FAQ
Answers to the questions marketing, sales and IT leaders ask me most often. Your question is missing? Ask me directly.
What does Geistzeit do?
Geistzeit is the consulting practice of Felix Zeeb, an independent consultant in Zurich. I build and implement AI, CRM and data systems for marketing and sales: agentic AI, CRM and marketing automation, data foundations. One person covering the entire chain from analysis and concept to implementation and operations, remote-first for companies across Switzerland and the DACH region.
Do you work as a freelancer, as an agency, or with a team?
I work as an independent consultant and freelancer: one person who owns concept, code and operations. Depending on the project I work on my own, embedded in your team, or side by side with your existing partners. You always talk directly to the person who also does the work. Agencies can book me as well: as a subcontractor I work white label on their client projects, deployed flexibly wherever capacity or specialist knowledge is missing.
How do I start without commissioning a big project right away?
With a compact entry point: an assessment of your existing setup, a review of your planned initiative, or a short sprint. You get a clear recommendation on how I would build it, and afterwards you decide on the next steps at your own pace. Before any of that comes a no-strings conversation: a video call or, ideally, a meal together, in Zurich as well as in Zug, Lucerne, Basel, Bern or anywhere else in German-speaking Switzerland.
What does my IT department need to contribute?
Little capacity, but clear roles: I align architecture, security and interfaces with your IT, build to state-of-the-art quality, and take on deployment and infrastructure too if you want. Your IT reviews and signs off instead of having to build. That way marketing projects move forward without loading the IT roadmap.
Can AI systems run in a data protection compliant way, with data residency in Switzerland?
Yes. On request I build AI setups entirely on infrastructure the company controls, with self-hosted language models and full data sovereignty in Switzerland, compliant with the Swiss data protection act (revFADP) and the GDPR. Neither personal data nor business secrets leave the company. In regulated industries further requirements come in, and I factor them in from the start: banking secrecy (Art. 47 BankA), professional secrecy in healthcare (Art. 321 SCC), insurance secrecy (Art. 35 ISA), FINMA expectations on AI governance, and the EU AI Act rules for high-risk applications. These secrecy obligations carry criminal liability, so a lot depends on where a prompt containing client data goes in the first place. This is exactly how I had the privilege of building a central AI context layer for a Swiss professional services firm, among others.
How deep are you into data protection, security and compliance?
Deep, and from practice: with NativeAI I am actively co-building a Swiss AI cybersecurity startup, where I develop and sell a security product for the enterprise use of LLMs myself. That is why I know the data protection requirements in marketing and sales as well as the compliance requirements of regulated Swiss industries, such as insurance, banking, healthcare, government and public sector, and operators of critical infrastructure. This knowledge flows into every setup I build.
Which tools and platforms do you work with?
Hands-on with Salesforce Marketing Cloud, MoEngage, HubSpot, Adobe Journey Optimizer, Microsoft Dynamics and the BSI Customer Suite, with agent frameworks such as Google ADK, OpenAI Agents SDK, Claude Agent SDK, LangChain and n8n, and with AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Snowflake and BigQuery, among others. I am vendor-neutral with no reseller ties: I recommend what fits your use cases.
Can I bring you in for just one part of a project?
Yes. I cover the entire chain, but you can just as well bring me in for a single component: concept, implementation, optimization or operations. That also works when other parts are delivered internally or by partners.
What happens if you are unavailable?
All systems run in your infrastructure and your accounts, not mine. Documentation and clean handovers are part of every project, so your team can take over at any time. And my capacity is transparent: retainers are available for up to 2 days per week, and I only commit to what I can deliver.
What does working together cost?
It depends on the model: a retainer for continuous work on an hourly basis, a fixed price for clearly scoped projects, compact formats for assessments and reviews. Before we start you get a transparent offer with no hidden items. The structure is lean: no layers in between, every hour goes into the work on your project.
Which companies and industries do you work for?
Consulting in Zurich since 2019, across 7 industries, from large corporations to startups, B2B and B2C. I have had the privilege to work for Swisscom, NZZ, Allianz, Suva, ZKB, PwC, CH Media, Groupe Mutuel, Mobility, ETH Zurich, Dyson, EWZ, Switzerland Travel Centre, Swisspor, Simpego, Medi24 and the 360° Kinderwunschzentrum, plus my own ventures NativeAI and German Academy Zurich. I maintain very good relationships with these companies and their teams, many going back years, and I am grateful for every one of these projects.
Everything answered? Then let's talk about your project.
Request a callCONTACT
Let's talk about your project.
If what you see here resonates and you want to run a project that fits my topics, or you need an expert for them: just tell me about your idea.
In that conversation I'll tell you straight away how I would build it, and share my experience with you. Afterwards, take your time to decide whether we work together or you build it yourself. No strings attached.
It starts with getting to know each other: a video call about your initiative or, ideally, a meal together. I am based in Zurich and happy to travel anywhere in German-speaking Switzerland, whether Zug, Lucerne, Basel or Bern. I want to understand who I am dealing with and what your team is planning, so I can support you in the best possible way.
I enjoy the exchange and always love hearing about interesting projects. Just reach out, I'll reply within one business day with a proposed time to talk.
Prefer email? felix.zeeb@geistzeit.ch