Program 2026

Intelligence can be programmed. Trust must be earned. AI is transforming not only home appliances but also the way people search for, compare, and buy products. For Miele, it is therefore crucial to use AI where it builds on genuine product expertise, tangibly takes the burden off decision-making, and makes a difference through quality, design, and 127 years of experience. Especially in times of mental overload, this creates more relief in everyday life and more time for the things that really matter.

Companies are investing heavily in artificial intelligence. And yet, many organizations are not seeing the expected leap in performance. Why is that?
While artificial intelligence does speed up processes, it also ruthlessly exposes where organizations are stuck in their own cultures and structures. Poor prioritization happens faster. Unclear decisions happen faster. Inefficient coordination happens faster.
Using typical transformation patterns as examples, Andrea Montua explains why many companies fail to become significantly more efficient despite AI—and how leadership, cultural change, and communication can help them truly turn the technology into a competitive advantage.

There’s only one Eckart von Hirschhausen. In real life. Online, there are a thousand versions of him: sometimes he’s selling erectile dysfunction medication, sometimes he’s a heart surgeon who can clean out calcified arteries from the inside with pills, or he knows how to lose 20 kilos in two weeks—but only if you order NOW! Because he has spent 30 years building trust as a medical and health correspondent on ARD, real people fall for the fake Hirschhausen every day—and lose their money, their health, and their faith in the good. In his keynote address, developed specifically for the BIG BANG AI FESTIVAL, the doctor and science journalist takes us along on his journey of discovery. He takes on the deepfake mafia, wins his case through multiple court appeals, films a documentary for ARD, and finds a whistleblower in Brazil who exposes the industry’s dirty secrets. True crime. But who are the real masterminds? And what does this mean for every person, every customer, every democrat, when AI catapults us into a world where it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish what is real and what is not? And this applies just as much to personal brands as it does to companies, institutions, and political parties. More and more people are getting no further than an AI summary in their search. Expensively developed websites, media libraries, and channels languish unseen. Are we amusing ourselves to death online? Just as the wrong medication can cause real harm. And while everyone’s talking about “resilience” right now—what does it mean for servers, services, and the human spirit to become crisis-proof? And since the real Hirschhausen is coming to see us, there’ll be background insights, shifts in perspective, surprising “aha” and “haha” moments, and a renewed belief in face-to-face encounters. Seriously!

The next phase of artificial intelligence will not be driven by ever-larger language models, but by the intelligent interaction of the entire AI ecosystem—from chips, energy, and cloud infrastructures, through data and foundation models, to agents and industrial applications. Competition is shifting from individual models to powerful AI ecosystems.

At the same time, a new industrial revolution is beginning. AI is moving beyond the screen and transforming factories, energy supply, logistics, and other industrial value chains. Companies are evolving into autonomous enterprises in which intelligent agents increasingly support and orchestrate business processes autonomously.

Europe possesses unique strengths: a world-leading industrial sector, excellent research, high-quality industrial data, and regulatory expertise. The key now is to combine these strengths into a shared European AI ecosystem and a sovereign AI architecture. Only in this way can Europe not only accompany the next industrial revolution but also actively shape it.

Schluss mit dem Jammern über bürokratische Hürden – dieser Vortrag zeigt mit Macher-Mentalität, wie echte Innovation im Gesundheitssektor gelingt.

“Prevention” is the big buzzword in the healthcare industry in 2026. And rightly so. After all, there is enormous potential in preventing diseases rather than simply treating them when it’s too late. At the same time, the topic is often relegated to a “lifestyle” category somewhere between self-optimization and social exclusion. Yet the issue must be addressed systemically—from medical, political, and business perspectives.

The business of blood tests is nothing new. On-demand tests have been available on drugstore shelves for years; the
product range is growing, with the addition of longevity panels, out-of-pocket tests at doctors’ offices, and subscription models
with app dashboards. What’s new is the pressure coming from two sides: Prevention must become the driving force if a
system is to remain affordable—and at the same time, it is precisely this system that is cutting back on it. With the
Statutory Health Insurance Contribution Rate Stabilization Act, extra-budgetary reimbursement for
early detection screenings, among other things, will be eliminated starting in 2027, and insured individuals will bear more of the cost themselves. A vacuum is emerging that will be filled
—the only question is by whom and to what standard.
Sebastian Alsleben and Jonas Köller discuss this market from two perspectives. From the family practice:
What happens when people come to the doctor’s office with test results they’ve purchased themselves, and why
prevention fails there due to time, budget, and jurisdictional issues. From the lab and startup perspective: How to build a
testing service that is medically sound—panel selection, preanalytical procedures, interpretation logic, and above all, the
question of who ultimately explains the results.
The real issues at stake are these: What metrics are offered to whom—and according to
what logic? What does a consumer do with an unusual result if no one explains what it means?
Where does the market create real value, and where does it generate uncertainty, misguided incentives, and subscription traps?
And one point both parties openly acknowledge: This service doesn’t reach everyone. Those who can afford it
and are health-conscious to begin with benefit—the rest are left out. No
private provider can close this gap, not even either of these two. Only health insurance companies could do that—and that
would require a reform that funds prevention instead of cutting it.

Practical Tips and Lessons Learned from Three Years of AI Implementation

The potential of AI is vast, but according to recent studies, 95% of users have yet to achieve measurable success. The reason rarely lies in the technology itself, but rather in the implementation process: unclear guidelines, a proliferation of tools, and training that lacks relevance to everyday work. The result is frustration with innovation, uncertainty, and additional costs due to unused licenses.

