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Nov 2024
57m 57s

Former German Military HUMINT Operator C...

Grey Dynamics
About this episode

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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