AI@HPI 2025

Prof. Dr. Holger H. Hoos

Professor in AI at the RWTH Aachen University, Chair at CAIRNE

Holger H. Hoos holds an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship in AI at RWTH Aachen University (Germany), where he also leads the RWTH AI Center. Holger's research is aimed at methodological and technological advances in human-centred AI, AI for Good and AI for All. Specifically, he seeks to improve the efficiency of AI methods, by automatically increasing performance and reducing resource needs; and to broaden access to and use of cutting-edge AI methods. Overall, Holger and his group develop and study AI methods that augment rather than replace human intelligence, and that help human experts to overcome their biases and limitations. Known for his work on machine learning and optimisation methods for the automated design of high-performance algorithms and on stochastic local search, Holger has developed - and vigorously pursues - the paradigm of programming by optimisation (PbO); he is also one of the originators of the concept of automated machine learning (AutoML). Holger has a penchant for work at the boundaries between computing science and other disciplines; much of his work is inspired by and has broad impact on real-world applications.

In November 2021, Holger has been selected for an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship in AI, Germany's most highly-endowed research award, which honours its recipients for their outstanding research record and aims to facilitate long-term and groundbreaking research contributions. Supported by this award and substantial additional resources made available by the university, he started building a new research group at RWTH Aachen University (Germany), dedicated to methodological and technological advances in human-centred AI, AI for Good and AI for All, in January 2022.

Prof. Dr. Maja Göpel

Political economist, transformation and sustainability scholar, Global Eco Transition gGmbH

Prof. Dr. Maja Göpel is a political economist and an influential voice for the sustainable transformation of society, working at the intersection of economy, politics, and society. The policy advisor, bestselling author (“Rethinking Our World”, “We can do better”, Scribe Publishers, translated into 10 languages, “Werte”, Brandstätter Verlag), and sought-after speaker is a professor for sustainability transformation at Leuphana University Lüneburg and founder of “Mission Wertvoll“.

She was Director of Research at The New Institute and Secretary-General of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). Before that, she headed the Berlin office of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy, after having helped set up the World Future Council for six years as Director Future Justice at the Brussels office and as Campaign Manager Climate Energy in Hamburg. Maja Göpel is a member of the Club of Rome, the World Future Council, the Balaton Group, and a co-initiator of the “Scientists for Future” network. She was a member of the Bioeconomy Council of the German Federal Government. 

Her work has been recognized with multiple awards in Germany, the most recent ones being the Theodor Heuss Prize and the Science Communication Medal of the Max Planck Institute Göttingen.

Richard David Precht

Philosopher, Journalist, Author

Richard David Precht, born in 1964, is a philosopher, journalist, and author, and one of the most prominent intellectuals in the German-speaking world. He is an honorary professor of philosophy and aesthetics at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin. His books, such as “Wer bin ich – und wenn ja, wie viele?”, “Liebe - ein unordentliches Gefühl” and “Die Kunst, kein Egoist zu sein” are international bestsellers and have been translated into more than 40 languages. 

“Von der Pflicht. Eine Betrachtung” was published in 2021, followed in April 2022 by “Freiheit für alle. Das Ende der Arbeit wie wir sie kannten". In the latter, he shows how changes in the world of work are transforming our lives, our culture, our ideas about education, and ultimately society as a whole—and what enormous challenges politicians face, particularly in restructuring our social system toward an unconditional basic income.

In 2023, he published “Die vierte Gewalt” together with Harald Welzer. His essay “Das Jahrhundert der Toleranz”, published in May 2024, is a plea for a value-based foreign policy and refers to the need for a new world order in times of international crises. His latest essay, “Angststillstand. Warum die Meinungsfreiheit schwindet”, will be published in October 2025. Since 2012, Richard David Precht has hosted the philosophy program ‘Precht’ on ZDF. In the ZDF podcast “Lanz & Precht,” Richard David Precht and Markus Lanz discuss the socially and politically relevant topics of our time. In 2024, it became the No. 1 podcast in Germany.

Prof. Dr. Christian Mayr

Professor, TU Dresden/SpiNNcloud Systems

Christian Mayr is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at TU Dresden, heading the Chair of Highly-Parallel VLSI-Systems and Neuromorphic Circuits. His career encompasses postings at Infineon, Philips, University Zurich, TU Dresden und John-Hopkins University Baltimore. His research interests include bio-inspired circuits, brain-machine interfaces, AD converters and general mixed-signal VLSI-design. 

He is author/co-author of over 200 publications and holds 4 patents. He is a PI in the EU flagship ‘Human Brain Project’ as well as in the German excellency clusters CETI and cfaed. His chair has spawned 4 spinoff companies with 250 employees.

Anke Domscheit-Berg

Digital Policy Expert and Advisor, Speaker, Publicist

Anke Domscheit-Berg is a German book author and publicist who has been a member of the Bundestag from 2017-2025 representing her party as digital policy speaker and as member in the Bundestag Enquete Commission for Artificial Intelligence leading the project group „AI and the Government“. Prior to entering politics, she held several corporate roles for Accenture, McKinsey, and Microsoft Germany, and served as a Senior Policy Advisor at the World Future Council. Among other roles, she has been an Advisory Board member for the Federal Regulation Authority in Germany. Since April 2025 she has been working again as publicist and independent Digital Policy Expert and Advisor.

Her professional focus is on ethics and AI, digitalisation of public administation, climate impact of digitalisation, digital violence, cyber security, and digital sovereignty instead of a digital society dominated by a Tech Bro oligarchy.

Domscheit-Berg holds degrees in Applied Textile Art (GDR), International Business Administration (BA) and European Business Administration (MA, UK). With her husband Daniel, she lives in the State of Brandenburg, where they engage to pilot their vision of a digital society which benefits all, is sustainable and does not harm people or the environment. Together they founded a non profit, engaging in barrier free access to the internet, digital education, means of production, creativity and technology, known as „Verstehbahnhof“ in a rural trainstation building, recognized amongst many other awards, as one of the „Digital Places in the Country of Ideas“. To limit their digital climate footprint, access heat of their mini data center in the cellar is reused, and a self made solar fence provides energy for it.

Mei Lin Fung

Vice Chair Steering Committee, UN AI for Good Impact

Mei Lin Fung is a globally recognized technology and policy leader, serving as Vice Chair of the UN AI for Good Impact Steering Committee and Chair of the IEEE SSIT Sustainability Committee. She co-founded the People-Centered Internet with Vint Cerf and currently co-leads the Nehitek Foundation. Her career spans roles at Shell, Intel, and Oracle, where she was part of the original team that pioneered Customer Relationship Management systems. 

She has co-authored numerous G7 Think Tank (Think7) policy briefs (2022–2025) on MSME financing, digital public infrastructure, and AI governance. Mei Lin served as socio-technical lead for the US Department of Defense’s Federal Health Futures project under Lt. Gen. Bruce Green, bringing Douglas Engelbart’s networked improvement communities into federal medicine.

Her current work emphasizes using Digital Public Infrastructure and securitization to finance MSMEs globally, while advancing inclusive science and AI governance. She continues to bridge technical communities (IEEE, ACM, ITU) with policy leaders worldwide.