Over the past three years, Sven Wiesner has successfully implemented AI in companies with up to 800 employees across various departments, developing more than 170 production-ready use cases in the process. In this masterclass, he will present the Neon-Gold Framework: a five-step, scalable process—ranging from audit and use-case development to impact measurement—that is both scalable and tailored to individual teams.

Specifically, this session addresses the following questions:
- Which training formats deliver measurable results, and which ones fall flat?
- How can you address issues like data protection, IT, and tool selection early on, rather than letting them hold you back for months?
- How can AI move beyond being a showcase and start driving daily value?

For decision-makers who want to do more than just purchase AI—they want to integrate it effectively into their operations.

Laboratory results, imaging reports, doctors’ letters, medication plans: the ePA is designed to bring relevant health data to where it is needed – into clinical practice. How is its launch already changing day-to-day life in GP practices? What role do health insurers play in ensuring that insured people can easily use and manage their data independently? And which features will make the ePA a smart healthcare assistant in the future? One year on from its widespread roll-out, we take a look at what has actually happened since then and how the ePA is being received in day-to-day healthcare today.

The real risk often arises not when AI fails, but when it does exactly what it’s designed to do: find information, link it together, and make it usable—based on authorization levels whose scope no one has been able to fully grasp for quite some time.

As AI becomes increasingly autonomous, data access is becoming a central issue for innovation. This is because companies can only develop and scale new AI applications sustainably if they simultaneously retain control over data, identities, and permissions. Florian Bliesch from adesso and Linus Bothe from CyberDesk will demonstrate in this masterclass how AI agents can be integrated into real-world work processes without unintentionally exposing sensitive information or exacerbating historical weaknesses in roles and access structures. The masterclass combines a strategic perspective on innovation with expertise in architecture and security.

Through practical enterprise AI scenarios, participants learn how to identify effective data access points, detect risky human and non-human identities, and establish effective control mechanisms. It becomes clear that transparency, governance, and security are not after-the-fact constraints, but rather the very foundations that build the trust and organizational capacity needed to enable sustainable AI innovation. Participants learn how control can become not a barrier, but a true catalyst for sustainable AI innovation.

Presenter: Kristina Sterz

True digital transformation can only succeed when data, networks, and stakeholders work together seamlessly. This panel will explore how the European Health Data Space (EHDS) serves as a catalyst for breaking down silos. The focus will be on high-quality data, integrated networks, and practical standards. Experts from hospitals, public health, and the private sector will discuss how distributed information can be transformed into usable AI applications for everyday healthcare.

Imagine having a team of experts at your disposal at all times—for research, creativity, analysis, and more. That’s exactly what’s possible today!

This is how the transition from data silos to a learning healthcare system can be achieved: through trusted data spaces, mandatory interoperability and the responsible use of artificial intelligence. The Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) plays a central role in this as an enabler and orchestrator of a secure AI-supported transformation.

From digital health applications (DiGA), through the Data Access and Coordination Office (DACO) and the Health Research Data Centre (FDZ), to AI-based medical devices, it is clear how regulatory certainty and the capacity for innovation must be considered in tandem. At the same time, further important developmental steps lie ahead with the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and the Centre for Medical Registers (ZMR).

Our vision is a connected, learning healthcare system that responsibly translates data into better care. Realising this vision is a joint task for policymakers, public authorities, academia, industry and the healthcare sector – one that can only succeed through collaboration.

Artificial intelligence can make a significant difference in women’s health: through earlier diagnoses, more tailored treatments, and less burden on patients. Through the DENSE-BAVARIA, EndoKI, and GO-TWIN projects, concrete AI solutions are being developed in Bavaria for the treatment of breast cancer, cardiovascular diseases, endometriosis, and ovarian cancer. The focus here is not on the technology, but on the patients—with their individual needs and quality of life. It is important to note that it is not the AI that makes the decisions, but the doctor. And the use of AI is only worthwhile if it leads to a noticeable improvement in medical care.

Many AI projects fail not because of technical issues, but due to a lack of strategy and poor preparation. But how does a strategic framework become a real, intelligent voice assistant? In this masterclass, we’ll show you how to use the VIER AI Strategy Canvas to pave the way for modern voice processes in a structured and practical way. We cover the entire process: from defining customer intents and identifying data sources to the ultimate challenge—crafting the perfect prompts for modern speech-to-speech systems. Experience, through a concrete real-world example, how a structured roadmap gives rise to a fascinating voice AI agent that understands context, responds instantly, and replaces traditional service bots with natural, human-like conversations. From the first Post-it note on the canvas to a captivating live demo!

Presenter: Dr. Tobias Krick

How does the practical transfer of innovation succeed in European healthcare? This panel illuminates the status quo in Germany and Europe before expanding the perspective across the Atlantic. Using concrete products and applications as examples, experts will discuss operational success factors for scaling, regulatory hurdles, and lessons learned from international markets to ensure key technologies remain anchored at the site.

Every small and medium-sized business owner is asking right now: What tasks can AI take over? That’s the wrong question. Because AI only automates what is documented, decided, and repeatable. And in German small and medium-sized businesses, that’s almost everything—except for the boss.

Rayk Hahne has conducted over 2,000 consulting engagements with SMEs through RH Unternehmerwissen and identified a pattern: It’s not technology that hinders scaling, but owner dependency. When quotes, pricing, hiring, and escalations all go through a single person, any AI implementation leads to only one thing: chaos—and faster.

