AI@STRATEGY 2026 – How AI is Changing Leadership, Work & Value Chains
by Chair for Strategy and Organization, TUM School of Management
AI@STRATEGY 2026 is a premier conference that delves into the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on leadership, work, and value chains. Organized by the Chair for Strategy and Organization at the TUM School of Management, the event took place on October 7 and 8, 2026, at the TUM Audimax in Munich, Germany. Designed as a strategic prelude to the World Economic Forum Davos 2027 and the Munich Security Conference 2027, the conference aimed to set the intellectual agenda for pressing AI-driven transformations worldwide.
The conference featured a comprehensive program that included keynote addresses, panel discussions, and workshops. Notable sessions covered topics such as the role of AI in reshaping organizational structures, the integration of AI into business strategies, and the ethical considerations surrounding AI implementation. The event brought together leading AI researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and business leaders to explore how artificial intelligence is fundamentally altering strategies, organizations, and entire value chains.
Attendees had the opportunity to engage with a diverse group of experts from academia, industry, and politics. The conference provided a platform for networking, knowledge sharing, and collaboration, fostering discussions on the future of AI in various sectors. The event was held at the TUM Audimax, a central location in Munich, offering a conducive environment for meaningful interactions and learning.
AI@STRATEGY 2026 was tailored for professionals, academics, and policymakers interested in understanding and navigating the complexities of AI integration in organizational contexts. The conference aimed to equip attendees with insights and strategies to effectively leverage AI technologies in their respective fields, making it a valuable experience for those seeking to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence.
Categories
Speakers(32)
Alessia Sinzger
Co-CEO at DLD
Alessia Sinzger is Co-CEO of DLD, Hubert Burda Media's international conference and innovation platform. Over more than 14 years at DLD, most recently as Chief Commercial Officer, she has played a key role in developing its global network, partnerships and new formats. She holds an Executive Master's degree from the London School of Economics (LSE), with study periods at Peking University and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. Today, she focuses on expanding DLD's international reach and bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, creatives and decision-makers across technology, business and society.
Alexander Braun
Executive Vice President Digitalization and IT Systems and Chief Information Officer (CIO) at TUM
Alexander Braun is Executive Vice President Digitalization and IT Systems and Chief Information Officer (CIO) at TUM.
Axel Täubert
Head of Start-ups Northern & Eastern Europe at Google Cloud
Axel Täubert is Head of Start-ups Northern & Eastern Europe at Google Cloud.
Barbara Karuth-Zelle
COO at Allianz SE
Barbara Karuth-Zelle is Chief Operating Officer at Allianz SE.
Bastian Kersting
Senior Software Engineer at Google
Bastian Kersting is a Senior Software Engineer at Google in Munich, where he works on memory safety and Rust adoption. With over 11 years of professional experience, he previously worked on ChromeOS and has been an active contributor to the open-source community, including a Rust socket.io client library. He holds a degree from Hochschule München and has spoken at conferences including RustWeek.
Bettina Habbel
Executive Sparring at Freelancerin
The psychologist and leadership expert has spent over 20 years shaping leadership and transformation in the financial sector — as a consultant, executive coach, and trusted sparring partner to senior leaders. Alongside her corporate work, she also coaches clients across industries.
Catherine Wang
Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy at Brunel Business School
Catherine Wang is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy and the Research Excellence Framework (REF) Lead at Brunel Business School, Brunel University of London. She founded the Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Entrepreneurship and Sustainability and was its Centre Director for seven years. Previously, she held academic posts at Royal Holloway, University of London, and Oxford Brookes University. An elected Fellow of the British Academy of Management, she was honoured with the BAM Medal for Research, recognising her contributions to entrepreneurship, innovation, and strategic management. According to Stanford University's citation analysis published by Elsevier, she is among the top 2% of business and management researchers worldwide, with over 15,000 citations. She serves on the editorial boards of the British Journal of Management, International Journal of Management Reviews, and International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research. Before academia, she worked on small business support and international trade at Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce and in international business in China.
Chris Coleridge
Management Practice Associate Professor at Judge Business School, Cambridge University
Chris Coleridge is Management Practice Associate Professor at Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, where he teaches strategy and entrepreneurship and founded the University's first Master's degree in Entrepreneurship. He is also a Fellow of Wolfson College, where he chairs the Entrepreneurship Hub, and serves as Chairman of Faster Climate Impact, the ecosystem builder for the climate emergency. In 2019, Chris co-founded Carbon13, a Cambridge-based, talent-first accelerator developing startups to attack CO2e emissions, supported by Barclays, EY, Volkswagen, BP Ventures, DLA Piper, and ARM.
