Program

9:00 am Introduction 

• Prof. Dr. Gerard de Melo, Hasso Plattner Institute, Chairman of AI@HPI Conference

09:10 am Keynote: Trustworthy AI - A competitive advantage for Europe and Germany 

• Stefan Schnorr, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Digital and Traffic 

09:20 am Town Hall: The EU AI Act and Beyond – Transforming Workflows and the Economy through Sustainable AI Regulation

Moderation: Johannes Steger, Tagesspiegel Background Digitalisierung & Cybersecurity, Managing Editor  

• Prof. Dr. Philipp Hacker, European University Viadrina
• Harmen Zell, Meta, Public Policy Manager
• Armand Zorn, MdB, Member of the German Bundestag
• Carsten Kestermann, Amazon Web Services, Director Public Policy and Member of the Management Board 

10:20 am Keynote 

• Dr. Philipp Herzig, SAP SE, Chief AI Officer  

10:40 am Coffee Break  

11:10 am Keynote

11:20 am Town Hall: The Role of Ethical Practices for AI Across Industries 

Moderation: Prof. Dr. Max Senges, Institute of Electronic Business

• Dr. Bettina Laugwitz, SAP SE, Director of AI Ethics and Responsible AI
• Jens Redmer, Google, Director Business Development EMEA and Principal New Products
• Christiane Miethge, Infineon Technologies, Senior Manager AI Communication & Policy 

12:20 pm Wrap-up Second Conference Day 

12:30 pm Lunch Break 

01:30 pm In-depth Break-out Workshops

Workshop 1: Multistakeholder Coordination for the Practical Implementation of Ethical Development and Compliance - Shared Challenges and Solutions 

• Prof. Dr. Max Senges, Institute of Electronic Business, Director   

As AI technologies evolve, their development and deployment face increasingly complex ethical, legal, and operational demands esp. through the EU AI Act. This workshop invites stakeholders to explore the shared challenges of aligning ethical AI practices with regulatory compliance and practical deployment goals. Participants will examine practical questions from the participants and discuss the need for coordinated strategies across diverse sectors and learn about frameworks for developing ethical standards that meet both technical and societal expectations. Key topics will include aligning multistakeholder interests, establishing communication pathways, balancing innovation with risk mitigation, and ensuring compliance with emerging global regulations. Through collaborative problem-solving, attendees will co-create actionable solutions that balance ethical imperatives with the technical feasibility of AI applications. 

Workshop 2: Fundamentals of Deep Learning, Nvidia Certification Workshop (This workshop is continued digitally on 5 December until noon) 

• Antonio Rueda-Toicen, HPI, AI Engineer at AI Services @ HPI  

In this workshop, participants will gain a solid foundation in deep learning fundamentals through hands-on exercises. Led by an Nvidia DLI-certified instructor, key topics include neural network architectures, forward/backward propagation, loss functions, and optimization with stochastic gradient descent. Special focus will be on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), transfer learning, and data augmentation. Practical exercises using PyTorch and Nvidia GPUs will help participants apply these concepts to real-world tasks. By the end, attendees will be prepared to pursue further deep learning projects and earn an official Nvidia certification.  

Workshop 3: Retrieval Augmented Generation and Semantic Search Tool 

• Joaquin Gomes Prats, HPI, AI Engineer at AI Services @ HPI  

In this workshop you will learn how to implement a local end-to-end system to query and retrieve information from your local documents. To do this, you will need basic knowledge of Python and mathematics. We will show you which components are required to set up the system and how you can integrate them. During this workshop, you'll gain practical experience with embeddings, vector databases, and local Large Language Models (LLMs). By the end, you'll have a better understanding of the required components for Retrieval Augmented Generation and how to harness these tools to implement a system locally.  

Workshop 4: AI in Enterprises: Ethical Implementation and Practical Limits

• Martin Talmeier, HPI, Digital Transformation Specialist and AI Trainer 

Artificial intelligence offers fascinating possibilities - but how do we use it responsibly? In our workshop, we work together to develop strategies for AI implementation that combine technical excellence with ethical responsibility in a practical and hands-on way. You will work in teams to get a comprehensive overview of AI variations and their specific areas of application, on practical methods for assessing AI potentials and risks, develop an ethical framework for AI decisions and balance between innovation and responsibility. You start with the “clean slate” method: first, you explore the unlimited possibilities of AI technology as a team. From there, you will systematically work your way towards a balanced implementation concept that takes technical, ethical and human factors into account. In small groups, you will develop practical solutions that respect both the company's interests and the needs of all stakeholders. 

04:00 pm End of Conference