CTS EVENTIM expands Product & Tech leadership team

Hamburg, 15 August 2025 – CTS Eventim – Europe’s number one in ticketing and live entertainment, and number two worldwide – expands its product & tech leadership team: Karl Pitrich will take on the newly created role of Senior Vice President Software Engineering as of 18 August 2025. Dennis Kieselhorst will return to CTS EVENTIM on 1 September 2025 as Vice President Enterprise Architecture, also a new position. Both will report to Karel Dörner, CTO of CTS EVENTIM.

As part of this leadership expansion, Christoph Bodi, Managing Director of CTS EVENTIM Solutions, will in the same position focus more closely on the further development of the group’s tech operations. His remit includes the data centre division, programme management, the digital workplace unit and professional product services. He will also oversee the continued advancement of the Business Intelligence unit, which plays a key role in the group’s future success by delivering data-driven analyses, actionable insights, and informed decision-making support.

As the new SVP Software Engineering, Karl Pitrich will take responsibility for the majority of the company’s software developers and further develop their organisation both functionally and structurally. In addition, together with CPO Thorsten Schäffler, he will drive the strategic establishment and expansion of cross-functional Product & Tech product teams. Karl Pitrich brings more than 20 years of experience building high-performance engineering teams, along with deep expertise in technology, leadership and talent development. After holding several founder roles as well as positions at various software and e-commerce providers, he became Head of Engineering at HolidayCheck in 2014. In 2017, he joined McKinsey as a Digital Expert Associate Partner. For the past four years, he served as CTO of Mister Spex, where he was responsible for the company’s overall technology strategy.

As VP Enterprise Architecture, Dennis Kieselhorst will define the global technological target architecture and oversee its implementation across the group, incorporating AI-enabled architectural components. After starting his career in various telecommunications companies, Dennis Kieselhorst went on to work as a consultant, including for Deutsche Börse. In 2017, he joined CTS EVENTIM for the first time, where, as Chief Architect, he led the system architecture of the sports ticketing solution TIXX. After several years as Principal of the European Solution Architecture team at Amazon Web Services (AWS) – where he was responsible for transforming the software and system architectures of global enterprise clients – he is now returning to CTS EVENTIM.

Karel Dörner, CTO, CTS EVENTIM: “I am delighted to welcome Karl and Dennis on board. Together with Thorsten and Christoph, our leadership team is now ideally positioned to drive the further development of our Product & Tech organisation at maximum speed. Promoters will benefit from the systematic scaling of product innovation, technological expertise, and data-driven value creation. Fans will experience a new kind of user experience. My special thanks go to Christoph and his team, whose achievements and successes to date will now serve as a foundation on which the expanded management team can build together.”

Karl Pitrich, designated SVP Software Engineering, CTS EVENTIM: “I would like to thank Karel and the Executive Board for their trust. At CTS EVENTIM, product and technology are consistently considered together to achieve the maximum for both promoters and fans alike. I look forward to bringing my experience in scaling complex engineering teams to the table. For me, a modern people-first engineering culture is the key to innovative product development at the highest level.”

Dennis Kieselhorst, designated VP Enterprise Architecture, CTS EVENTIM: “I would also like to thank Karel and the Executive Board for giving me the opportunity to return to my former place of work. After several years in the international cloud business, I am highly motivated to take on my new role at CTS EVENTIM. The opportunity to work on the group-wide target architecture, leveraging modern, AI-enabled and scalable technologies, is an exciting challenge with great potential for all stakeholders. I am looking forward to actively shaping this transformation.”

Christoph Bodi, Managing Director, CTS EVENTIM Solutions: “Our technological infrastructure is evolving at a rapid pace. Through targeted investments in a new engineering platform solution, observability tools, as well as automation and AI, we are enabling ever more efficient and scalable processes. Our Business Intelligence unit is increasingly supporting both our own decision-making processes and the data-based analysis and consulting we provide to promoters. I am very much looking forward to focusing even more intensively on these topics – and to working together with Karel, Karl, Thorsten, Dennis, and our teams to strengthen our technological innovation for sustained success.”

ABOUT CTS EVENTIM

CTS EVENTIM is the number one provider of ticketing services in Europe and number two in the world. Over 300 million tickets per year are marketed using the Company’s systems – through mobile/online portals and physical box offices. According to Pollstar’s global rankings for 2024, the EVENTIM Group is the second-biggest promoter in the world. In addition, CTS EVENTIM operates some of Europe’s most renowned venues. CTS Eventim AG & Co. KGaA (ISIN DE 0005470306) has been listed on the stock exchange since 2000 and is a member of the MDAX segment. In 2024, the Group generated revenue of EUR 2.8 billion across more than 25 countries.

PRESS CONTACT

Christian Colmorgen  
Vice President Corporate Communications
christian.colmorgen@eventim.de

INVESTOR RELATIONS

Marco Haeckermann
Vice President Corporate Development & Strategy
marco.haeckermann@eventim.de