Germany as a centre for AI: opportunities, challenges and the future of innovation

Jan Thomas, Managing Director of Startup Insider, talks to AI expert Vanessa Cann, Managing Director & Data/AI Innovation Lead at Accenture, about the topic: ‘Germany as an AI location: opportunities, challenges and the future of innovation’.

Germany is at a crucial point in order to remain internationally competitive as a technology centre. But how can we specifically promote AI innovations and overcome the shortage of skilled labour? What political and entrepreneurial steps need to be taken to position Germany as a leading AI centre in Europe and worldwide?

In this discussion, Jan Thomas and Vanessa Cann shed light on current developments in the German AI landscape, share valuable insights from the field and discuss how companies, start-ups and policymakers can work together to shape a strong future for AI in Germany. Look forward to an inspiring exchange and forward-looking ideas! 

Jan Thomas has been providing the start-up scene with information for years through magazines such as ‘Berlin Valley’ and ‘The Hundert’. He launched Startup Insider in 2020. Since then, he has published a weekly newsletter with around 25,000 subscribers and a large number of podcasts that reach more than 250,000 listeners every month.

Vanessa Cann is one of the best-known minds in the European AI ecosystem. She has founded several initiatives and companies, including nyonic, which develops multilingual AI language models for industrial applications. As Managing Director of the German AI Association, she has built the largest network for AI companies in Europe. Today, as Managing Director at Accenture, she heads the Data and AI Innovation division. Vanessa was a driving force behind the LEAM (Large European AI Models) initiative, which is committed to building a dedicated AI infrastructure in Europe and increasing collaboration in this area. Under her leadership, the German AI Association founded a non-profit academy for artificial intelligence to inform the general public about the opportunities and challenges of AI. She also represented European interests in the field of AI by bringing together ten international AI associations in the European AI Forum to give European founders a voice in politics.