Former German Military HUMINT Operator Christoph Stegemann - Episode 58

11/22/24 • 57 min

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Welcome back to the Grey Dynamics podcast! This week we are talking to Christoph Stegemann, former head of the Bundeswehr's HUMINT school. Christoph has worked across the German intelligence community in both the military and civilian agencies. In 2019, he moved on to work in Germany’s private intelligence sector. Since then he has gone onto to work corporate intelligence teams and worked to counter the use of performance enhancing drugs in professional sports. We spoke about working alongside different nations, not overly relying on technology, how the German private intelligence sector looks and much more.

Find Christoph Stegemann:

We spoke about:

0:00 Christoph’s background in the Bundeswehr and how he got into HUMINT
5:57 Differences in culture and approach compared to allied nations
8:55 Becoming head of HUMINT training in the Bundeswehr and understanding the tradecraft
10:54 Being trained to as both an agent handler and as an interrogator
12:14 How has German military intelligence changed over the war on terror and not overly relying on technology
18:16 What were the differences Christoph felt after transitioning between military intelligence and civilian agencies
21:02 How do you build a network in the private sector after working in public sector intelligence?
27:21 Christoph’s anti-doping work in the professional sports world
32:50 How does the German private intelligence sector look?
36:20 How was the war in Ukraine impacted the German private intelligence sector
38:53 Being able to communicate with stakeholders effectively in German corporate intelligence
41:42 What advice Christoph has for young people looking to work in the private intelligence sector
44:55 Christopher’s advice for those looking to work in government
46:04 Tradecraft and Cultural recommendations
54:03 Final Thoughts

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Find Christoph Stegemann:

We spoke about:

0:00 Christoph’s background in the Bundeswehr and how he got into HUMINT
5:57 Differences in culture and approach compared to allied nations
8:55 Becoming head of HUMINT training in the Bundeswehr and understanding the tradecraft
10:54 Being trained to as both an agent handler and as an interrogator
12:14 How has German military intelligence changed over the war on terror and not overly relying on technology
18:16 What were the differences Christoph felt after transitioning between military intelligence and civilian agencies
21:02 How do you build a network in the private sector after working in public sector intelligence?
27:21 Christoph’s anti-doping work in the professional sports world
32:50 How does the German private intelligence sector look?
36:20 How was the war in Ukraine impacted the German private intelligence sector
38:53 Being able to communicate with stakeholders effectively in German corporate intelligence
41:42 What advice Christoph has for young people looking to work in the private intelligence sector
44:55 Christopher’s advice for those looking to work in government
46:04 Tradecraft and Cultural recommendations
54:03 Final Thoughts

Advance Your Intelligence Career Today!

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Global Intelligence Leader Lewis Sage-Passant on the Private Intelligence Industry - Episode 57

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Welcome back to the Grey Dynamics podcast. This week we are talking to Lewis Sage-Passant about the obscure and understudied world of private sector intelligence. Lewis is the Global Head of Intelligence at a major pharmaceutical company and an Adjunct Professor at Science Po. Previously, Lewis served in the British Armed Forces and worked in private intelligence roles in the energy, banking and software sectors. His new book, “Beyond States and Spies: The Security Intelligence Services of the Private Sector” provides an overview of corporate intelligence structures and functions. We discussed how intelligence interacts with different industries, industrial espionage, controversial firms and much more.

Find Lewis Sage-Passant:

We Spoke About:

0:45 Lewis’ background

4:28 The differences between working in government and private intelligence

8:37 Lewis’ previous experience with a travel risk start-up

13:32 Why Lewis wrote his new book, Beyond States and Spies: The Security Intelligence Services of the Private Sector

18:06 What is the difference between in-house corporate intelligence teams and private intelligence vendors/service providers, and how do they interact?

21:23 The variety of private intelligence service providers

24:48 The role the oil and gas industry has played in developing in-house intelligence capabilities

26:40 Pharmaceutical companies have developed intelligence capabilities, how do they use them?

31:20 How does private sector intelligence interact with the professional sports industry?

34:15 What role does government play in the private sector in cases of state-sponsored industrial espionage

40:17 Is the line between state and private intelligence capabilities blurring, and will it lead to regulation?

44:25 How much can governments influence the activities of the private sector?

45:48 Cooperation on dual-use technologies and supply chain risk

48:29 Controversial private intelligence firms and tactics

52:05 Advice for people trying to get into private intelligence

56:28 Cultural recommendations

1:00:44 What did Lewis not cover in the book?

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