Iliya Nickelt is Chief Data Scientist at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). His mission is to develop infrastructure and tools for modern, data-driven policymaking. He wants to use generative AI to achieve this. At the BMZ Data Lab, he is working with a dynamic team of data scientists to make this goal a reality.Previously, he was deputy head of IT operations at BMZ. Iliya Nickelt holds a PhD in astrophysics. As a Postdoc he has researched standards for federated astronomical databases and other forms of distributed and data-intensive IT infrastructure. He has also contributed to ICANN, the Internet's self-regulatory organisation.