He himself was a bit surprised when new Chancellor Friedrich Merz appointed him to his cabinet. It all happened “quite suddenly,” the 55-year-old said during one of his first public appearances.
Karsten Wildberger has no predecessor. His Ministry for Digitalization and Modernization of the State is completely new. And it all happened quite quickly: when he was appointed, he was not officially a member of any party. The following week, he joined Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
The powers granted to him by the government are significant: five ministries, plus the cabinet, have transferred parts of their responsibilities to his new department. Essentially, everything related to managing the state's IT infrastructure is now under the supervision of Wildberger, a man who until two weeks ago was the CEO of international retail company Ceconomy, which operates chains of electronics stores across Europe.
A German Elon Musk?
It remains to be seen exactly what Wildberger's position will mean in practice, but the focus on efficiency and digitalization, as well as the new minister's perception as an "outsider" from the business world, have drawn comparisons to Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) during US President Donald Trump's second term.
Niklas Potrafke, director of the Center for Public Finance and Political Economy at the Munich-based Ifo Institute, believes that what Wildberger and Musk may have in common is an "element of disruption."
"I mean doing things differently, thinking in a whole new way. And really changing or dismantling things that we know are problematic, like administrative procedures. Those are positive aspects that we could take away from Musk's behavior."
However, it is unlikely that Wildberger will start firing civil servants en masse or theatrically brandishing a chainsaw at political rallies anytime soon. For starters, his tone is considerably more moderate.
"My goal is to create optimal conditions for Germany's growth as a competitive and innovative digital location," he said. "This requires a modern, efficient and citizen-oriented state apparatus, as well as an administration that thinks and acts digitally."
Wildberger also stated that he would work "with respect, curiosity, determination and team spirit." And to that he added another, rather enigmatic term: "with friendly persistence."
Niklas Potrafke, however, believes that comparisons with Musk are inappropriate: "Elon Musk is a very unusual and striking personality. Wildberger is not nearly as eccentric."
There's another key difference: Musk is not officially part of the government, which means he's not bound by the day-to-day compromises of the administration. Also, unlike Musk, Wildberger will have to abide by the much stricter data protection rules set by the European Union.
But, like Musk, Wildberger clearly has a penchant for radically reducing regulatory constraints on business: “For every new law, two must be abolished – is that possible?” he asked in his speech at a meeting of the Economic Council, a lobby group close to the CDU.
Two laws, according to him, should be repealed immediately: the Supply Chain Act, which aims to protect human rights and prevent modern slavery in global supply chains, and the Heating Act, which should make heating systems in new buildings more environmentally friendly.
Anti-Disruption Regulation
Potrafke believes that it is not always good to appoint business people to government positions: "A bad outcome would be if former businessmen passed regulations that favor their sectors. That way they could prepare the ground for themselves, because they know that one day they will leave politics and profit through their companies."
Wildberger's powers are also limited by Germany's federal system, where provincial and local governments have significant autonomy in managing public services.
“One of his main tasks will be to build alliances and find common ground with the states, because he cannot order them around,” says Lena-Sophie Müller, director of the German non-profit digital society network Initiative D21, which works with both the private and public sectors.
Why Wildberger?
Chancellor Friedrich Merz did nothing revolutionary when he brought a private sector executive into his cabinet. It is a kind of German tradition, and one that is true on both sides of the political spectrum: In 1998, Social Democratic Chancellor Gerhard Schröder appointed Werner Müller, a member of the board of directors of energy giant RWE, as the new economy minister. He aimed to show that his government was more business-oriented.
Still, Wildberger's appointment surprised many, even those who expected the Merz government to form a Ministry for Digitalization.
"I think everyone was surprised," says Lena Sophie-Müller. "I called a few people in my network and asked: Do you know who he is? No one knew him."
Perhaps an additional surprise was the special authority given to Wildberger's ministry: the right to veto other ministries' spending on significant IT investments.
In Germany, such cost control is usually the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance – with limitations due to the constitutional principle that each ministry has autonomy in its own affairs.
“That spending control is a powerful instrument, but he can’t say: You have to spend on something else,” explains Sophie-Müller. “He just has the right of veto.”
She hopes that Wildberger, thanks to her business experience, will measure the performance of ministries more closely with concrete indicators. Her organization, Initiative D21, conducts annual surveys on citizens' attitudes towards digitalization and has its own proposals: "If it is to be successful, I expect that we will see an increase in the use of digital public services," she said. "In doing so, it should not only be about people saying: 'The state makes my life easier' by using IT technology, but also about developing the digital skills of German citizens."
"If I see a positive trend in those numbers, then I would say he did something right," says Sophie-Müller.
This would certainly be significant for Germany – a country where conversations about digital services often boil down to jokes about fax machines.
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