In this presentation, he explains why the most expensive bottleneck in a company is at the very top of the payroll, how owner dependency can be measured across six areas—and why a company isn’t AI-ready until it would also be saleable.

Uncomfortable, entertaining, and backed by data. Anyone who considers themselves irreplaceable should attend.

By invitation only

Something has broken inside most organizations, and it isn't strategy — it's speed. AI now executes faster than companies can decide, and that gap has a name: Clock Drift. It shows up as unapproved tools, stalled approvals, and strategy overtaken before it is signed. Neil Redding — The Near Futurist — shows what changes when AI stops being a tool you use and becomes a participant in the work, and why leadership must fundamentally change in response. For an economy built on getting the Takt right, the question is no longer how fast you can execute — it is whether the organization can decide at the speed of execution.

Artificial intelligence is moving beyond the screen: Individual assistants are evolving into systems that plan, launch tools, and act autonomously. However, simply choosing the right model is not enough to ensure reliable results within a company. The underlying operating model is what matters most.

This keynote presentation highlights what matters most when transitioning from AI pilot projects to production. The focus is on five questions: What measurable business outcome should be achieved? Which tasks are suitable for reasoning AI or agent-based AI? How can fragmented and ambiguous data be operationalized? Where should a workload be deployed economically and securely—in the cloud, in the data center, or at the edge? And how are identity, permissions, observability, resilience, and accountability embedded in operations?

Using concrete examples from Dell and customer projects, the presentation illustrates how companies are evolving AI from an experiment into a scalable operational model. Participants will also receive a pragmatic 90-day approach: define the outcome, review the five key warning indicators, and successfully bring a use case into production.

Social media is flooded with posts about nutrition, prevention, and health. What begins as a desire for well-being, however, often turns into a jungle of half-truths, misleading promises, and commercial interests. Between lifestyle trends and evidence-based medicine, numerous myths circulate that can unsettle consumers and, in serious cases, even put them at risk. This panel takes a critical look at current nutrition trends and sheds light on the tension between scientific facts and online hype. The panelists will demonstrate how to debunk misinformation, highlight the genuine opportunities offered by concepts such as longevity, and explain why unqualified advice can be life-threatening—especially for cancer patients. The goal: to provide reliable guidance on how to navigate health-related content online.

Knowledge Graph, Customer Knowledge Graph—why they are so important for AI to deliver relevant and reliable results (possibly supplemented with the topic of Agent Harness—but that’s a topic for another time. The main focus would be on the Knowledge Graph and Customer Knowledge Graph.)

From pilot projects lacking practical applicability to robust, scalable automation through integration, data quality, and governance.

Attend the masterclass “Why AI Projects Fail—and How to Really Make Them Work” and learn from real-world projects why many applications fail to deliver the expected results in production.

Many companies successfully launch their first AI use cases and see rapid progress during pilot phases. However, unexpected problems often arise in production: processes slow down, costs rise, and the hoped-for ROI fails to materialize. The cause rarely lies with the AI itself.

In this hands-on session, we’ll use a realistic use case and other examples to show why AI projects fail during implementation—and what successful projects do differently. You’ll learn to identify the key success factors and address them effectively.

The session will focus in particular on:

• the role of integration and stable end-to-end processes
• the importance of data quality during ongoing operations
• the need for clear governance and transparency

In addition, we’ll demonstrate concrete approaches for stabilizing and scaling existing solutions—through the right mix of AI, rules, and human interaction.

You will gain:

• a clear understanding of typical challenges in the productive use of AI
• transferable patterns from various use cases (e.g., ticket triage, IDP, knowledge management)
• concrete starting points for making your own AI projects more robust and cost-effective

The goal of the masterclass is to show you a realistic and actionable path from initial AI initiatives to sustainable business value.

Artificial intelligence promises speed, efficiency, and entirely new possibilities. In presentations, much of it already seems like the future within reach: a prompt, a result, a “wow” moment.

But in everyday life, it becomes clear that between AI’s potential and its actual impact lie data, processes, responsibility, culture, and people who need to be brought along for the ride. That is precisely where it is decided whether AI merely impresses or truly brings about change.

In his keynote address, Sergej Plovs offers an inspiring reality check that bridges the gap between AI euphoria and the reality of implementation. It’s not about the next demo, but about how AI makes a difference in the day-to-day operations of a real business. After all, the real question isn’t what AI can do today, but what we make of it.

Lessons learned from real-world AI projects in manufacturing, tourism, and banking—from internal implementation to rollout to partners and suppliers

AI pilot projects make a strong impression in demo mode but then get stuck when they move into production. The reason is rarely the model itself. The real problem is that corporate knowledge is scattered across ten or more systems and never reaches the model in a structured way.

In this masterclass, Daniel Claessen, Senior Manager of AI Solutions at OPEN, uses real-world projects from the manufacturing, tourism, and banking sectors to demonstrate how context engineering transforms scattered data into a reliable AI system that scales from internal use to secure deployment for external partners and service technicians. You’ll get concrete answers to the questions that cause projects to fail. Which data sources are the real problem? What Really Works in Production?

60 intensive minutes from which you’ll take away concrete methods and decision-making tools for
your own AI projects.

