Robert Fink | CTO, Helsing | Top 30 EMEA CTOs 2026

Career History

Robert Fink is Chief Technology Officer of Helsing, the German defence technology company developing AI-powered software and autonomous systems for the military. He joined Helsing as CTO in 2021 and is responsible for its technology and software development, spanning platform architecture, engineering culture and technical recruitment. Since joining, Helsing has grown from an AI software startup into one of Europe’s most valuable defence technology companies, expanding into autonomous drones, aircraft and underwater systems.

Before Helsing, Fink spent more than seven years at Palantir Technologies, working as a Software Engineer across Sydney, Palo Alto and Munich. Fink was a key architect behind Palantir's Foundry, the company’s flagship data integration and analytics platform, giving him extensive experience building large-scale software systems before moving into defence technology. Earlier in his career, he completed a research internship at Google Research in Mountain View.

Fink holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Oxford, where his research focused on database theory. Prior to Oxford, he studied Physics at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, graduating with a Diploma.

About Helsing

Helsing is a European defence technology company developing AI-powered software and autonomous systems for military applications. The company was founded in Munich in 2021 by Gundbert Scherf, Torsten Reil and Niklas Köhler, with the stated mission of using technology to protect democratic societies. Its technology is designed to process data from sensors and weapons systems, provide real-time battlefield intelligence and enable greater levels of autonomy.

Having initially focused primarily on software, the company has expanded into its own hardware platforms, including strike drones, autonomous aircraft technology and unmanned underwater systems.

Helsing raised $1.8bn in a Series E funding round in July 2026, valuing the company at $18bn and establishing it as one of Europe’s most valuable private technology companies. The round followed a €600m financing in 2025 at a €12bn valuation. Its investors include Dragoneer, General Catalyst, Lightspeed, Plural, Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Spotify founder Daniel Ek’s investment firm Prima Materia.