ALUMNI

RISE OF AI 2025 PARTICIPANTS

Selected Speakers 2025

Rise of AI brings together the leading minds in AI
— visionary founders, top researchers, policymakers, investors, thought and industry leaders.

Here are some of the key speakers you can meet:

Rafael Laguna de la Vera

Director | SPRIND - Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation

AI Team Leader & Senior Reporter | Handelsblatt

Prof. Dr. Feiyu Xu

Professor of Industry at University of Digital Science | CEO at Amber Iris AI Consulting

Dr. Tina Klüwer

Department Head AI at German Federal Ministry (BMBF) | Artificial Intelligence Founder | Board Member

Managing Director | KI Bundesverband

Kenza Ait Si Abbou

CTO & Board Member | FIEGE Logistik Stiftung & Co. KG

General Partner & Founder Merantix Capital

CEO & Founder | Aleph Alpha

Dr. Annika von Mutius

Co-Founder & Co-CEO | Empion

Thomas Jarzombek, MdB

secretary of state for digitalization

Elisabeth L'Orange

Partner AI & Data | Deloitte

coordinator/spokesperson for the EPP Group in the Committee on Legal Affairs | European Parliament

Prof. Dr. Christian Guttmann

Executive Director | Nordic AI Artificial Intelligence Institute

Franziska Weindauer

CEO | TÜV AI.Lab

Founder & CEO | Casablanca.AI & CK Holding

Co-Founder, Doctorate researcher & feminist AI expert | enableYou, feminist AI, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg

Mario Brandenburg, Parl. State Secretary (ret)

Parl. State Secretary (ret)

Kathleen Schroeter

CEO | ootiboo GmbH

Founder | VP of AI & Product Recogni

Dr. Ursula Feindor-Schmidt, LL.M.

Senior Partner | LAUSEN

International Keynote Speaker

Katharina Meran

VP & General Manager | Aurora Solar

Elias Kouloures

Chief AI Officer | Creative Director & Data Scientist EliasKouloures.com

Stefanie Krüll

Freelance AI consultant | Stefanie Krüll Communication + Design

Dr. Ramin Assadollahi

Chairman of the Board & Founder | ExB Group

Claudia Pohlink

Director Data & AI (Chief Data Officer) | FIEGE Logistik Stiftung & Co. KG

Dr. Yorck Hesselbarth

Co-Founder Stealth StartUp

Stefanie Söhnchen

Vice President Digital and Member of Management Team | PIABO Communications

Prof. Dr. Hans Uszkoreit

Scientific Director | DFKI

Tamara Tomasevic

Head of Program Development | CIONET Germany

Prof. Dr. Katja Nettesheim

CEO, Founder at Culcha and KI-K Initiative | Chief Transformation Officer at Klett Online

Nikolaus Roettger

Founder | FutureStory

Director of Government Affairs | EMEA NVIDIA

Alexander Braun

Entrepreneur, Advisor, Author | Zurück zur Zukunft Podcast

Agnieszka Walorska

Founder & CEO | mika

Data Science Architect | SVA

Prof. Dr. Peter Sarlin

Co-founder & CEO at AMD Silo AI | Professor at Aalto University

Christian Winterfeldt

Senior Director Data Center Sales Germany | Dell Technologies

CSO & Co-Founder | AMBER AI & Data Science Solutions GmbH

Jürgen Brinkmann

Lead AI Center of Excellence | Windmöller & Hölscher SE & Co. KG

Dr. Philip Hutchinson

Senior AI Strategist | appliedAI Institute for Europe

Managing Director | Leaseweb Deutschland GmbH

Pascale Fung, PhD

Senior Director of AI Research at Meta-FAIR | Meta

Armin Fleischmann

Generalmajor | Bundeswehr

Chief Scientist | DeepL

AI Enterprise Architect | Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Georg Schlenkhoff, MBA

Go-To-Market DACH | Mistral AI

Managing Director, Data & AI Lead | Accenture

Federal & Defense Lead | NVIDIA GmbH

Senior Director | Capgemini Invent

Fabian Westerheide

CEO Rise of AI | Founding Partner Asgard Capital

Our Guests for Rise of AI 2025

Following guests and attendees have confirmed their public presence at Rise of AI:

Dr. Christian Temath

Managing Director | KI.NRW

Dr. Carsten Ullrich

Partner & Competence Lead AI | macros Financial Technology Consult GmbH

Deputy Director | KI.NRW

Dr. Thomas Prexl

Director Startup Support | Technologiepark Heidelberg GmbH

Felipe Nakayama-Burattini

Founder & Chief Digital Officer | NKB Data Intelligence

Head of Investment Promotion Switzerland | Swiss Business Hub Germany

Senior Director of Cloud AI Services | Pega

Dr. Laszlo Kovats

Managing Partner | Eurosoc#DIGITAL/ YouthGovAI

Artificial Intelligence Enthusiast

CTO | nexum AG

Holger Haberstock

Managing Partner | Eurosoc#DIGITAL & YouthGovAI

Consultant | VISION Consulting GmbH

CEO | Kulm Capital GmbH

Senior Consultant | VISION Consulting GmbH

Senior Anwendungsberater Risikomanagement- und Kapitalmarktsysteme | DZ HYP AG

Partner | Odgers Berndtson

Principal AI Product Manager | fischerwerke GmbH & Co. KG

Dr. Sebastian Wernicke

Partner | Oxera

Public Relations and Media Manager | Cinemo GmbH

Felix Broßmann

Partner | SKAD AG

Dr. Martina Szopek

Project Manager | IDea_Lab University of Graz

Daniel Privitera

Executive Director | KIRA Center

Dr. Katharina von Knop

Digital Trust Specialist | Digital Trust Analytics GmbH

Norbert Clemens

Co-Founder | DION Technologies

AI Client Executive | World Wide Technology

Katharina Feiertag

Head of Methods Lab | IDea_Lab, University of Graz

Marc-David Rompf

Partner & Shareholder | dla Digital Leaders Advisory GmbH

Director | Foundation Metaverse Europe

AI Lead & IT Strategy | EGC Eurogroup Consulting AG

Simon Wilmerding

Manager AI & Digital Transformation | EGC Eurogroup Consulting AG

Dr. Carsten Linz

CEO | b/uegain

Dr. Laura Hirvi

Public Policy Manager | Meta

Management Consultant AI & Data Strategy | EGC Eurogroup Consulting AG

Prof. Dr. Joanna Bryson

Professor of Ethics and Technology

Investment Analyst | D11Z. Ventures

Founder | Masumi.Network

Andreas Bachmann

CEO | Adacor

Christian Bicker

Co-founder & Managing Partner | CTG Consulting GmbH

Owner | Petra Rulsch PR - Strategische Kommunikation +

Prof. Dr. Roland Fassauer

Investor | Fadelia GmbH

Innovation Lab Director | senswork

Petra Vorsteher

Founding Partner | AI.GROUP GLOBAL

AI Engineer | STACKIT GmbH & Co. KG

AI Policy Manager | Meta

Wealth Management | Hansen & Heinrich AG

Senior Product Manager | Facelift brand building technologies GmbH

Senior AI Developer | EnBW

Andreas Wesselmann

CTO & Management Board Member | NFON AG

Janina Kummfeldt

Senior Manager - AI Service Transformation Lead | Accenture

Vice President Product | Ströer

Journalist | brand eins

Julia Reinhardt

Head of Public Policy Germany | NVIDIA

Dr. Michael Klimke

CEO | BAIOSPHERE Agency

Dr. Thomas Cann

CEO | fyrfeed

Dr. Hauke Hansen

Founding Partner | AI.FUND

Founding Partner | AI.Fund

CEO | Lemberg Solutions

Managing Director | BIFOLD/TU Berlin

COO | PIABO Communications

CEO | MILTON

Managing Director | AI.Fund

Communications Manager | PIABO Communications

Podcast ‚KI verstehen‘ | Deutschlandfunk

Executive Unit Director | PIABO Communications

Vorsitzender | KI Bundesverband

Management Board | Wilhelm Böllhoff GmbH & Co. KG

CEO | aifinyo AG

CSO | Almato AG

Senior Communications Consultant | PIABO Communications

Dr. Andreas Liebl

Managing Director | appliedAI

Head of Data & AI Strategy, Governance and Platforms | E.ON Digital Technology GmbH