Here’s what you’ll be able to do after the masterclass:
- You understand why the reliability of AI systems depends on context rather than the model itself, and you can assess which of your data sources will support a project and how to prepare them for production use.
- You are familiar with the specific guardrails that can be used to reliably manage hallucinations and security risks, even in highly regulated and safety-critical environments.
- You can decide which architecture—from cloud to on-premises—is right for your project, weighing data protection and costs.
- You’ll learn about one of the most exciting strategies: making AI available to partners and suppliers beyond your company’s boundaries to optimize shared processes. This is demonstrated by an agent that scales from an internal system to an app for external service technicians, featuring voice input and image analysis right at the control panel.
- You'll gain practical insights from real-world projects in industry, tourism, and banking—including how long pilot phases, rollouts, and change management realistically take, and what steps you should take early on to save time and stay within budget.

Global banks and health insurance companies have a surprising amount in common: Both provide essential services to millions of people in a highly regulated environment and must balance quality, efficiency, and modern customer expectations.

This panel will examine the AI transformation of these two leading industries from today into the near future. The discussion will focus on concrete ways to simplify everyday tasks, genuine value creation, regulatory hurdles, and the unique dynamics of financial and health data. A look ahead will also show how autonomous AI systems are driving the shift from purely administrative tasks to proactive advisory services.

Die Techniker invites you to a personal exchange on health in the workplace.

The keynote is over, the last panel discussion point has been covered, and the thesis has been presented. So what now? Now is when things really get going. Because this is when connections are made, ideas are developed, and action is taken through one-on-one conversations. On the first day of the BIG BANG AI Festival, Die Techniker invites you to an inspiring cocktail reception, bringing its topics directly from the stage to the audience.

The reception will be opened by poetry slammer Rainer Holl. So it pays to be on time!

ePA – For Seamless Care
The ePA talk on stage with TK expert Sandra Hoyer, gematik Managing Director Brenya Adjei, and physician David Reckers will last 40 minutes. That’s not enough time for a topic that’s revolutionizing healthcare as fundamentally as the electronic health record. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to continue the discussion.

Peaches x Die Techniker: A Work Environment Tailored to Life Stages
Before Julia Neuen invites the audience to the Wake-up Reading the following day, she and her colleague Linda Viering present the offerings of their company, peaches, which works closely with Die Techniker: Among other things, the two explain why women’s health is more than just a trendy topic and is becoming a real competitive advantage for companies in the race for skilled workers.

Health Tech – Promoting Innovation
Techniker sees the potential of health startups and actively supports them—whether through high-profile awards like the Health-i Award and the Health Innovation (HIP) Award, or in a practical way via the TK Innovation Portal. Lars Boermann from TK and the team at Goodscare—who won the Health-i 2025 with their IGLOO Multi-Reader (blood tests in a matter of minutes)—demonstrate how TK fosters innovation. You can even try out the Multi-Reader on-site!

Corporate Clients – TK as a Health Partner
Susanne Korndörfer from Corporate Client Services will share insights and provide information about TK’s wide range of health services for corporate clients, such as consulting services on social insurance, Social Pizza, and the AI tool SayHello for foreign skilled workers.

Workplace Health Management (BGM) – More Than Just Three Letters
Dirk Kauth and the Humanoo team will introduce the WLP – WorkLifePortal, a digital platform that helps companies maintain employee health, boost team spirit and job satisfaction, and improve internal collaboration.

If you’d like to attend: Simply register via this link https://tally.so/r/yPgWR6. Spots are limited. If the number of registrations exceeds the number of available spots, the organizer reserves the right to select participants. A binding confirmation will be sent one week before the festival—only with this confirmation is participation in the exclusive event guaranteed.

Autonomous robotics sounds complex – but what does deployment actually look like in practice? In this masterclass, Henri Felsenstein walks through how Alfie, RobCo’s autonomous industrial robot, integrates into existing operations without upfront investment or infrastructure overhaul. Attendees will learn how AI-powered adaptation works in real warehouse environments and what it takes to go from first pilot to full production.

The top-rated providers in the healthcare industry—this award recognizes companies and service providers that particularly impress consumers with their quality, value, offerings, and service (award presented by ntv Nachrichtenfernsehen and the German Institute for Service Quality).

The Groundbreaking Innovations of the Year – this award recognizes outstanding projects, products, technologies, and business models in the fields of artificial intelligence, digitalization, and transformation that create real added value through new ideas and solutions (award presented by the German Institute for Service Quality and DUP UNTERNEHMER).

At first glance, finance, pharma, and intimate wellness seem like very different worlds. Yet they share a central challenge: communication takes place within specific regulatory and societal frameworks. For some, it’s legal regulations; others struggle with conservative social media platforms.This raises the intriguing question of what role AI can play in these industries.
In this panel, we’ll bring together experts from these three industries to explore which challenges might overlap. How can AI be used effectively when trust, quality, compliance, and responsibility play a central role? Which lessons can be applied from one industry to another—and which cannot?
You can look forward to concrete use cases, practical insights, and an open discussion about the opportunities and limitations of AI in regulated markets. Together, we want to discover what these industries are already successfully implementing today—and what potential still lies ahead for them.

Presenter: Kristina Sterz

This panel explores the broad spectrum of modern remote care—from AI-supported remote diagnostics to everyday practice and consumer-oriented platform-based medicine. The focus is on how digital solutions can tangibly ease the burden of day-to-day care and create real added value for patients and healthcare providers alike. At the same time, the discussion will address how a secure and seamless data infrastructure serves as an indispensable foundation for this digital ecosystem. Together, the experts will highlight where telemedicine is already making a difference, where obstacles lie, and how to successfully scale it up for widespread implementation.

AI makes companies faster, more efficient, and more creative. But sometimes it also makes them vulnerable, expensive, and unintentionally famous. Whether sensitive data ends up online, third-party content is used, or business processes suddenly grind to a halt—small prompts can turn into big problems. We’ll showcase real-world cases, surprising patterns of damage, and the findings of our latest AI study. For everyone who celebrates innovation—but still wants to sleep soundly at night: Because one question remains—is AI insurable?

