The first KI Summit Filstal offered more than 200 participants highly engaging presentations in the historic Boehringer site.

On October 17, 2025, the first KI Summit Filstal took place at the new KI Hub HIVE e.V. in Göppingen. In a factory hall of the historic Boehringer site, the event — jointly organized by the Göppingen District Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK) and HIVE e.V. — delivered an impressive program!

There were highly interesting and practice-oriented talks about innovative ideas and the various ways AI can be meaningfully and profitably applied in businesses. It's hard to single out any one presentation, as all were truly worth listening to:

• Prof. Dr. Daniel Slieter, Professor of Data and IoT Systems at Esslingen University of Applied Sciences, explained how AI can recognize and respond to rare traffic situations.
• Felix Rolser, Head of Analytics, and his colleague Mareile Baur, R&D Technician at Schlötter Deutschland, demonstrated how AI can ensure quality in electroplating technology through automated inspection processes.
• Tobias Böckle, Head of Business Strategy & Sales Support at Kleemann, a Wirtgen Group company, spoke about how even an industry like aggregate processing can benefit greatly from AI.
• Leonid Mill, Founder and CEO of @MIRA vision, gave an impressive explanation of how AI can be trained using synthetically generated image data when real patient data is not available.
• Jacob D., Head of Business Process and Innovation Management at Festo, presented how AI is already integrated into internal service processes.
• Stefan Follmer, Head of AI Transformation at IT-Kompass, outlined a 5-point plan for how SMEs can implement AI in a practical and responsible way.

The event was hosted in an entertaining and highly engaging manner by Gernot Imgart, Managing Director of the Stuttgart Region Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Göppingen District Office.

The subsequent group discussions and the presentation of the results made it clear that there is still a significant need to catch up among SMEs. While AI is already implemented in many applications in large companies, small and medium-sized businesses are often held back by issues like legal certainty, compliance, and data protection.

For our Managing Director Peter Dauner, who lives in the Göppingen district, the KI Summit was a particularly meaningful event. It’s important to understand that the project in Göppingen has been controversial. Some citizens don’t understand why a city should invest in its economic future despite tight budgets. But Mayor Alex Maier clearly had the right instinct. Instead of hesitating, he launched the HIVE project — and the positive response at the KI Summit proves him right!

And let’s be honest — if €3 billion is being invested in the new AI Innovation Park IPAI in Heilbronn, then Göppingen can only benefit from HIVE.