#49 André Petry: On Agency, Ambition, and Building Europe’s Industrial Future

In this episode, André Petry, co-founder and CEO of Tacto, joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about ambition, agency, and what it means to build from Europe. We trace André’s journey from a 400-person village to CDTM, Berkeley, and eventually to founding one of Germany’s rising industrial software companies. Along the way, he shares how discovering a community of optimistic, self-directed peers at CDTM reshaped his sense of what’s possible and why that shift in mindset ultimately led him to entrepreneurship.

André reflects on his early experiments building websites, online marketing projects as unlikely training grounds for developing self-reliance and problem-solving. He explains why agency, rather than pedigree, is often the defining factor in whether people actually change things, and how this belief guides Tacto’s culture today.

We dive deep into Europe’s industrial backbone and why André believes the continent’s greatest opportunity lies in doubling down on manufacturing, robotics, and industrial AI. He challenges the narrative that ambitious founders must leave for the U.S., arguing instead that the strongest companies are built where domain expertise, customers, and talent are closest. He also opens up about the responsibility he feels toward the system that supported him, how ambition can be cultivated through narrative, and why optimism must shape Europe’s strategy.