About Christian Grüning

Christian Grüning studied both law and computer science.

In the legal field, he began his career as a judge at a Bavarian court and later worked as a lawyer for Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt as Vice President for Corporate Governance. In his subsequent role as a notary, he primarily focused on corporate law, private equity, venture capital financing, and M&A transactions.

In 2019, he gave up his lawyer and notary position to refocus on the field of computer science and worked as a Java software developer for Lufthansa in Hamburg. Due to his strong interest in artificial intelligence, he decided to pursue a Master of Science degree in Artificial Intelligence (MSc) in London. In his master’s thesis he combined technical knowledge with legal and ethical questions, developing a new framework for companies to ensure legally compliant and technically secure implementation of AI projects (Trustworthy and Ethical AI: A New Framework for Fair, Safe, Transparent, and Responsible Artificial Intelligence). He developed seminars and learning materials to convey technical and fundamental AI knowledge to both non-technical and technical employees in companies (AI literacy), gives lectures and seminars on ethical and legal issues related to artificial intelligence, and advises companies on the legally compliant implementation of AI projects, particularly in light of the EU AI Act.

Human learning has also always fascinated him. He trained the children from the Gifted Education Program in Munich for the World Memory Championships and offered seminars on programming languages (JavaScript, Java, PHP). Later, through the Grüning Academy, seminars on “successful learning” were offered across Germany and Europe and attended by more than 10.000 participants already in the first year. The following books on learning and work techniques he authored in 2005 and 2006 quickly became bestsellers, sold over 100.000 in Germany alone. They were translated into more than 10 languages and were also very successful in the Asian market (esp. China, South Korea, Taiwan).

But at the heart of it all—throughout every phase of his life—has been a deep and enduring love for books, knowledge, and the transformative power of learning. This passion gave rise to Beyond Books: a mission-driven project dedicated to helping people take the best ideas from the best books and make them part of their lives.