Gian Klug from Adfinis’s Internal IT security team, together with teammate Luc Fisch, achieved a Medal for Excellence for their fifth place ranking in the Cyber Security category at the 2026 WorldSkills competition.
Ranking among the top five in the world is something that many could only dream of – the opportunity to compete on a world stage with hundreds of thousands of spectators is not something that simply slips into a typical day. Rigorous training over many months, often years, is required to ready oneself for that level of competition. Yet after four intense days competing at this year’s WorldSkills 2026, Adfinis DevOps Engineer Gian Klug and his teammate Luc Fisch have made dream reality: fifth place at what some like to call the Olympics of Skills. While narrowly missing the podium, Gian and Luc’s top-five ranking earned them the Medal for Excellence in the Cyber Security category, demonstrating an outstanding performance and rewarding the team’s diligent preparation.
Competitors in the Cyber Security category at WorldSkills faced four demanding days tackling real-world scenarios in digital forensics, network defense, and penetration testing. Gian and Luc, who is a Security Analyst at Clue Security Services AG in Zurich, achieved an impressive score of 729 points, ranking them fifth from a total of 23 competing teams in the category. Gian and Luc’s score was enough to be awarded a Medal for Excellence, presented only to competitors who finish with 700 points or higher. As members of the SwissSkills National Team, Gian and Luc’s performance contributed to the Swiss delegation’s impressive results: third place in the global country rankings with 12 podium medals in total – four gold, two silver, and six bronze – as well as 23 Medals for Excellence, making Switzerland once again the top-performing European nation at the WorldSkills.
The SwissSkills National Team takes third place in the global country rankings at the WorldSkills 2026
WorldSkills 2026, which took place in Shanghai from September 22 to 27, was the 47th edition of the competition, bringing together over 1,500 young professionals from approximately 50 countries and regions to compete across 62 skill categories. It’s considered the world's biggest international skills competition, with a mission to advance technical and vocational education and training. Gian, who has worked at Adfinis since 2020 at the company’s Basel office, was selected for the SwissSkills National Team following an impressive performance at the ICTSkills championships the previous September. Countless hours of preparation over many months ensued, combining technical deep-dives with coaching from SwissSkills experts.
Gian’s journey, from starting as an apprentice to competing among the best young professionals on the planet, demonstrates the result of individual talent, vocational training, and employer support coming together. To prepare for the competition, Gian was formally coached over the last 12 months by Manuel Bürge, CEO and founder of Endolum and Chief Expert in Cyber Security at the SwissSkills organization. This required numerous training days and team weekends, with Adfinis supporting Gian with the time necessary for him to complete all preparations. Adfinis’s remote-first working model also meant that Gian could complete his schedule without the added complexity of needing to travel back and forth from the office.
Gian Klug during the Cyber Security competition at WorldSkills 2026
"Watching Gian represent Switzerland on the global stage and return with a Medal for Excellence makes all of us at Adfinis immensely proud," says Nicolas Christener, CEO of Adfinis. Many of us, from across our different locations, tuned in to see Gian take on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s incredible to think that our colleague is among the world’s best young talents in cybersecurity, and he’s shown just what can be achieved with the right approach and a supportive environment.”
– Nicolas Christener, Chief Executive Officer, Adfinis
From left to right: Luc Fisch, Manuel Bürge, and Gian Klug after the WorldSkills 2026 Closing Ceremony
According to coach Manuel Bürge, the competition highlighted the result of seamless teamwork paired with complete focus:
“Gian and Luc showed impressive skills and perseverance during the very intense competition days in Shanghai. Even when they fell behind, they did not give up, continued to pursue their goal, and overtook their competition. This alone is a world class mindset and deserves a gold medal. I am very proud of what they have achieved. They deserve every second of celebration and more."
– Manuel Bürge, Chief Expert Cyber Security, SwissSkills
Fresh off his flight back from Shanghai, Gian took a moment to share his thoughts on the intense atmosphere, competing under pressure, and what comes next.
