Interview: Lara Sophie Bothur — From Corporate Influencer to Company Builder
After years as Deloitte’s voice for innovation, Lara Sophie Bothur launches her own firm to translate tech and spark action
Image: Lara Sophie Bothur | Credits Julia Tiemann
I’ve followed Lara Sophie Bothur’s journey for years, from breakout Corporate Influencer to one of Europe’s most visible tech voices. When she stepped out on her own this autumn, it felt like the right moment to sit down and understand the shift.
Lara calls herself a “Tech Translator”: someone who turns complex ideas into clear stories that people can trust and use. It’s a role she demonstrated within a global firm, reaching vast audiences and shaping how leaders discuss AI. Now she’s building a company around that craft — advising brands, speaking on the world’s biggest stages, and backing it with research into how visibility drives real adoption. In a region that often debates tech more than it deploys it, Lara’s move signals a bolder model: influence as a business, and communication as a core tech capability.
Image: Lara Sophie Bothur | Credits Greator
Where do you want to take “Tech Translation” by 2030, and what’s your core AI thesis behind it?
By 2030, Tech Translation will be a new profession - just like Prompt Engineer or AI Strategist. Because the future doesn’t just need coders — it needs translators between humans and machines. My goal is to turn Tech Translation into a discipline that connects storytelling, strategy, and science, helping people understand, trust, and apply technology.
Europe often debates AI more than it deploys it. What’s your playbook to speed up trustworthy adoption?
We in Europe have everything we need - talent, ethics, and brilliant minds.
Now we just need to show it properly.
Less fear, more failure. Less paperwork, more prototypes.
My playbook:
> Translate tech to unite business, politics, and society.
> Celebrate mistakes as the price of real innovation.
> Lower barriers, raise investments.
> Talk less, build more.
Europe doesn’t need to catch up; it needs to speak up
Image: Lara Sophie Bothur | Credits Julia Tiemann
Over the next 12 months, what concrete AI initiatives are you leading or piloting?
It’s no longer only about AI - it’s about how we communicate technology itself.
I’m leading a scientific study on the impact of Tech Influencing to understand how visibility drives innovation.
I support the “Made for Germany” initiative, help companies humanise their tech stories, and work to make Germany braver.
My goal: for the world to stop seeing us as cautious engineers and start seeing us as courageous innovators.
My goal: for the world to stop seeing us as cautious engineers and start seeing us as courageous innovators.
How will you measure impact beyond views and stages?
Impact begins where analysis ends, when people start building instead of just discussing.
If my work makes others act, then translation worked.
Impact begins where analysis ends, when people start building instead of just discussing.
One belief about AI you’ll defend, and one piece of hype you’ll say “no” to?
AI is not neutral - it’s a mirror of everything we are.
It reflects our values, our biases, our hopes.
And I’ll say no to the fear that AI takes jobs.
AI doesn’t take jobs - it creates new ones.
AI doesn’t take jobs - it creates new ones.
Image: Lara Sophie Bothur | Credits Mirjam Hagen
Lara’s thesis is disarmingly simple: tech only matters when people understand it enough to act. That is why she’s betting on “Tech Translation” as a new profession by 2030, alongside prompt engineers and AI strategists.
The Corporate Influencer playbook that made her a household name now becomes a service, a studio, and a stance: talk less, build more; lower barriers, raise courage. Lara will measure success not in views but in pilots launched, teams trained, and leaders who move from fear to taking their first steps.
Europe doesn’t need to catch up, Lara says, it needs to speak up. With her own company, Lara is turning that line into a plan, building bridges between labs, boardrooms, and everyday life. If she’s right, the next wave of AI adoption won’t start with a model release. It will begin with a story people can trust.
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