When doctors make decisions, we trust their experience and sense of responsibility. With AI, we set a different standard: it must be 100 percent accurate. Yet despite billions in investment and enormous progress, only a fraction of AI applications deliver real added value. Why is that? Which AI applications make the leap from pilot projects to everyday clinical practice, and why do others fall short of expectations despite compelling technology? Using concrete examples, this presentation demonstrates how AI improves clinical and radiological workflows, reduces the workload on teams, and utilizes resources more efficiently. After all, the success of AI is determined not by the algorithm itself, but by the added value it creates for users, patients, and hospitals.

The “Future Hospital” is the most frequently cited concept in the industry. Yet hardly anyone has actually built one. That’s because the future isn’t a date you can simply wait for. It is the result of decisions—made today or postponed indefinitely. This applies to hospitals, and it applies to the entire healthcare system. The political and financial constraints are tight. But within these constraints lie opportunities for action that only a few take advantage of. Anyone who bears responsibility today—for a hospital, a network, or a healthcare provider—must lead like an entrepreneur: with a clear strategy, a distinct position in the market, and the courage to make decisions that look years ahead. In the shift toward outpatient care, which is fundamentally transforming hospitals. In the strategic use of AI. In determining what one’s own institution should stand for in the future. The masterclass demonstrates: The future of the healthcare system is not a vision. It is a decision made today.

What’s really behind an ETF? Why is one index so different from another, and why do structure, methodology, and data transparency determine returns and risk?

In this seminar, we’ll take you behind the scenes of modern index solutions, offering insights from Solactive, a leading German index provider, and Franklin Templeton, one of the world’s largest investment firms—in a practical, honest, and to-the-point manner.

After all, when you understand how an index really works, you can invest more knowledgeably.

Artificial intelligence is transforming the financial world at a rapid pace—from capital markets to investment processes to personalized investment advice. But which developments are sustainable, and what opportunities are opening up for investors?

In this high-profile panel discussion, experts will examine the impact of AI on capital markets and how it is already supporting investment decisions for retirement planning today. You’ll also learn how AI is revolutionizing investment advice—using the FinTech company Finanzguru as an example—and which financial innovations will shape the industry in the coming years.

Look forward to exciting perspectives and practical insights into a future in which intelligence will become a decisive competitive factor for investors, advisors, and financial service providers.

Many companies have already tested AI. But the real challenge often lies between initial experiments and robust integration into day-to-day work: Which use cases are truly worthwhile? What data can be used? Who verifies the results? And how can AI be integrated into existing processes in a way that results not only in impressive demos, but also in reliable workload reduction, better decisions, and measurable impact?

In this masterclass, Thorsten Wujek and Thomas Pause will demonstrate how AI can be pragmatically integrated into business processes—from administration and back-office operations to recruiting, sales, engineering services, and production. The focus is not on buzzwords or a showcase of tools, but on a realistic look at benefits, limitations, and implementation: Where does AI provide meaningful support today? Where are clear guidelines needed? And how can data protection, confidentiality, quality, and accountability be kept under control?

You’ll receive concrete examples, decision-making criteria, and a structured approach that companies can use to prioritize AI projects, launch them safely, and scale them step by step.

Here’s what you’ll take away from the masterclass:
• You’ll recognize which AI use cases are truly worthwhile.
• You’ll learn to classify AI projects based on benefits, data availability, risk, and control requirements.
• You’ll understand why human approval isn’t a roadblock, but rather a key quality filter.

The Complete AI Journey in Practice—from Concept to Production-Ready AI. Following our “One-4-all” approach, we’ll walk you through all three phases: AI Discovery (knowledge building, pain points, use cases), AI Proof of Concept (solution design, prototype, pilot), and AI Deployment (infrastructure consulting, scale & adopt, change management). Subtopics: AI in customer service featuring the Digital Voice Agent (DVA) as a live demo, as well as FlexPod AI as a physical on-premises infrastructure on which the DVA runs in production.

On capital, digital tools, strong brands, customer focus—and the question of why trust is becoming the most important driver of growth.

Wie sich Arbeitswelten und der Alltag im Gesundheitswesen verändern, wenn Mensch und Maschine Hand in Hand agieren.

Die sichere Basis für digitale Gesundheitsanwendungen: Wie digitale Identitäten Datenschutz und nahtlosen Datenaustausch verbinden.

Ein Blick auf die regulatorischen Hürden, Zertifizierungsprozesse und Chancen auf dem Weg vom Algorithmus zum zugelassenen Medizinprodukt.

Wie Praxen und niedergelassene Ärzte durch intelligente Systeme bei Diagnose und Administration entlastet werden.

Der Einsatz von Daten und KI zur Optimierung von Gesundheitspanne, Leistungsfähigkeit und gesundem Altern.

Wie digitale Helfer und Algorithmen neue Wege in der Prävention, Diagnose und Therapie mentaler Erkrankungen eröffnen.

Diskussionsrunde über Chancen, Hürden und konkrete Erfahrungswerte beim Rollout von KI-Lösungen auf den Stationen.

Wo steht KI in der Medizin wirklich? Eine ehrliche Bestandsaufnahme zwischen überzogenen Erwartungen und echtem Mehrwert.

Ein realistischer Blick auf die finanziellen, infrastrukturellen und ökologischen Ressourcen, die der Einsatz von KI tatsächlich verschlingt.

