Heidelberg, May 4, 2023 – The Technology Park Heidelberg, in collaboration with the AI Lab Heidelberg and bwcon, is hosting the exclusive event “SMEs Meet AI-Startups” at the Business Development Center Heidelberg on May 25, 2023. The aim of the event is to foster exchange and collaboration between established companies and innovative AI startups.

The event offers ten selected companies, including Gelita, SAS, MVV, IC-Haus, KAMAX, and BASF, the opportunity to engage with ten promising AI startups, such as Bytefabrik, in a corporate-startup speed format. Each company will have ten minutes for a personal conversation with each startup.

The program begins at 3:00 PM with a champagne reception, followed by opening remarks from the AI Lab Heidelberg and bwcon. This will be followed by two rounds of corporate-startup matching, separated by a break. The event will conclude with a joint dinner and networking session starting at 6:00 PM.
The “SMEs Meet AI-Startups” event is an excellent opportunity for companies and startups to jointly develop innovative solutions and recognize the potential of artificial intelligence in the SME sector.

For further information and registration, please contact Paul Becker at the Technology Park Heidelberg by May 2, 2023.

Event Details:
Date: Thursday, May 25, 2023
Time: 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Kontakt:
Paul Becker
Technologiepark Heidelberg
Email: paul.becker@heidelberg.de
Phone: +49(0)178 19 18 168

At the Open Innovation Kongress 2023 in Stuttgart, Paul Becker, head of KI Lab Heidelberg, presented the opportunities that artificial intelligence (AI) offers companies. In front of about 80 participants, Becker explained how companies can use AI technologies to optimize business processes and take advantage of new opportunities.

Becker emphasized that AI is not only relevant for large technology companies, but can also offer benefits to small and medium-sized businesses. He cited use cases such as the application of AI in production, customer service and data analysis.

When asked whether it is worthwhile for companies to use AI, Becker argued that despite the investment in technology and personnel, the long-term benefits outweigh the costs in increased efficiency, cost savings and competitive advantages.

Regarding collaboration with AI startups, Becker explained that such collaborations can make sense, especially for companies looking for specialized solutions without developing their own AI models. AI startups often provide ready-to-use AI models and assist in quickly collecting data and training the models. This saves companies time and money.

To enable collaboration with AI startups in as little as five weeks, Becker recommended the following steps:

• Define clear goals: Companies should define exactly what challenges they want to solve with AI and what results they expect.
• Identify suitable partners: Thorough research helps find suitable AI startups that can address the company’s specific needs.
• Quick decision-making: Short decision-making paths and open communication are crucial for making progress in a short time.
• Launch pilot projects: Smaller projects make it possible to test collaboration and quickly generate feedback before investing in more extensive initiatives.
• Measure and evaluate successes: Continuous evaluation of collaboration helps make successes visible and identify potential areas for improvement.

The Open Innovation Congress 2023 offered participants an opportunity to learn about current trends and technologies in the field of AI and to make valuable contacts.

On October 19, 2023, the “KI Lab Heidelberg” – an initiative of the Heidelberg Technology Park- was officially opened. The event attracted around 100 interested people.

The AI Lab Heidelberg is intended to bring together specialists and managers who want to implement AI projects in their companies, as well as founders and scientists with experts. The focus is on learning with and from each other. Dr. André Domin, Managing Director of Heidelberg Technology Park, welcomed the participants: “We want to network different players in the field of AI,” he said. “In doing so, we are primarily targeting small and medium-sized enterprises.

Paul Becker, head of the KI Lab Heidelberg, presented the offering in more detail: “The KI Lab Heidelberg accelerates the use of AI in companies. through ready-to-use solutions from AI startups.” The goal, he said, is a working AI prototype for companies in just five weeks. Paul Becker continued:” We find the startups for companies that are able to develop ready-to-use AI solution for individual challenges in five-week pilot projects.”

The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economics, Labor and Tourism is funding 16 regional AI labs in Baden-Württemberg with 3.1 million euros as part of the “Action Program AI (Artificial Intelligence) for SMEs.”

The Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economics, Labor and Tourism is funding 16 regional AI labs in Baden-Württemberg with a total of 3.1 million euros as part of the “Action Program AI for SMEs.” Among them, the KI-Lab Kurpfalz of the Heidelberg Technology Park will receive nearly 200,000 euros.

“With the AI Labs, we want to ensure that economically viable AI solutions are put to use even faster, thereby also strengthening the competitiveness of our SMEs,” said Economics Minister Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut. The global market for AI solutions for business is developing extraordinarily dynamically. Worldwide, AI value creation is expected to increase fivefold from the current level of around 100 billion U.S. dollars to around 500 billion U.S. dollars by 2028, which corresponds to annual growth rates of around 40 percent.

The regional AI labs are intended to inform SMEs in particular about AI use cases as well as opportunities and challenges. They are also intended to contribute to the visibility of “AI made in Baden-Württemberg” and bring together AI companies, research institutions and SME users in the regions. According to the Monitoring Report 2020 – Wirtschaft Digital Baden-Württemberg, 8 percent of companies in the state were using AI at the time. In addition, 34 percent of companies across all industries planned to use AI by 2030.