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Julia joined Meta in February 2021 and leads the company’s regulatory affairs as well as its policy and innovation strategy across 32 countries in Central Europe. Her region of responsibility includes the BeNeLux countries, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, along with 23 nations in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. Before joining Meta, Julia held various leadership roles within the German federal administration - from the German Bundestag to the Federal Ministry of Transport and the Federal Chancellery.

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Benedict is an initial member of OpenAI Germany, where he bridges research and engineering to help customers apply OpenAI’s models to real-world use cases. He holds a research background in physics and machine learning, and previously worked across preclinical safety and supply chain optimisation at Palantir, autonomous systems at Applied Intuition, and robotics at a growth-stage startup.

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Hans was a top executive at SpaceX from 2002 to 2021. As one of the first employees, he built up the avionics and software departments, among other things, and later, as Vice President of Build and Flight Reliability, was responsible for launch approval, failure analysis and the technical reliability of all missions. Over 100 successful launches were carried out under his leadership. He retired in 2021, but remained associated with the company in an advisory capacity.

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Patrick is a software developer and developer advocate with a passion for technical education. At Google DeepMind, he works as a Senior Developer Relations Engineer at the intersection of AI research and the developer community.

Patrick holds a M.Sc. in Medical Engineering from FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg with a focus on Software Engineering, Computer Vision and Machine Learning. In addition to his technical expertise, he is a regular speaker at developer conferences.

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Jonathan is a technology and innovation manager with a focus on cloud computing and software development. He heads the Amazon Development Center Germany in Berlin. Previously, he was Managing Director of several AWS companies and responsible for services such as AWS OpsWorks and the AWS Systems Manager. He began his career as Lead Developer at MeinProf e.V. before founding the cloud startup Peritor, which was acquired by Amazon in 2012. Its product Scalarium was later launched as AWS OpsWorks.

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Thomas is an seasoned expert in machine learning, a focus on computer vision, and a PhD in computer science (University of Heidelberg), Thomas combines technological excellence with entrepreneurial thinking. As CTO of Merantix Momentum in Berlin, he is responsible for the delivery of production-ready AI solutions as well as researching the next generation of machine learning methodologies. He is also a Director at the e-learning solution provider PWS and a regular lecturer and speaker on topics such as machine learning, developer experience, and technical leadership.

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Katja is a Professor at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) where she holds the Chair in Optimization and Biomechanics for Human Centred Robotics, endowed by the Hector Foundation.  Previously, she was a Professor and Canada Excellence Research Chair for Human-Centred Robotics and Machine Intelligence at the University of Waterloo (Canada), and Professor at Heidelberg University. 
Katja’s research goal is to endow humanoid and wearable robots with motion intelligence that allow them to understand and predict human movement and operate safely in a complex human world.

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Alois graduated in Data Science and in Engineering. He started his professional career as a management consultant in the field of digital technologies. From 2011 to 2022, he was Executive Director of the Innovations Kontakt Stelle (IKS), a knowledge and technology transfer institution of the City of Hamburg, where he managed over 200 frontier technology projects. Since 2019, he has been Managing Director and founder of the Artificial Intelligence Center Hamburg. He is also CTO at EdTech company PINKTUM as well as a lecturer and member of various federal committees, steering groups and supervisory and advisory boards. Alois is one of the prominent voices of AI in Germany and Europe.

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Marcus leads a research and innovation team at SAP dedicated to exploring foundational technologies for the next generation of enterprise software with a focus on artificial intelligence, cryptography and quantum computing. Among other things, his team is currently working on multi-modal AI agents for automating complex business tasks, humanoid robotics and a multi-agent framework for complex business decision-support enabling users to make more rational, data-driven and unbiased decisions.

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Rami-Habib is Director of Product Management at Appian and an expert in process mining and digital transformation. He is co-founder and managing director of Lana Labs GmbH, known for its process mining solution LANA. Previously, he was a research assistant at the Hasso Plattner Institute, where he completed his doctorate in IT systems engineering. His dissertation dealt with the analysis of large business process models.

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Johannn is Vice President AI Frontier at Aleph Alpha and is responsible for the development of innovative AI solutions for complex business and administrative processes. Previously, he was Senior Vice President of Product at Revalize, where he led a global product strategy, successfully integrated PROCAD and launched the SaaS PLM solution PRO.FILE 10. With over 22 years of experience in the enterprise software industry, he is an expert in PLM, CPQ, Variant Configuration and data-driven product development.

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Tammo leads an AI research team at Helsing, a new type of defence company with the mission to protect our democracies. Previously, he led research and engineering teams at Amazon and co-founded a startup building AI for data science automation. He holds a PhD in Machine Learning from the University of Oxford.

