Stuttgart, AI, and responsible decisions
Stuttgart is not treating AI as a single software purchase. City departments are bringing their projects together in an AI hub, with process automation, decision support, and resident services among the practical topics. That local approach raises useful questions for any organization: Who owns the result? Where does human judgment stay essential? And can employees explain the system without hiding behind jargon?
A few miles away, the High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart is working on HammerHAI. The project is intended to give research, industry, startups, and smaller companies secure access to scalable AI computing. It runs through 2030, while commissioning is planned for the second half of 2026. Put those stories together and a Stuttgart keynote has plenty to explore: everyday choices on one side, serious computing power on the other.
Jan Ditgen leaves the dense technical vocabulary backstage. What remains are useful examples, honest limits, and a speaker who can tell when the room needs another explanation. Prior knowledge helps, but nobody needs it. Curiosity is enough.
The Stuttgart program starts with a real conversation, not a stock slide deck. Jan asks what people do all day, which AI questions keep resurfacing, and what the event is meant to change. Those answers decide the examples, the pace, and the idea guests carry back to work.
Jan Ditgen on stage
A keynote feels different in a concert hall, a museum, or an old riding arena. Stuttgart offers all three, along with several practical congress choices. The figures below come from the venue operators; the right room still depends on the stage, seating plan, and production brief.
congresses and large keynotes
The Liederhalle is the flexible all-rounder in this list: five halls, twelve meeting rooms, and options for groups from about 20 to 2,000. A plenary in the Beethoven or Hegel hall can be followed by workshops without sending guests across town.
international congresses and trade shows
If travel logistics drive the decision, the ICS deserves a close look. C1 holds up to 3,000 people, C2 offers almost 5,000 square meters, and movable divisions can create as many as 33 rooms. The airport and trade fair are next door.
customer and innovation events
The brick-and-steel Wagenhallen give an innovation day a less corporate feel. Hall 1 has roughly 400 square meters and up to 440 seats; Hall 3 has about 370 square meters and up to 310. Hybrid production is available as well.
brand, mobility, and leadership events
Few settings make mobility and transformation feel as tangible as the Mercedes-Benz Museum. Its architecture and collections become part of the story, while the atrium, Mythos room, and other areas can be booked for events.
management and customer events
The Porsche Museum suits a focused management or customer program that benefits from a strong visual setting. It lists about 600 square meters for conferences and a terrace of roughly 800 square meters; the seating plan is developed for each event.
discussion-led conferences
Paul-Lechler-Saal puts the discussion close to the stage. It offers 492 square meters and up to 735 places including the gallery, with conference technology already in the building. The central location is another practical advantage.
business forums and association meetings
König-Karl-Halle has the tone of a business forum before the first slide appears. The room spans about 680 square meters and seats up to 672 in theater style, making it a sensible choice for associations and midmarket audiences.
galas, conferences, and civic events
The Great Hall at Kursaal Bad Cannstatt brings historic character without giving up modern production needs. Its 688 square meters hold up to 740 theater-style seats or 500 banquet places.
conferences, evening events, and hybrid formats
The listed Alte Reithalle feels unlike a conventional hotel ballroom, although it belongs to the Maritim Hotel Stuttgart. Up to 750 guests fit inside, and the package can include a stage, hotel services, and hybrid production.
AI keynotes in Stuttgart: eight formats for different organizers |
|---|
| An AI strategy people can use Executive retreat · Haus der Wirtschaft |
| Artificial intelligence without jargon Employee town hall · Liederhalle |
| The future of work: people, process, and AI Association congress · ICS Stuttgart |
| From data to better decisions Mobility customer event · Mercedes-Benz Museum |
| Generative AI for the midmarket SME innovation day · Wagenhallen |
| Responsible AI in public service Public-sector conference · Hospitalhof |
| Prompting that helps sales teams Sales conference · Kursaal Bad Cannstatt |
| AI as a partner in change Partner conference · Alte Stuttgarter Reithalle |
AI expertise grounded in daily use
Jan Ditgen has written two German-language books about Artificial Intelligence, and English editions are in development. He is less interested in adding another impressive definition than in finding the part people can use on Monday morning.
He leads the German Speakers Association’s AI expert group and works with small companies as they test sensible applications. New tools land on his own screen first. That habit gives him examples from use—not merely from announcements.
A keynote planned around the audience and occasion
More about Jan Ditgen’s talks: AI keynote speaker artificial intelligence.
Tel: +49 221 80 14 96 0
AI Keynote Speaker Jan Ditgen
EWK Vortrags GmbH & Co. KG
Gartenstr. 6
50996 Cologne, Germany
Last updated: 8 October 2026
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