Gundbert Scherf holds a doctorate and was a partner at McKinsey, where he worked on aerospace and defence. From 2014 to 2016 he served as Special Representative at the German Federal Ministry of Defence.
In March 2021 he co-founded Helsing in Munich with Torsten Reil and Niklas Köhler. Köhler is President and Chief Product Officer. Scherf and Reil are co-CEOs.
Helsing acquired Design AI in 2022 and became Europe's first defence unicorn in 2023. In 2024 it won a contract for 4,000 HX-2 drones for Ukraine. In 2025 it bought Grob Aircraft and flew its Centaur AI pilot on a Gripen E.
The company was valued at €12 billion in June 2025 and about $18 billion in July 2026.