Europe's Journey to Tech Autonomy

In this interview, Jan Oberhauser, Founder and CEO of n8n, talks about how a personal frustration with repetitive coding led him to build one of Europe’s best-known workflow automation platforms. From the early pain point of constantly rewriting the same code to creating a fair-code automation tool used by developers and enterprises worldwide, Jan shares the thinking behind n8n and the principles that shaped it from day one. Jan explains the meaning behind the company’s unusual name, why openness and community-driven technology matter, and how flexibility, self-hosting, and control over data have become major priorities for businesses, especially in Europe. He also discusses why companies want to avoid being locked into a single model, provider, or ecosystem as AI adoption accelerates. The interview also looks at the broader AI landscape, including Europe’s position compared to the US and China, the areas where the region still needs to improve, and what may separate long-term winners from the flood of startups building “just another AI tool”. Beyond company building, Jan also reflects on surprising use cases of n8n, how users have stretched the platform in unexpected directions, and what he looks for when backing founders as an angel investor. Key Points - How Jan’s frustration with repetitive coding became the starting point for n8n - The story behind the name n8n and the company’s fair-code, community-driven philosophy - Why data ownership, self-hosting, and flexibility matter more than ever for European businesses - Europe’s strengths and weaknesses in AI compared with the US and China - Jan’s thoughts on the AI bubble, unexpected n8n use cases, and the founder traits he values as an investor