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Daniel is one of the creators of Flower, the leading open-source platform and ecosystem for federated AI. A large and growing community of Fortune 500 companies and top universities worldwide use Flower to improve their AI models on sensitive data that is distributed across organizational silos or user devices. Daniel was an AI researcher at the University of Cambridge and is now the Co-Founder & CEO of Flower Labs, a startup backed by Y Combinator, First Spark Ventures and Felicis Ventures (among others).

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Jürgen studied mathematics and CS at the Univ. of Siegen, get his PhD and habilitation at the Univ. of Münster. Since 2001, he has been a full professor and C4 chair of Complex Computer Graphics Systems at HPI, where he leads a team of around 20 researchers. His work spans visual computing, visual analytics, 3D maps, 3D point clouds, spatial deep learning and XAI, yielding over 470 papers and BMBF-funded industry projects. He reviews for journals and conferences, and serves on the GraphicsVision.AI board. He has also co-founded several start-ups. Jürgen is fascinated by the idea that the universe is an extremely convincing simulation.

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Martin is the global tech lead at Databricks for Unity Catalog Governance. He is responsible for providing the foundation of the Data Intelligence Platform, which enables the cataloging and governance of all data and AI assets across all business aspects. Before joining Databricks and founding the German engineering office, he led the development of Amazon Redshift Spectrum in the US and Germany. He holds a PhD from the Hasso Plattner Institute on the topic of In-Memory Database Query Execution.

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Maximilian is Head of the Institute for Ethics in Technology at Hamburg University of Technology. He specialises in moral and legal philosophy, with a particular focus on consent, responsibility, and the ethics of artificial intelligence. In his work, Maximilian shows how ethics can be a driver of technological innovation. In addition to his professorship, Maximilian is also a Research Associate of the Uehiro Institute at the University of Oxford and he works as a consultant for industry and policy-making.

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With over 20 years of experience in the automotive and financial sector - including Porsche and Audi - Swantje is now Managing Director Data & AI at diconium. She combines data-driven innovation with entrepreneurial thinking and shapes a modern, data-oriented management culture. Under her leadership, diconium established the "Data Product Factory", a space where cross-functional teams explore and develop data product ideas through to market readiness. Previously, she was Head of Product Development, CX and Data Management at Audi Business Innovation GmbH with an eye on the future of mobility and digital value creation.

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Patrick is a Full Professor of Artificial Intelligence at Deggendorf Institute of Technology (Germany) since age 30. He has been ranked by CDO Magazine among the worldwide academic data leaders. In parallel, he is the Founder & CEO of skyrocket.ai GmbH, an AI consulting firm. As an expert witness, he advised the parliaments of France, Germany, and Luxembourg. Previously, he was Head of Data Academy at Alexander Thamm GmbH, headed the corporate AI competence center at Krones Group, and was Fellow at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). He studied at Imperial College London and is an alumnus of the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des

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Markus brings over 30 years of experience in aerospace and has held key positions along the entire product lifecycle - from AI research to corporate strategy. As Senior Director of Innovation at Airbus, he guides teams from idea to market launch using platforms such as IdeaSpace. He drives an impact-driven innovation model that combines internal and external open innovation - with regional innovation centers, an internal community, an incubator team and a venture client unit. His focus is on user-centered innovation based on the Design Thinking approach.

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Elisabeth is a partner for AI and Data at Deloitte and host of the tech podcast Tech & Tales. Previously, Elisabeth co-founded the Hamburg-based AI startup Oxolo in 2020, a pioneer in AI video production with 600,000 users and €13 million in funding. Before founding Oxolo, Elisabeth worked as a VC and CFO and was recognized by Manager Magazin as one of the 15 leading women in the field of AI in Germany. Elisabeth received the FAZ Innovation Award, the KPMG Venture Award and was included in the W&V 100. OMR named her one of the 50 leading minds in the digital industry.

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Ulrich is the founder and CEO of Hypatos GmbH, which develops AI software for the automation of document processing. The company has offices in Berlin and New York. Erxleben holds degrees in accounting and finance from the University of St. Gallen and a doctorate in finance from TU Darmstadt. He has worked for McKinsey, Rocket Internet and ProSiebenSat.1, among others. Since 2014, he has been active as an entrepreneur in the field of process automation for finance departments.