Eine Einordnung des Spannungsfelds zwischen menschlicher Empathie und technologischer Präzision in der medizinischen Versorgung.

Inflation, skills shortages and falling purchasing power – the economic climate is posing enormous challenges for HR managers across all sectors. Those who lack a clear response to this volatility today will lose key talent tomorrow. This presentation offers a practical guide not only to navigating the crisis, but to emerging from it stronger than before. After all, many companies harbour untapped budgetary potential which – if used correctly – can sustainably strengthen employee retention and employer appeal. Without incurring additional expenditure. The focus is on future-proof, next-generation benefits: innovative models that go far beyond traditional solutions such as meal vouchers or the ‘Deutschland-Ticket’ and create a genuine, resilient bond between employer and employee. Participants will take away practical, actionable knowledge that can be applied immediately in their day-to-day work – and which literally pays off.

What if your next HR colleague isn’t even human anymore? Feedback, learning recommendations, target agreements, remuneration – AI agents are starting to play a part in all these areas. But what does the journey really look like, from the initial pilot idea to a globally scaled HR agent? An honest look behind the scenes, from ChatGPT through Copilot to SAP Joule: what’s already working today, what’s coming next, and why nothing in this field stays the same as it was yesterday.

Artificial intelligence takes work off executives’ hands. What it doesn’t take away from them is the ability to decide what really matters:
direction, a clear path through the chaos, and impact.

In an age when every analysis is available in seconds and every option seems accessible at once, the scarcest resource is something else: the ability to recognize, amid the noise, the one thing that matters. Those who react faster without seeing more clearly will only become inaccurate more quickly.

Zen Master Hinnerk Polenski has been guiding executives for over thirty years—and works with a single ten-minute exercise. Christian Miele invests in the technologies at the heart of this discussion. Their conversation centers on the question that both pose from different perspectives:

What role remains for humans in the face of super AI?

Humans lead. AI supports. Or, to put it even more simply: Leadership develops a sense of direction—management is allowed to become intelligent.

“The intuitive mind is a divine/sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
(Einstein, as quoted by Bob Samples)

Bauck Mühle and rock&stars on decision-making and the line between preparation and responsibility.

Artificial intelligence has long been a reality in the payments sector. What’s new is that AI is beginning to act independently in economic terms and initiate payments. This could fundamentally change how purchasing and payment decisions are made—and the role that banks and payment providers will play in the future.

This presentation explains why Agentic Payments are more than just the next step in technological development and what this development means strategically for the financial industry.

For decades, IT systems operated according to fixed, deterministic rules. Generative AI has fundamentally changed this model: Predictable results have been replaced by probabilistic recommendations and answers. This raises a key question for companies: How can we trust systems that can appear convincing without always being correct?
This session explores the issue of trust in a corporate context and addresses topics such as:
Loss of control and orientation: How companies can build trust in AI systems and thereby significantly increase the benefits of AI.
Shaping trust strategically: How a flexible “sovereignty regulator” can be used to clearly define where AI autonomy ends and human oversight and responsibility begin.

14:00-14:10 | Welcome and opening
14:10-14:20 | Keynote: The African AI Opportunity
14:20-14:50 | African AI Startup Showcase - Pitch
14:50-15:15 | Panel: Investing in African AI - From Opportunity to Partnership
15:15-15:30 | Closing and Networking

• Specific use cases from everyday business operations.
• Insights from practical implementation.
• Insights into the interaction between humans and machines

Artificial intelligence is fundamentally transforming the media industry—from content production and news reporting to the protection of young users. The central question is: How can AI be successfully deployed in areas where quality, responsibility, and trust are top priorities?

In the RTL Deutschland Masterclass, experts from two key business divisions provide insights into specific AI applications already in use today. Through practical examples, it becomes clear how AI supports processes, prepares decisions, and lightens the load on teams without relieving humans of their responsibility.

Case 1: Youth Protection AI Merm:ai:d
In the first case, Daniela Hansjosten, Head of Standards & Practices at RTL Deutschland, presents the in-house developed youth protection AI “Merm:ai:d.” The application automatically analyzes audiovisual content for potentially critical scenes and supports the youth protection team in evaluating large volumes of video content.

Case 2: Newsroom of the Future at RTL NEWS
In the second case study, Ina Möllers provides insights into RTL NEWS’s Newsroom of the Future. She demonstrates how AI is already supporting journalistic workflows today—from analyzing wire service reports to efficiently processing information. At the same time, it becomes clear why journalistic integrity, transparency, and the final decision by editors remain indispensable.
The masterclass is aimed at anyone interested in the practical application of AI in business. The examples demonstrate that successful AI projects are not based solely on technology, but on clear principles: responsibility, transparency, and the commitment to support people, not replace them.

Artificial intelligence is increasingly disrupting the status quo of the traditional shopping experience: Customers are no longer just searching for products—they’re engaging in dialogue and describing their very personal needs to find the right item for them. AI is paving the way for highly personalized shopping journeys—both onsite and offsite. For e-commerce, this represents nothing less than a fundamental paradigm shift.

Medicine is on the verge of a fundamental transformation. Instead of treating diseases only after they have developed, we can identify health risks earlier and earlier and take targeted action to address them. AI, biomarkers, modern diagnostics, and personalized prevention are opening up new possibilities for actively shaping our health and extending the number of healthy years of life. In this context, longevity means more than simply living longer: it’s about remaining healthy, capable, and self-determined for as long as possible.

