About
Biography, Speaking and Teaching
Born 1979 in Hamburg, raised between Germany, South Africa and Zambia. Studied Economics and Political Science at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. PhD in Political Economy from the London School of Economics, supervised by Willem Buiter and Robert Hancké. Visiting researcher at Columbia University in New York, and visiting student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
Joined the European Central Bank in 2006, initially in the EU Institutions and Fora Division, then in Monetary Policy Strategy. Spent over a decade in the Fiscal Policies Division, coordinating the joint fiscal analysis, contributing to ECB publications and policy briefings, and serving as member of ECB missions to EU programme countries.
Since 2023, focus on the integration of artificial intelligence into central banking and public policy. As Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transition Coordinator at the ECB's Directorate General Economics, designed the Central Banking Digitalisation Campaign 2025–2027 and the AI Foundations Programme. Also Chairperson of the ESCB Network on Microsimulation Modelling and Secretary of the Monetary Policy Committee.
Speaking and training topics
Areas where I speak, advise and train senior policymakers:
- Macro-financial implications of AI – productivity, inflation, labour markets, financial stability and what they mean for monetary and fiscal policy.
- AI adoption in public institutions – strategy, governance and the practical paths from experimentation to deployment.
- AI for market and economic analysis – LLMs, machine learning and alternative data (text, satellite, microdata) as new tools for analysts.
- AI for business processes – efficiency gains in workflows, surveys, document handling and operational tasks inside institutions.
- Change management – capacity building, ethics, organisational transition and the role of humans as ultimate decisionmakers.
Engagement
Contact
mail@maxfreier.de
LinkedIn
Frankfurt am Main, Germany