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Economist with a foundation in physics and astronomy, dedicated to bridging the gap between cutting-edge science and commercial innovation. With experience spanning the commercial and public space sectors, including roles at Airbus Defence & Space and the European Space Agency — Jakob Peters has led socio-economic impact analyses, institutional cooperation strategies, and business case evaluations for technologies. Currently at DESY, Germany’s national research center for fundamental physics, he drives innovation management and fosters industry partnerships. His unique perspective lies in connecting the commercial world with fundamental research, particularly in space and the deep tech sector.

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Eva-Maria is the Head of Healthcare & Life Sciences EMEA at NVIDIA. In this role, together with her cross-functional team, she inspires and enables stakeholders across EMEA to unlock the potential of AI in genomics, drug discovery, medical imaging and med tech to transform the industry - because she believes everyone deserves a chance to live a long and healthy life. Eva-Maria has over 15 years of experience in healthcare, strategy, and go-to-market. She has worked for the English NHS, the World Economic Forum and VMware, served on the board of a care software company, and was an Associate Partner at Bain & Company, specializing in healthcare and digital innovation.

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Tobias has been working as a lawyer since 1999 after studying and completing his legal clerkship in Heidelberg. He also holds international degrees in Legal Informatics (LL.M.) and Business Administration (MBA). He initially worked in the Communications, Media & Technology department of the major international law firm Clifford Chance until 2005. Since then, he has been an in-house lawyer and headed the legal departments at Gameforge (Karlsruhe) and Omio (Berlin), among others. Since 2023, he has been General Counsel at the European AI startup Aleph Alpha, based in Heidelberg. He lectures on IT law issues at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT).

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I am leading the group on Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability at the Hasso-Plattner-Institut in Potsdam since May 2022. Previously, I served as Senior Vice President, Builder Platform & Artificial Intelligence at Zalando (2020 – 2022), Managing Director of the Amazon Development Center in Germany with its locations in Berlin, Dresden, Aachen and Tübingen and was Director of Machine Learning at Amazon in Berlin from (2013 – 2020). Prior to these roles at Amazon, I led Facebook’s Unified Ranking and Allocation team in 2011. From 2000 to 2011, I served as Director of Microsoft's Future Social Experiences (FUSE) Lab UK and worked for nine years at Microsoft Research Lab in Cambridge, UK.

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I researched AI ethics in surveillance capitalism and the intersection of AI and human identity during my graduate studies. I now work as head of responsible AI innovation at Pinktum, an edtech company using AI and big data to "decode learning" and make corporate education an essential part of organizational leadership. My focus is on human development in the context of AI, specifically with regard to upholding European institutions and values.

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Georg studied at HPI, EFREI Paris, and Stanford, California. Another two years in China followed. He interned/student jobbed with SMEs, Credit Lyonnais, Google, SAP, and Siemens. Back in Germany in 2012-2013 he tried to start a video
messenger, financed by work for pidoco, an HPI startup. 2015 he joined SAP as staff engineer, as Blockchain and AI expert, and later engineering manager for the LoB Real Estate. Since 2022 at brighter AI, he supports the two founders with management of the engineering unit during several DD phases and the exit in 2025.

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Expert in tech leadership and digital transformation, focusing on sustainable living, CO2-free innovation, and Design Thinking. Leads HPI d-school, coaches executives, and researchers how firms adapt in the digital age. (Co-)Author of 200+ publications and best-selling books.

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Friederike is a tech executive with extensive experience in sales, digitization, AI, and business transformation within the telecommunications industry. At Swisscom, she is the Head of B2B telecommunications business and is part of the management board. She also serves as a board member at Ivoclar, a global leader in dental materials based in Liechtenstein. Friederike began her career with the Quandt family foundations, supporting innovation and medtech ventures. She holds a PhD from the University of St. Gallen and lives in Zurich.

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With extensive experience at the intersection of human and technology, she brings deep knowledge in leadership, innovation, and communication. Known for guiding high-level dialogues, she creates space for meaningful exchange among leading minds and experts driving technological change.

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Nikolas is a final year Bachelor's student at the Hasso-Plattner-Institute with expertise in machine learning and analytics systems. He has contributed to projects in generative models and wearable technology while co-organizing major tech events like HackHPI. He combines technical skills with entrepreneurial experience through his involvement in startup communities and hackathon competitions. He is passionate about applying AI to solve real-world problems.

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Passionate about leveraging technology to drive digital transformation, I am a student at the Hasso-Plattner-Institut with a keen interest in entrepreneurial ventures.

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Leo is a Master's student in Computer Science at HPI and an intern with the SAP research and innovation team. For his studies, he specializes in the topics of Data and AI, with a particular interest in applying emerging technologies to real-world problems. Alongside his academic work, he is interested in entrepreneurship and has also gained practical industry experience at various companies.

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