From Intern to Data Strategist

Pia Marie Voßwinkel found her start in professional life at Liebherr and discovered her passion for data. Today, she works as a Data Engineer, helping make data valuable and usable for the company.

Port of Rostock, early in the morning. Whenever Pia Marie Voßwinkel drives onto the Liebherr site, she still cannot help but smile. ‘Every time I see the Liebherr logo and the giant cranes, I feel a sense of pride. To me, this is a place where innovation and quality come together and where I am part of something bigger.’

I was looking for an employer that offered diversity and an international environment, and that is exactly what I found here.

Pia’s journey at Liebherr began in August 2022 with an internship in the Human Resources department as part of her Business Administration studies. ‘I was looking for an employer that offered diversity and an international environment, and that is exactly what I found here.’ She later wrote her bachelor’s thesis at the company, exploring the concept of a four-day workweek in production, and continued working as a student employee. During that time, she discovered a passion that would ultimately shape her career: data.

I was fascinated by the potential hidden in data and started to dive much deeper into the topic.

Surprisingly, the spark came from a gift she received from the HR department – a book about Artificial Intelligence. ‘I was fascinated by the potential hidden in data and started to dive much deeper into the topic.’ Following her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Pia decided to change direction and enrolled in the Master’s programme Applied Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in October 2023, which she successfully completed in February 2026. Since November 2025, she has been working as a Data Engineer in the Data Management department.

Today, Pia is responsible for supporting the Purchasing and Production domains as part of the company’s Data Governance activities – two of a total of thirteen data domains within the organisation. Working closely with subject matter experts across the business, she helps develop standards and guidelines designed to continuously improve data quality. Her work ensures that data is accurate, consistent, and properly documented.

Another key aspect of her role is acting as a link between business departments and IT. As a result, no two days look the same. Her work ranges from strategic planning and cross-functional workshops to supporting SQL queries, maintaining the Confluence space, and contributing to the implementation of a company-wide Data Catalog.

At the heart of Pia’s work is the idea of treating data as a valuable product through so-called Data Products. ‘These are curated data packages created for specific business purposes, such as warranty cost analysis. They allow departments to access reliable information with just one click instead of spending hours searching through different systems’, she explains.

While her studies focused heavily on preparing ideal datasets for AI models, reality has shown her that the first challenge is often creating a trustworthy data foundation in the first place. ‘At university, we worked with perfectly structured data. In practice, the first step is often making sure reliable data even exists.’ That is why ensuring data quality and making data accessible and usable have become central elements of her daily work.

Our corporate strategy explicitly identifies data and data transparency as key success factors. That clearly demonstrates how important this topic is for Liebherr.

The ultimate goal is to enable data-driven decision-making across the organisation. Reliable data helps reduce costs, improve efficiency, increase revenue, and uncover new business opportunities. Pia is fully aware of the growing importance of data for long-term business success. ‘Our corporate strategy explicitly identifies data and data transparency as key success factors. That clearly demonstrates how important this topic is for Liebherr. Companies that fail to take data seriously will eventually lose their competitive edge.’

So what motivates Pia most in her professional life? ‘The exchange with colleagues. I’m definitely an office person. I enjoy talking to people face-to-face and having those spontaneous hallway conversations where you often learn things that never come up in meetings.’ The interdisciplinary collaboration across departments is something she particularly values. ‘I’ve learned so much during my time here and continue to benefit from working with colleagues from different disciplines every day. It creates a strong sense of connection and makes my work genuinely rewarding.’

When she is not organising data, Pia is usually immersed in books. Her dream is to build a personal library containing one thousand books. ‘I’m currently at number 280, so it may take a little while’, she laughs. Her favourite series is Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, an epic fantasy saga exploring identity, magic, power, friendship, and love in a world filled with intrigue and dark forces. Since moving from Stralsund to Rostock in March 2026, she has also rediscovered another passion. As a teenager, she spent several years as a lifeguard and now plans to return to the role. For Pia, making Rostock her home has meant more than simply shortening her commute. It has allowed her to feel fully connected to the city where she is helping shape both her own professional future and that of Liebherr Rostock. ‘Now it truly feels like home.’