Congress

AI.Summit to highlight future of technology

3 December 2024
AI.Summit to present cross-industry AI solutions on December 5. Hamburg News spoke to Petra Vorsteher about the Summit and her vision for Hamburg 

"By 2025, we will see AI applications in most companies across Hamburg," the tech entrepreneur Petra Vorsteher predicts, adding: "AI solutions will grow rapidly in e.g., sales, marketing, predictive maintenance and automation." The joint founder of the AI.Group is hopeful and points to a clear development fuelled by successful time-saving and costing-cutting aspects of AI applications. "Everyone is talking about AI and in boardrooms as well along with the awareness that we cannot lose touch." Naturally, this raises questions e.g., which applications make sense and whether the technical infrastructure should be adapted. Costs are a top priority coupled with the length of the procedure.

Information and contacts

The AI.Summit 2024, held under the theme of "The time to adopt AI is now!", will offer solutions. Organized by the AI.Group, around 50 international AI experts and more than 30 AI startups will come together with 400 delegates in Hamburg's Emporio Tower on December 5. Keynotes and expert panels will give insight into AI trends across the globe and its economic opportunities. Generative AI is expected to account for more than USD 1.3 trillion in global turnover by 2032, the Hamburg-based Statista has forecast. Universities are now breeding grounds of promising startups that launch as spin-offs and will also be attending the summit. "Working students are great for bringing an innovative spirit into a company," Vorsteher stressed. Anyone keen on external AI expertise will find suitable matches at the AI.summit. "Many of the startups have already come up with concrete and affordable applications. We will again honour the best solutions with the AI.Summit Startup Award and will also host a pitch contest for AI startups."

Delegates at AI.Summit 2023
Delegates at AI.Summit 2023

Hamburg-based startups at summit

The Hamburg-based startup, FlowShare, for instance, wants to make it easier for companies to get started with AI by capturing and storing expert knowledge and turning it into AI-assisted, easy-to-understand guides. New employees can be recruited with the AI-backed Jobmatch.me website. Meanwhile, the neuroflash startup now stands for an all-in-one AI solution for marketing content while Dealcode is aiming for greater targeting accuracy in marketing and sales. “AI agents take over tasks such as customer contact or data maintenance and identify the most promising ‘deals’,” says Vorsteher. ‘Such AI applications simplify processes, make a company more efficient and counteract the shortage of skilled labour."

Main impact of AI

At present, AI is having the greatest impact in medicine, life sciences and healthcare. "Startups such as Mindpeak, dpv-analytics, NoscAI and Fuse AI can help save lives, but also lower the costs of healthcare by making early diagnoses to avoid costly treatments or reduce misdiagnoses." All areas of business, science and society hold potential especially for GenAI applications. Some are literally rolling towards us. MOIA is now testing Level 4 self-driving shared taxis on roads across Hamburg. The VW electric buses move quickly through heavy traffic, even in poor visibility. The AI processes data from 13 cameras, nine lidars and five sensors. "This is definitely the future," says Vorsteher, who lives with Ragnar Kruse, joint founder of the AI.Group, in Hamburg and the U.S. "In San Francisco, I recently counted 15 Waymo taxis, a subsidiary of Google, during just one traffic light phase - all without a driver at the wheel."

Petra Vorsteher at Internorga. AI.Hamburg hosts AI centers at trade fairs in Hamburg
Petra Vorsteher at Internorga. AI.Hamburg hosts an AI centre at several trade fairs in Hamburg

Destination for innovation

The AI.GROUP would like to bring all the stakeholders together in one place to make the (AI) future even more tangible, remove barriers and help startups to scale up internationally. “We envision a kind of 'Elbphilharmonie of Innovation' - a place in the city centre where 50 to 100 startups and companies’ innovation departments come together in a kind of real laboratory, where universities and investors are represented, and where we can reach as many citizens and children as possible. They can simply try out the technology in fab labs," says Vorsteher. Hamburg comes to mind as a travel destination. "Such a place could expand the appeal of the Elbphilharmonie and make Hamburg a destination for innovation'."
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Sources and further information

AI.Group

Headquartered in Hamburg, the AI.Group promotes Europe's AI innovations and their use in business. Founded in 2019 by Petra Vorsteher and Ragnar Kruse, the group aims to ensure that the economy and businesses use these great innovations and seize the opportunities and possibilities of AI as a new technology for a better future. Under the auspices of the AI.GROUP, the non-profit initiative AI.HAMBURG offers all kinds of activities including workshops, training courses, networking and events to promote the use of AI and machine learning. AI.HAMBURG is also a partner of the joint project AI.Startup.Hub, which has offered qualification and funding schemes for AI startups since 2022. Together with Hamburg Messe, AI.HAMBURG has hosted regular AI centers at trade fairs since 2023. The early-stage venture capital, AI.FUND, began investing in the best European AI start-ups in 2024. As an AI venture studio, AI.IMPACT creates positive impact through projects and products using AI from the idea to global scaling.

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