T-Systems, Deutsche Telekom’s business unit, has become one of the first vendors to appoint a chief sovereignty officer amid increased industry demand for data residency.

Christine Knackfuss-Nikolic takes on the newly created position, moving across from her role as CTO.

T-Systems said the responsibilities of a chief sovereignty officer will see Knackfuss-Nikolic create a company-wide sovereignty strategy “tailored to customer-specific, regulatory, and geopolitical requirements.”

Ferri Abolhassan, T-Systems’ CEO, commented: “The call for digital sovereignty is growing louder. Due to geopolitical uncertainties, more and more companies in Germany and Europe are demanding sovereign cloud solutions. They want to free themselves from dependence on hyperscalers and regain control over their own data.

“With the appointment of Christine Knackfuss-Nikolic as chief sovereignty officer … we are underscoring that we take this need very seriously and are driving our efforts in this area with full commitment.”

T-Systems’ appointment comes amid growing demand for jurisdictional control of data and a desire to reduce reliance on U.S. hyperscalers – especially after a Microsoft legal director recently revealed the firm couldn’t stop European user data from being accessed by the U.S. government.

While T-Systems is likely the first vendor to create a dedicated role for digital sovereignty, providers across the continent have launched offerings to meet rising demand.

Both Microsoft and AWS answered the call with their EU-only entities, while data center giant OVHcloud recently unveiled a series of sovereign cloud solutions. There are also hyper-regionalized projects – like the Ericsson and AstraZeneca-led Sferical AI – which focus on building out AI infrastructure for a specific country.

Sferical AI will see the creation of sovereign AI infrastructure for Sweden, while there are similar efforts in Denmark through its Gefion project, and Isambard-AI in the U.K.

New strategy lead brought in to lead transformation efforts

In addition to the newly created role, T-Systems also appointed Andreas Schlegel as its new chief strategy and transformation officer.

Like Knackfuss-Nikolic, Schlegel is a Deutsche Telekom veteran, having spent more than a decade at the carrier, most recently serving as acting co-head for group strategy and transformation. In his new role the exec will be tasked with developing and implementing T-System’s corporate strategy.

“Schlegel knows our company inside out. Combined with his extensive strategic expertise and his large network within Deutsche Telekom, he is a great asset to our team,” Abolhassan added.

The appointments come after Deutsche Telekom unveiled plans to bundle its cloud offerings under the umbrella name of T Cloud. Lars Neumann, another long-term presence at the firm, was elevated to lead the consolidated cloud offerings, having previously served as SVP for solutions in the carrier’s former business unit.

The consolidation move comes as T-Systems itself was created following a decision by the carrier to merge its national and international wholesale activities into a single entity at the turn of the year.