Division Manager | FZI Research Center for Information Technology

Kassem Taher Saleh, MdB

Mitglied des Deutschen Bundestag | Deutscher Bundestag

Dr. Helga Breuninger

CEO | Helga Breuninger Stiftung

CTO | MEETYOO

Senior Communications Director | PIABO Communications

Scientific Advisor | National Academy of Science and Engineering

Autor | Süddeutsche Zeitung

Johannes Otterbach

Innovation Manager | SPRIND

Associate Director Early Innovation | Beiersdorf AG

Partner | AI.FUND

Communications Manager | TÜV AI.Lab

Deputy Lead | MISSION KI / acatech

Head of ANN2thrive

PhD Student | Universität Rostock

Philipp Harrschar

Client Director & Partner | Zühlke

Vortragsredner & Buchautor | MEMO-MIND GmbH

Ilja Schmuschkowitsch

Creative Director & Copywriter | Freelancer

Philipp Günther

Senior AI Innovation Manager at Berlin Partner | #ai_berlin

CEO | BEYONDinfluence

Christian Kaupa

VP Insights & Data | Capgemini

Innovation Manager | Berlin Partner for Business and Technology

Prof. Dagmar Schuller

CEO & Co-Founder | audEERING

CEO | Head of Digital InnovationSiemens Energy

Policy Officer for AI | Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism BW

Director - Cloud & Datacenter | CANCOM GmbH

Partner | Piquano Interim Professionals

Co-Founder, Managing Director | AI COMPL1ZEN UG

Alexandra Ciarnau

Co-Head Digital Industries Group | DORDA

Dr. Michael Drass

Chief Expert AI | Deutsche Bahn AG

Dr. Peter Söhne

Chief Technology Officer – Senior Advisor Payment | DG Nexolution

Managing Partner | Certitude Holdings (Temasek)

Bianca Hainisch

Tech for Social Good Enthusiast | Work-Life-GAP #Hoamattüftler | Friends-of-Geriatronics

AI Program Manager | Bosch

Director of Product Management | Cerence AI

Dr. Wolfgang Hildesheim

Head of Data Science & Artificial Intelligence | IBM

Armin Khalkhali

Head of Business Development, Partnerships & Sales | Birds on Mars

Francielly Monteiro

Oceanographer | Data Scientist | Founder of Benthos.ai

Oliver Salzmann

CEO | Resaro Europe GmbH

Photographer | Claudia Strahl Photography

Marketing Director SAP BTP | SAP Deutschland

Jens Stapelfeldt

Global AI Lead - AMD University Program | AMD

Marie-Teresa Weber

Head of Regulatory Policy | Meta

Stefan Steinkraus

CEO | SIS Labs / HackmoD Cybersecurity

Prof. Dr. Ivan Kisel

Professor | Uni-Frankfurt, FIAS

Founder | schnittfilm berlin

Principal | DTCF

Dietlind Wittig

Investment Manager | AI.FUND

Video Producer | Arty-Shock

Head of Marketing and Communications & Spokesperson | AKN

Dr. Nicolas Flores-Herr

Team Lead GenAI & ConvAI | Fraunhofer IAIS

Consultant for Deep Tech & AI | Senat Department for Economic Affairs Berlin

Jan Hesselbarth

Defense Expert | Stealth

Business Development Manager | SVA

Andreas Goldmann

Head of Competence Center User Productivity & Collaboration | SVA Systemvertrieb Alexander GmbH

Dr. Katja Muñoz

Research Fellow | German Council on Foreign Relations

Gudrun Magnusdottir

Chairwoman | ESTeam & Coreon

Founder & CTO | 913.ai

Maximilian Seeburg

Principal | AI.FUND

Co-Founder & CEO | ARX Robotics

Dr. Mitchell Duffy

Cofounder | Cambrium

Dr. Aljoscha Burchardt

DFKI GmbH

Senior simulation specialist | European XFEL

CEO | ESTeam AB

Volker Wohlfarth

Managing Director | Klett Online-Weiterbildung

Frederik Blachetta

Global PS Data & AI Leader | PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH

Founder | Ubermetrics Technologies

Prof. Dr. Filipe de Castro Soeiro

President | XU Exponential University of Applied Sciences

Dieter Gerdemann

Partner & European Lead Digital, Data & AI Practice | A.T. Kearney GmbH

CPO (Chief Product Officer) | Kleinanzeigen GmbH

Head of Department Energy, Digitalization, Innovation | Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises

Senior Vice President | valantic GmbH

Head of Growth & Digital Transformation Lead | Smarketer GmbH

Andreas Schepers

Head of Communications DFKI Lab Berlin | DFKI

Alexandra Ketterer

Journalist | Tagesspiegel Background

Senior Editor, AI Initiatives | The Economist

Thomas Wollmann

CTO | Merantix Momentum

Dr. Norman Bernhardt

Partner | ORAYLIS

Dr. Mohamed Fahmy

Founder & Managing Partner | iVolution AI & Sequence Ventures

Ruth Schoenherr

Innovative Mortgage Services

Prof. Dr. Mike Friedrichsen

German University of Digital Science gGmbH

Magnus Grünewald

CEO | Lyceum

AI Sales Specialist Central Europe + Turkey | Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Caspar Lehmkühler

Product Engineer | Lyceum

Sales Consultant | Startup insider

Axel Schmiegelow

Co-Founder, Board Member | Agentic Systems AG

General Manager | GCore

Dr. Marco Wedel

Senior Researcher | TU Berlin

Axel Zawierucha

CEO | Internetwarriors gmbh

AI Founder | Content Creator @askinkenai

Head of Digital Learning Experience & Operations | Klett Online-Weiterbildung

Henri Schmidt, MdB

Mitglied im Deutschen Bundestag CDU/CSU Fraktion

Amira Gutmann-Trieb

Clustermanagerin ICT Media Creative Industries | Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie GmbH

Timo Graf von Koenigsmarck

CSO & Head of Public Sector I Capgemini Invent

Dr. Frauke Goll

Managing Director | appliedAI Institute for Europe gGmbH

Public Affairs Manager | IHK Berlin

Marcel Horzenek

Digitalredakteur | t-online

Laurenz Kirchner

Managing Partner valantic | NXT GmbH

CEO Office Intern | Aleph Alpha

Investor | Extantia Capital

Michael Petrifke

Head of Department Mobility 1 | jambit GmbH

Enterprise DACH, Lead GenAI, IT Services, Telco | Nvidia

Wolfgang Stieler

Editor | Technology Review

Katarzyna Jakubowska

Strategic Community Manager appliedAI | Institute for Europe gGmbH

Silke Weidner-Schütters

Head of Content | Gruenderfreunde.de

Christoph Stock

Co-Founder and Chairman | TNG Technology Consulting

Head of Competence Center Business Development | jambit GmbH

CEO & Founder | Cryptoticker.io GmbH

Board Member | HTGF

Roger Basler de Roca

CEO | mAIghty Waves - KI Power Update

EMEA ecosystem partner lead | NVIDIA

CEO | lifey POWER economy

Thomas Aidan Curran

Group CTO and Chief AI Officer | Northern Data AG

Tech Reporter | Süddeutsche Zeitung Dossier

Berlin correspondent | The Financial Times

Dennis Dickmann

CTO | Seedbox Ventures GmbH

Christian Erling

Consultant Data Science & Analytics | Capgemini Invent GmbH

Cloud Security Architect | Freelancer

SAATKORN Blog & Podcast

Kommunikation Carsten Linnemann | CDU Deutschlands

Min-Sung Sean Kim

Managing Director | NGS Capital

Beatrice Prozzo

IT-Entwicklung und Innovation | Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG

Markus Hempfling

Account Manager Federal & Defense | Hewlett Packard Enterprise

CTO | Groundfog

AI Lead Executive Education | ESMT Berlin Business School

Matthias Troszka

CEO | lifey POWER economy

CEO | mAIghty Waves - KI Power Update

Dr. Sebastian Wieczorek

CEO | Mantix

Justus von Samson-Himmelstjerna

Data Engineer, Consultant | Data Driven Public | Capgemini Invent

Philipp Müller

Founder & Co-CEO | Signatrix

Michael Rabinovici

Key Account Manager | PNY Technologies

André Reitenbach

CEO | Gcore

Product Director Cloud & AI Gcore

CEO | George AI

Public Policy Europe | General Catalyst

Redakteurin | Table.Briefings

Jakob von Lindern

Stv. Leiter Digital | ZEIT ONLINE

Professor & Director | Universität Bayreuth & Imperial College London

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