Tom Siegel is pleased to receive applications for his Dresden branch today.
New branch in Germany
Tom Siegel recently opened a German branch of his company. For old time's sake, it is in Dresden, but staff can work remotely or in Berlin too. He is actively looking for employees and students for his team. "Software engineers and anyone who is familiar with artificial intelligence," he says.
Contact:
Tom Siegel
CEO
Trustlab