DLD Future Hub: Impact of AI

Markus Söder is the Minister-President of the German Free State of Bavaria. A member of the Christian Social Union party, he was elected in 2018 and previously served as Bavarian Minister of Finance, Regional Development and Regional Identity.

Award-winning scientist Cecilia Garraffo is the founder and director of the AstroAI & EarthAI institutes at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. She is also the AI Astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). Her research focuses on AI-driven astrophysics and atmospheric sciences.

As a Member of the Board of Management of Allianz SE, Günther Thallinger is responsible for Investment Management, Global Health and Sustainability topics. He is also the chairman of the United Nations-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (AOA).

Ronit Levavi-Morad is Senior Director and Chief of Staff to Yossi Matias, head of Google Research. She leads the strategic efforts to empower and support research teams focused on a range of domains. In addition, she is leading Google Research’s “Mind the Gap” program, which encourages young women to choose STEM studies, reaching more than 100,000 students globally.

As Chief Scientist of Language AI platform DeepL, Stefan Mesken shapes the company’s research agenda and coordinates large-scale research initiatives while aligning research goals with engineering and product teams. A lifelong science and technology enthusiast, Stefan studied mathematics and computer science at the University of Münster.

Stephanie Cohen joined Cloudflare in 2024 as the company’s first-ever Chief Strategy Officer. She focuses on the most important initiatives driving the company’s growth, including the future of the network, international expansion, AI and the developer platform. Previously, Cohen was the Chief Strategy Officer of Goldman Sachs.

Douglas Rushkoff is an author and documentarian who studies human autonomy in a digital age. His twenty books include Team Human, based on his podcast. He is a research fellow of the Institute for the Future and founded the Laboratory for Digital Humanism at CUNY/Queens.

Dr. Hubert Burda is Chairman of the Board and Publisher of DLD owner Hubert Burda Media. He co-founder of the European Publishers Council (EPC) and set up the Hubert Burda Foundation with a view to promoting interdisciplinary exchanges on future trends. Dr. Burda has been awarded numerous awards and distinctions for his achievements in publishing and business.