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CEO CFO C-Level Consulting with QAOA - Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithms
Executive Summary
QAOA - Decision intelligence beyond classical predictability
Modern management, investment and governance decisions do not fail due to a lack of data or computing power, but due to exponential complexity. Even a manageable number of binary decisions generate decision spaces whose size structurally overwhelms any classic analysis, simulation or heuristic. The bottleneck is not technological - it is mathematical.
This is precisely where the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) comes in and fundamentally shifts the boundaries of what is considered to be decision-capable.
While classic systems can reduce decision spaces sequentially or only explore partial areas, QAOA allows the physically parallel calculation of complete decision spaces. Decision dimensions in the order of two to the power of three hundred are stabilized in seconds. Even decision spaces of two to the power of six hundred are no obstacle conceptually - the optimum is also calculated within a very short time.
The decisive difference:
These spaces are not searched, not simulated and not approximated heuristically. They are calculated as a whole.
This fundamentally changes the logic of strategic decisions:
Run times no longer grow proportionally to the number of possible options
Decisions are calculated under all real constraints
The result is deterministically explainable, auditable and reproducible
Intuition, experience and political negotiation are supplemented - or replaced - by mathematical decision-making ability
QAOA is not a faster optimization process, but a change in the physical level on which decisions are calculated. It combines classic control, modeling and governance with quantum mechanical parallelism - and thus makes decision-making spaces manageable that were previously considered fundamentally unsolvable.
For CEOs, CFOs, supervisory boards and public decision-makers, this means a paradigm shift:
The focus is no longer on which option seems plausible, but on which decision is objectively optimal under all real-world restrictions.
QAOA therefore does not mark evolutionary progress, but a quantum leap in decision-making intelligence.
Sascha Rissel is an entrepreneur, founder and CEO of mAInthink GmbH, as well as a Board Member of KI Bundesverband Hessen and a WEF SME Member. For more than 20 years, he has been developing, scaling and optimizing technology-driven business models at the intersection of corporate strategy, technology and mathematical decision optimization.
With StratePlan, mAInthink is developing a Decision Intelligence solution for the mathematical optimization of CAPEX, capital allocation and investment portfolios in fixed assets. The objective is to calculate the optimal combination of investment projects under real-world budget, resource and dependency constraints, enabling organizations to generate greater impact from their existing capital.
Sascha Rissel's work focuses on CAPEX Optimization, Capital Allocation Optimization, Project Portfolio Optimization, Multi-Year CAPEX Strategy Planning and Live Boardroom Simulation. StratePlan combines mathematical optimization, algorithmic decision models and Hybrid AI to translate complex investment decisions into measurable business performance.
With CAPEX Live Boardroom Simulation, changes in budgets, priorities and constraints can be recalculated during a board meeting, alternative portfolios can be compared, and trade-offs can be made immediately visible. This transforms a sequential planning process into a new decision loop: question, calculation, comparison and decision within the same meeting.
Through the StratePlan Online Decision Service, Sascha Rissel also advances the concept of “Decision Intelligence 4 All”: making mathematical decision optimization accessible not only to large corporations, but also to mid-sized companies and the public sector.
Sascha Rissel regularly contributes his expertise through professional publications on Project Portfolio Management (PPM), CAPEX Optimization and Decision Intelligence. His work includes specialist contributions within the professional environment of the GPM German Association for Project Management, and he is a specialist author for ControllingPortal, writing about mathematically grounded approaches to investment, portfolio and corporate performance management.
His work focuses on measurable impact, transparent and robust decision-making, and transforming highly complex mathematical models into practical solutions for industry, business and the public sector.
His guiding principle: bringing strategy, technology and impact together consistently – and turning decisions into measurable performance.