The focus will be on a format featuring high-level speakers on the main stage on April 20, jointly organized by the trade fair and the Made for Germany initiative.
This initiative brings together 126 leading companies and investors with the aim of strengthening Germany as a business location, attracting investment, and ensuring sustainable growth through collaboration between industry, government, and civil society. Between 2025 and 2028, its members will invest more than €800 billion in innovation, research, infrastructure, job creation, and the accelerated deployment of AI.
Leading representatives from German industry—possibly alongside Chancellor Friedrich Merz—will discuss how to scale AI from strategy to widespread industrial application, leveraging existing strengths in automation, mechanical engineering, industrial software, and systems integration.
Participants include DAX CEOs Roland Busch (Siemens), Christian Klein (SAP), and Tim Höttges (Deutsche Telekom), along with Julie Sweet (Accenture) and Jean-Pascal Tricoire (Schneider Electric).
The discussion will cover industrial data spaces, AI infrastructures, and real-world applications in manufacturing and value creation, as well as the conditions necessary for effectively scaling industrial AI in Germany and Europe.
The event will conclude with a joint industrial policy statement from “Made for Germany,” identifying key conditions in infrastructure, investment, and practical application, as well as highlighting the existing strengths of German companies.
Throughout the rest of the day, several members of the German government will delve into key aspects of AI in industry, including Karsten Wildberger, Boris Pistorius, Dorothee Bär, and Katherina Reiche.
The broad political participation reflects the relevance of the topic and HANNOVER MESSE's role as a leading industrial platform for this type of dialogue.
The message is clear: artificial intelligence has moved beyond being a purely technological issue to become a key strategic infrastructure for industrial value creation, security, and economic growth in Germany and Europe.
