Thomas Schenkelberg
Finance & AI sparring partner
AI Bootcamp for Accounting Firms.
In four weeks, AI runs in your firm's daily work.
Who you'll be working with
Thomas Schenkelberg
- •8 years in tax and audit firms - Rödl & Partner and Ernst & Young among them. DATEV, financial statements, tax returns, client communication and deadline pressure from my own desk.
- •13 years as finance lead in software startups - bookkeeping, controlling, tax and cash for companies with 30 to 500 people. The same job every time: get recurring work out of heads and Excel files into clean processes.
- •1,200 hours hands-on with AI - about 1,000 in Claude Cowork and Claude Code, about 200 in Langdock. Real automations, real skills, real dead ends included.
"You won't have to explain to me why the 10th of the month is a bad day for training."
Trusted by Finance Leaders
Finance Collective DACH
FCD is a community of hundreds of CFOs from the DACH region.
Thomas moderates the AI Builders Group.
"I've stopped scrolling LinkedIn for AI-in-finance advice. Thomas is the person I call and he's the one our whole CFO community trusts.
He gets finance, he gets the tech, and he knows how to bridge the two for people who aren't developers. Fast, hands-on, no fluff. Just stuff that actually works."
"I came to Thomas already AI-active in finance - ChatGPT, Claude Cowork, several Gems active on our Google Workspace, Lovable. Then he showed me Claude Code, and that was a whole different league. He turned a CFO into a coder.
Two new projects launched right after our first session (and a knowledge bot for our NGO, Female Finance Circle, set up by him - many thanks!).
What makes Thomas rare: deep expertise paired with the calm to make the technical side feel safe - and genuinely fun. The bigger shift isn't the tools, it's how I now think about what a finance team can build itself."
"What sets Thomas apart is the combination of deep domain knowledge in accounting, tax and FP&A with the ability to zoom out and think strategically about what can and should be automated with AI.
He doesn't ask you to rebuild everything from scratch. He looks at your existing system landscape and finds the process and insight improvements that are already within reach."
"Thomas combines decades of hands-on CFO experience with a genuine hunger to transform how finance professionals work with AI. What makes him rare is that he doesn't just talk about the future of finance, he helps you get there.
Working with Thomas shaped how I think about AI in my own finance organization, from strategy down to where to actually start. Deeply knowledgeable, but also a natural educator who meets you where you are."
Sound familiar?
We don't know where to start. Or where to continue. Other firms report AI projects, LinkedIn is one success story after another, and at your firm the topic has been on the list for months. Or there was a first attempt, a few licences, a training, and since then it sits.
A new must-have AI tool every week. Someone tests ChatGPT, someone else swears by an add-on, the newsletter names the next one. Everyone tries alone in their own chat window and the good results never reach the team.
Are we even allowed to? § 203 StGB, client confidentiality, GDPR. Opinions differ on which data may go into which tool. So either nothing is allowed, or everyone does it quietly on their own machine. The second is more common, and more dangerous.
How the bootcamp runs
Not a webinar. No agenda that runs from slide 1 to slide 40 regardless of who is in the call.
The § 203 question comes first
It decides the tool. Today that means Langdock for most firms; Claude Cowork is the second bookable track. We settle it in the free intro call, along your data-protection situation.
Situational, not a program
Where your team already prompts well, we don't spend two hours on it. Where it sticks, a block may take two sessions. Your questions from the week come first.
You build, I guide
Your firm sets up and builds, I sit next to it. Connectors and IT approvals are done by your IT partner following my written instructions. What your team built, it can maintain.
Two sessions a week, four weeks
Between sessions your team tries it on real firm work. That is where the measurable results come from.
After four weeks you have
- An AI workspace that is set up and compliant, client data in the § 203-compliant track
- One use case built by your team and in productive use
- A prioritised list of the next use cases and a rollout plan for the rest of the firm
- A written summary, recording and working materials for every session
Eight blocks over four weeks
The typical order, distilled from ten sessions at a DATEV Digitale Kanzlei with about 20 people. Where your team is faster, we skip.
- 1
The digital AI agent
Model, context, tools, skills: how an AI agent works. Plus the IT approval request that needs a head start.
- 2
Prompt automation
Let the tool write the prompt instead of formulating it yourself.
- 3
Context architecture
Firm context, personal context, chat context.
- 4
Connecting tools
Outlook and OneDrive docked via connectors.
- 5
Skills
Recurring tasks captured once, usable by everyone in the firm.
- 6
Workflows
Multi-step processes that run on their own.
- 7
Projects
Cases and topics handled in one place. Hardening the use case.
- 8
Connecting DATEV
What works via DATEVconnect and what does not. Contract, order and setup stay with firm, IT and vendor.
Why this beats the alternatives
Between sessions your team tries things on real work. Without that, the format does not carry.
Start with a free 30-minute call
8 sessions, 4 weeks, 1 to 4 people
We talk about the price in the call, once I know your setup and how many people join. Nothing is booked before that.
Book a free 30-minute callAnd after the bootcamp?
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is the AI Bootcamp?
Eight sessions of two hours over about four weeks, two per week, for one to four people from your firm. At the end you have a compliant AI workspace, one use case built by your team in productive use, and a prioritised rollout plan.
What does it cost?
We talk about it in the free 30-minute call, after I know your setup and how many people join. Nothing is booked before that call.
Which firms is it for?
Digitally working tax and accounting firms with about 10 to 50 people, paperless, DATEV. Entry via one to four multipliers, partners or digitally minded staff. The rollout to the rest of the firm follows.
Is it a fixed program?
No. The eight blocks are focus areas, not an agenda to tick off. Where your team already knows something, we cut. Where it sticks, we go deeper. Your questions from the week set the course.
Do our people need to be technical?
No. Whoever operates DATEV and writes an Excel formula brings enough. What matters is the willingness to practise on your own cases between sessions.
We already have some AI experience. Still worth it?
Yes, and then the focus shifts. We shorten the basics and get to context architecture, skills, agents and workflows earlier, and to the question of how it reaches the whole team instead of two enthusiasts.
Langdock or Claude Cowork?
Both are bookable. Most firms choose Langdock today because it is currently the track that meets § 203 StGB. Claude Cowork is the more capable workbench and, in my view, where most firms end up. Firm context, prompt patterns and built use cases move with you. We decide in the intro call.
What happens to client data?
It stays in the track that meets § 203 StGB. That is exactly what decides the tool, which is why the question comes first. The legally binding paperwork (data processing agreement, AI policy) belongs to your lawyer or data protection officer; I provide orientation and checklists.
What does our IT have to do?
Approve and set up the integrations, especially the Office suite. Your IT partner gets written instructions from me. We trigger this in session one, because such approvals take days to weeks.
Can we book single blocks?
Not from the bootcamp: the blocks build on each other. If you want one specific topic settled, book an AI Power Hour: 60 minutes, EUR 250, pay only if it was useful.