Christian Nicolussi
Head of AI Team at CANCOM
Christian Nicolussi heads the AI team at CANCOM, guiding companies from their first AI ideas through to the productive use of intelligent applications. Together with his team, he develops practical AI solutions, ranging from document value automation and AI agents to bespoke enterprise applications. His focus is on translating artificial intelligence into measurable business value and on helping organisations integrate AI into their processes securely, scalably, and sustainably.
Christina von Lindern
Executive Coach, Trainer and Consultant at 2TOP | Decision Quality, AI and Modern Leadership
Christina von Lindern works with executive management, senior leaders and founder teams on clarity, decision quality and collaboration under pressure, particularly in transformation, AI adoption and changing roles.
Christopher Tucci
Professor at Imperial College London
Christopher Tucci is Professor at Imperial College London.
David Holtz
Assistant Professor of Decision, Risk and Operations at Columbia Business School
David Holtz is an assistant professor at Columbia Business School in the Decision, Risk and Operations Division, affiliated faculty at the Columbia University Data Science Institute, and a research affiliate at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy. He earned his PhD at MIT Sloan School of Management, in the Information Technology group. Holtz's research focuses on online marketplaces and platform design, as well as the economic and societal impact of AI/ML systems.
Eva Spannagl
GTM Startups at OpenAI
Eva Spannagl is GTM Startups at OpenAI.
Hossein Rahnama
Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Toronto Metropolitan University
Hossein Rahnama is Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Toronto Metropolitan University.
Joachim Ziegler
Managing Director at InsurTech Hub Munich
Joachim Ziegler is Managing Director at InsurTech Hub Munich.
Marco C. Görgmaier
Vice President Enterprise Platforms, Data & Artificial Intelligence at BMW
Marco Görgmaier is Vice President Enterprise Platforms, Data & Artificial Intelligence at BMW Group. He is responsible for the company's global software engineering, data, AI and enterprise platform ecosystem, driving BMW's transformation towards AI-enabled products, operations and decisionmaking at scale. His focus is on building the foundations for AI adoption across the organization, including platform engineering, data governance and AI capabilities. Prior to his current role, Marco led IT initiatives supporting BMW's Future Sales Model and held leadership positions in IT strategy, innovation, cloud enablement and DevOps. He joined BMW Group in 2013 and previously worked at Audi AG. He is also co-founder of the Munich-based tech startup Bonavendi.
Markus Blume
Bavarian Minister of State for Science and the Arts and Member of the Bavarian State Parliament at Bavarian State Parliament
Markus Blume is Bavarian Minister of State for Science and the Arts and Member of the Bavarian State Parliament.
Reinhard Heckel
Professor of Machine Learning at TUM
Reinhard Heckel is a Professor of Machine Learning (Tenured Associate Professor) at the Department of Computer Engineering at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), and adjunct faculty at Rice University, where he was an assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering from 2017-2019. Before that, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research Lab at UC Berkeley, and before that a researcher at IBM Research Zurich. He completed his PhD in 2014 at ETH Zurich and was a visiting PhD student at Stanfords University’s Statistics Department. Reinhard’s work centers on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and information processing, with a focus on foundation models; the development of algorithms and theoretical foundations for deep learning, particularly in medical imaging; and the use of DNA as a digital information technology.
Robert Mahari
Founder & CEO at Akiva
Robert Mahari is Founder & CEO of Akiva.
Sameer Srivastava
Professor at University of California Berkeley
Sameer Srivastava is Professor at the University of California Berkeley.
Sebastian Wernicke
Partner at Oxera
Dr. Sebastian Wernicke is a Partner at Oxera, author of Data Inspired (2026), and a global AI and data strategist. For two decades, he has helped organizations translate technological complexity into measurable economic advantage. Working extensively across Europe and the US, Sebastian advises governments and Fortune 500 multinationals on navigating the macro-realities of AI. He leads high-stakes initiatives that drive large-scale commercial impact by prioritizing rigorous, evidence-based cultures over mere technology adoption. A sought-after voice known for blending a global perspective with analytical rigor, Sebastian has shared his insights at Stanford, Wharton, and the TED main stage, where his three talks have reached millions of viewers.
