Human Resources Management: Mr. Kilian, in July 2025 you surprisingly resigned from your position as Human Resources Director at Volkswagen due to “different ideas”. You held the office for seven years. What’s next for you professionally?
Gunnar Kilian: I have and would like to continue to give myself time to clear my head again. That’s why I can’t say 100% at the moment where my career path will take me. Since I’m definitely someone who has broad interests, it could go in very different directions. But one thing is clear: after more than seven years as HR director, you are naturally connected to the HR profession.
Despite the newfound free time, it wasn’t easy to find an interview with you – apparently also because you had already taken your first steps professionally.
That’s correct. A week after I left Volkswagen, Paul von Preußen (founder and CEO of Digital8, editor’s note) – we already knew each other – came to me and asked me whether I could imagine joining the advisory board of Digital8. This is a reverse mentoring network. I agreed.