Which of these concepts are already a reality today, and which are still a vision for the future? This masterclass combines scientific perspectives, practical experience, and a look into the future, demonstrating how prevention and longevity are becoming central pillars of tomorrow’s medicine.

The AI hype is dying down, and what remains is uncomfortable: Most AI projects have never moved beyond the showcase phase. The pilot projects are running, but they aren’t creating value.

In this panel, we’ll get to the bottom of why so many companies struggle to bring about real change with AI—and what the success factors are for moving from the pilot phase to true scaling: into new business models and AI-powered products.
Is it a lack of courage to make decisions and let go of the old ways? Is it a lack of expertise in data quality, process discipline, or competence? Is it a lack of capacity, given that the same people are expected to both run the business and transform it? Is it the willingness to stand by a position even in the face of resistance? Or is it simply that many employees are uncertain about what their own roles will look like in the future—and whether those roles will even exist anymore? And how will the relationship between artificial and human intelligence change in the long term; does leadership need more empathy, not less, precisely for this reason?

Female decision-makers from the Generation CEO e.V. women’s network—representing industry, tech, and small and medium-sized businesses—openly debate what has made a difference in their companies, what has held them back without anyone admitting it—and whether there is such a thing as a “magic sauce” at all, or if it ultimately comes down to nothing but hard work.

Before employees can use AI effectively, decision-makers need to know where AI actually generates revenue within their own company. Marco Heer explains why successful AI implementation starts with senior management—and why many rollouts fall flat despite good training. Instead of becoming permanently dependent on AI consultants, business owners are bringing that expertise in-house. With examples from small and medium-sized businesses and a clear roadmap for how CEOs can identify which AI applications are truly worthwhile before making their first investment.

Marco Heer is an industrial engineer and cybersecurity specialist with over ten years of experience in IT and digital transformation; previously, he helped shape the infrastructure of large corporations. Today, he is the founder and CEO of Synclaro and an AI trainer for the Handwerkskammer (Chamber of Skilled Trades). Together with his team, he has trained over 200 entrepreneurs to implement AI in their own businesses—following the principle: autonomy instead of dependence.

Many German hospitals have launched AI pilot projects—but only a fraction of them are in productive use. The hurdles are well known: data protection, a lack of integration with clinical workflows, and a system landscape that is already undergoing major changes. At the same time, the EU AI Act sets clear regulatory requirements for clinical applications that are already shaping today’s architectural decisions.

This masterclass asks: What does a hospital specifically need for AI to make the transition from proof of concept to routine operation—and how can the technology platform contribute to this? Dominik Lemke and Christian Klein will demonstrate how SAP’s AI building blocks can be integrated into existing and future hospital architectures. Participants will leave the session with a concrete framework to guide their own implementation projects.

Recruiting, Onboarding, Personalplanung – KI-Agenten übernehmen das Repetitive, damit Ihre HR-Teams das Wesentliche gestalten können.

(SAP Stand N6, Blue Hall)

Treffpunkt: DUP UNTERNEHMERLOUNGE, Stand R1, Blue Hall

Erleben Sie, wie Autonomous Project Delivery ein Netzwerk domänenspezifischer Agenten nutzt, die nahtlos funktionsübergreifend zusammenarbeiten, um den gesamten Projektlebenszyklus – von der Projektaufsetzung und Ressourcenbesetzung über die Ausführung und Zeiterfassung bis hin zur Abrechnung – zu optimieren.

(SAP Stand N6, Blue Hall)

Treffpunkt: DUP UNTERNEHMERLOUNGE, Stand R1, Blue Hall

Erleben Sie, wie Organisationen über den gesamten Beschaffungslebenszyklus hinweg mehr Transparenz, Intelligenz und Kontrolle gewinnen. Beschaffungskomplexität über Lieferanten, Projekte und Regionen gehört dank KI-gestützter Assistenten der Vergangenheit an.

(SAP Stand N6, Blue Hall)

KI-gestütztes Marketing, Loyalty-Aktivierung, nahtloser Handel und vernetzte Auftragsabwicklung wirken zusammen, um über alle Kundenkontaktpunkte hinweg personalisierte, reibungslose Erlebnisse zu liefern.

(SAP Stand N6, Blue Hall)

1:30–1:45 p.m. Registration
1:45–1:50 p.m. Introduction of guests by TANG Zheng, founder and
managing director of Beijing Partners Consulting GmbH;
Director of the FDI Desk, Italian Trade Agency Beijing Office
1:50–1:55 p.m. Opening remarks by Brigitte Zypries, former Federal Minister for Economic Affairs
and Energy and former Federal Minister of Justice 1:55–2:00 p.m. Opening remarks by a representative of the Chinese Embassy and
consulates in Germany (to be confirmed)
2:00–2:05 p.m. Opening remarks by NIU Andrew, Regional Head, China Mobile
International Europe Region
2:05–2:10 p.m. Speech by WANG Xing, Secretary General, The Chinese
Chamber of Commerce in Germany e.V. 2:10–2:15 p.m. Speech by Jens de Buhr, Founder and Managing Director of JDB
Holding GmbH
2:15–2:30 p.m. Speech by a representative from China Mobile International
Europe Region
2:30–3:00 p.m. Speeches by representatives from Phancy Group, Unitree Robotics, and
Knorr-Bremse, etc. (by invitation)
3:00–3:30 p.m. Panel Discussion
Participants: China Mobile, T-Systems International GmbH, GALBOT, Neura Robotics, RobCo GmbH, Changyang Tech, etc. (by invitation)