Shaz Ansari
Professor of Strategy & Innovation at Judge Business School, Cambridge University
Shaz Ansari is a Professor of Strategy and Innovation at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. He is Department Chair of Strategy and International Business, Professorial Fellow of St Edmund's College, Cambridge, Associate Editor at Strategic Management Journal, and served as Honorary Professor at UCL, UK. He holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge. He serves on the Editorial Boards of ASQ, AMJ, AMR, SMJ, Organization Science, Journal of Management Studies, Organization Studies, and RSO, where he has also published. His research examines how organizations navigate emerging technologies and complex societal challenges, with a focus on how meaning, values, and action are shaped in diverse empirical settings, including climate change, inequality, disability, and humanitarian contexts. He has contributed to executive education programs in many organizations, including McKinsey, Mastercard, Roche, Shell, Infosys, Salesforce, YPO (Young Presidents' Organization), Airbus, Tencent, Nokia, Ericsson, Barclays Bank, UNICEF, ICBC, and many more.
Stefan Feuerriegel
Professor at LMU
Stefan Feuerriegel is Professor at LMU.
Steffi Czerny
Founder and CEO at DLD Media
Steffi Czerny is Founder and CEO of DLD Media GmbH and co-founder of the DLD Conference (2005), widely described by The Economist as "Europe's most important innovation conference." With a background in political science and journalism, she joined Hubert Burda Media in 1995 and has spent decades building bridges between technology, science, and culture. Under her leadership, DLD expanded globally — from Munich to New York, Tel Aviv, Singapore, and beyond — and spawned spin-offs including DLD Women, DLD Campus, DLD Cities, and DLD Circular. She ranks among Germany's 100 Most Influential Women in Business and received the Bavarian Order of Merit in 2018.
Thomas Elsner
Partner at McKinsey & Company
Thomas Elsner is a Partner at McKinsey & Company. He co-leads the firm's technology strategy and management work in Europe and advises organizations on technology transformation, digital strategy, and the evolving role of IT leadership.
Thomas Jarzombek
Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and State Modernization at Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and State Modernization
Thomas Jarzombek is Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and State Modernization.
Toby Stuart
Professor of Business Administration at University of California Berkeley-Haas
Toby Stuart is Professor of Business Administration at the University of California Berkeley-Haas.
Volker Krug
CEO at Deloitte Germany
Volker Krug has been Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte Germany since 1 June 2020. His professional experience at Deloitte includes the specialist areas of auditing and financial advisory. He advised international private equity companies and corporates on cross-border transactions in Germany and the USA. In the Office of the Global CEO, he was responsible for key strategic projects for the global Deloitte organization for four years. He specializes in due diligence investigations, company valuations, carve-outs and refinancing in the context of corporate transactions. Until his election as CEO, he was a member of Deloitte's global automotive leadership team. He holds a master's degree in business administration from the University of Bamberg and is a certified public accountant and US Certified Public Accountant.
Xiaoqi Ye
Founder and Chief AI Officer at PinkHusky; Principal AI Solution Engineer Microsoft
Xiaoqi Ye is a technology leader, AI strategist, and passionate social innovator dedicated to bringing the technologies and power of artificial intelligence to underserved and senior communities. Inspired by the spirit and characters of her beloved dog, Dongdong, she founded PinkHusky, a nonprofit organization that develops AI-powered plush companions designed to provide emotional support, gentle reminders, meaningful conversation, and storytelling to those who need it most. Guided by her belief that technology should ultimately serve humanity, Xiaoqi continues to advance PinkHusky as part of her Executive MBA journey at the University of Cambridge. There, she refines the initiative under the guidance of distinguished faculty, a network of visionary professors, and supported by her executive peers—collectively shaping the foundation of PinkHusky.
Yanick Fratantonio
Senior Research Scientist at Google
Yanick Fratantonio is a Senior Research Scientist at Google in Zurich, working at the intersection of cybersecurity and machine learning, where he leads the Magika project, Google's AI-powered content-type detection tool. His research spans systems security, mobile security, reverse engineering, malware analysis, and web security. Before joining Google, he was a tenure-track faculty member, and he is a long-time CTF competitor, having played with Shellphish and the DEF CON CTF organizers.
Zia Hoshyarzai
CIO & COO at BayernLB
Zia Hoshyarzai is Chief Information Officer and Chief Operating Officer at BayernLB.
Ziyue Li
Professor at TUM
Ziyue Li is Professor at TUM.
Event Details
- Date
- October 7-8, 2026
- 2 days
- Location
- 🇩🇪 Munich, Germany
- TUM Audimax
- Pricing
- From €0
- Audience
- Professionals, academics, policymakers
- Attendees
- Not specified