First off, huge congratulations, Gian! How does it feel to come home from WorldSkills with a Medal for Excellence?
Gian: Thanks! The whole journey and competition was definitely an experience I won’t forget that quickly. I’m happy with what we achieved and, despite not making the podium, top five in the world is still a very good result. All of the other competitors were also very skilled and it was nice having an exchange with them and making new friends.
Gian Klug (left) and teammate Luc Fisch return home to fans after the WorldSkills 2026 competition
For anyone outside the tech world, what does competing in Cyber Security at WorldSkills actually look like?
Gian: Probably just like any other work day at an office. In terms of what we actually do, there are four days with four different topics: You start with infrastructure configuration and hardening, followed by forensics and then tracing an attacker's steps in a SOC setting, before finally actively attacking vulnerable systems – just like in a pentest. The main difference to the outside world: There’s no internet access and you rely a lot on memory and experience.
Did you experience anything completely unexpected? Or would you say your focus was unbreakable 😎 ?
Gian: Performing for four days and giving your very best is hard. Sometimes, you get stuck on a task and waste way too much time. Thankfully, we were regularly checking in with each other and usually got unstuck again quickly. Team work was inevitable and without it, even the best focus won’t be enough to be the best.
How would you describe Shanghai to someone who’s never been?
Gian: It’s huge. Everything is huge. From the buildings, to the competition area and to the stadium where the opening ceremony was held. This also means things are a bit further apart than you may be used to in Switzerland. The same route that takes 20 minutes by car can take an hour by public transport. There are also a lot of impressive buildings and historic constructions to see. Everything is very advanced and you basically do everything on your phone with the same 2–3 apps. Hotels have robots for food delivery that deliver your order to your hotel door, which is probably the biggest thing I'll miss at home.
You spent about one year officially training for the WorldSkills. How did your day-to-day work at Adfinis help prepare you for a global competition like this?
Gian: Having done my apprenticeship at Adfinis, I built up a very wide foundation of working with a lot of tools and environments. Especially since my work back then also allowed me to learn things beyond the official curriculum, I had a lot of experience with random things, which ended up benefiting me. You learn to solve the weirdest problems and can troubleshoot basically anything in a structured way.
There was a big crowd at Zurich airport waiting to welcome you back home – even a special guest! Tell us more…
Gian: I had caught a bit of a cold on my journey home and mainly thought of going home and getting into my bed. Suddenly I saw a big Lunki costume in the crowd. My head was like, “Oh my god, getting up that early just to say hello to me – that’s so stupid, why would they do that for me?!” Especially after seeing my whole team there, I was quite flabbergasted. Absolutely crazy thing to do; you surprised me good!
Adfinis mascot Lunki waits to welcome Gian home at the Zurich airport
Now that the competition is wrapped up and you’re back home in Switzerland, what’s next on your agenda?
Gian: Getting back to my job and doing normal work again, just like any other junior engineer at Adfinis. Sometimes it’s also nice to not always be “special” and just have your regular stuff to do… But only for a week, as next week I’m already heading to the next competition: the European Cyber Security Challenge in Germany, as one of ten members of the Swiss national team :). Maybe I’ll also go on actual holidays at some point, as I haven’t had proper ones that don’t involve some competition in a while.
A massive congratulations to Gian, Luc, and the entire SwissSkills National Team on an extraordinary achievement in Shanghai!
The SwissSkills National Team celebrates during the WorldSkills 2026 Closing Ceremony
Gian Klug completed his apprenticeship at Adfinis as a Computer Scientist specializing in platform development, and now works as a DevOps Engineer in Adfinis’s Internal IT security team. Adfinis, an international company specializing in open source technology, employs around 150 dedicated individuals committed to building and operating robust digital infrastructure that society can depend on every day – across all kinds of industries. Find out more about how open source principles strengthen defence against cybersecurity threats.