What happens if we completely rethink a company today—no longer centered around fixed software, dashboards, and standardized workflows, but around artificial intelligence?
With intec.ai GmbH, the first German company without any employees, I’m exploring exactly this question. My thesis is radically simple: An AI-native company no longer needs an employee for every task, a separate application for every process, or a dashboard for every decision. AI becomes the company’s operational control layer. It understands goals, makes decisions, and executes processes on its own within clearly defined boundaries.
This also fundamentally changes the role of enterprise software. Instead of rigid applications with fixed interfaces, a flexible system landscape emerges that can continuously adapt to the requirements of users and the company. Business users increasingly describe directly what they want to achieve, while AI derives functions, workflows, and applications from these specifications.
My masterclass provides a practical overview—including examples from the logistics sector—of what the journey from an ERP-driven company to an AI-native company might look like, and what technical, organizational, and economic potential this creates.

Ultimately, then, the question is not so much whether companies will adopt AI. The key issue is how long traditional organizations can remain competitive when AI-native companies are able to generate the same value with significantly fewer people, at a faster pace, and with a completely new cost structure.

How artificial intelligence is changing our world—and how we can prevent it from changing humanity. An inspiring start to our two-day festival.

The 2027 Outlook for Business Owners with 15 to 150 Employees: The leadership model top employers use to manage 1,000+ AI employees like an army and turn a profit—even without prior experience.

Your biggest cost driver is based on your poorest data. Staff are your largest expense, and the only one without an AI-enabled data set.
Which tasks should be handled by people, and which by agents? This is the most important decision of the next five years. Why tasks and skills must become data primitives, equally for people and agents.
Five steps to take before you go shopping for your next agent. Where to start, what to stop doing, and why the foundations come before the fleet.

Marcel Loco und St. Pauli-Präsident und Digitalunternehmer Oke Göttlich über Chancen und Risiken von technologischer Transformation im Fußballumfeld und wie wichtig Unabhängigkeit und Souveränität sowohl beim FC St. Pauli als auch in der Nutzung von künstlicher Intelligenz in Unternehmungen sind.

Small and medium-sized businesses rarely fail because of AI use cases. The challenge usually lies in the steps leading up to them.
Many companies are familiar with the use cases. However, data is either unavailable, not interconnected, or unusable. The “Industrial AI Ladder” shows where a company stands today and what to do next.
In this masterclass, you’ll classify your company into one of eight maturity levels and receive concrete guidance on the next steps and funding opportunities.
Simple. Pragmatic. Proven.

Campaigns fail not because of the idea itself, but because the insight into how the message
is received by the target audience is gathered too late—or not at all. Traditional synthetic
personas do not solve this problem. They respond exactly as they are described.
They do not capture contradictions, hidden desires, or ambivalent motives.
Mindset Twins are the answer: a substantive AI market research tool developed by the
Hirschen Group in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute, based on a Stanford model.
Mindset Twins are digital twins of real people. They think, doubt, and
judge just like their real-life counterparts, including contradictions, hidden motives, and
human ambivalence. What lies behind these responses—what truly
drives people, makes them hesitate, and convinces them—is revealed through professional analysis and
interpretation. Substance means: validated. In real-world cases,
we arrive at the same key insights that would normally emerge from qualitative interviews with real
people.
Which concept resonates with the target audience? Which headline elicits which emotional
reaction? These questions can be answered in 24 hours instead of four weeks.
Can be surveyed multiple times, never biased. No hallucinations.
Strategy, creative work, and target audience insights all come from a single source. Once
set up, the Mindset Twins guide the entire development process, from the initial
idea to the final creative output. The target audience isn’t just brought to the table at the end—they’re
involved from the very beginning.
This is how the Hirschen Group works today.

Operating system? Crashed.
Old-school agency? Dead.
Because the operating system on which this industry has run for decades is currently
undergoing fundamental disruption. Its guiding principle: busyness. Lots of people, lots of hours,
lots of ideas. An anthropocentric model in which human labor, knowledge, and
creativity were the central factors of production.
Artificial intelligence is making this logic less self-evident. AI not
only speeds up production, but also makes thinking scalable, knowledge permanently available, and
creativity reproducible. Even the “Big Idea” can become the product of agent-based and
artificial prompt chains.
What we are experiencing, therefore, is more than a technological earthquake. It is a seismic shift in values:
When thinking, knowledge, and production become scalable, the economic
foundations of an industry that has long translated human effort into value
begin to falter.
With paradoxical consequences: The agency of the future will not survive by clinging to
human labor at every turn. It must resynchronize humans and machines—and organize a
radically new division of labor between the two.
As one of Germany’s largest owner-managed agency groups, the Hirschen
Group finds itself at the very center of this upheaval and is using it as an opportunity for an honest
assessment: What must disappear? What must be created anew?
In his keynote address, Henning Schröder, Director of Strategy at the Hirschen Group, develops a
programmatic perspective on the necessary dismantling of old agency principles—and
an agenda for how agencies can remain effective in the future.

AI is developing exponentially. In practice, this curve consists of a series of S-curves: prompt engineering, RAG, agents, and, next, the systems that control the agents. At the same time, the gap is widening between the cutting edge and what is currently considered ‘good enough’. For businesses, this means it is crucial to be on the right curve and to switch over in good time. Roman Howe is responsible for Anthropic’s business in the DACH and CEE regions. He explains how medium-sized companies and large corporations are dealing with this in practice.

End your festival day by transitioning into recovery. Release tension through breathwork, regulate your nervous system, and restore mental clarity and resilience.