adesso digital day 2025: Towards greater digital sovereignty with innovation, inspiration and optimism

On 9 July 2025, the Areal Böhler in Düsseldorf was transformed into a gathering place for digital pioneers from business, administration and technology. The adesso digital day 2025, with the theme of “Future-proof – keeping pace with the digital transformation”, generated a spirit of optimism among the 1,500+ visitors. On five stages and in six themed areas, experts from business, science and society provided insights into how we can tackle the most pressing issues of our time: digital sovereignty, artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud transformation – with people at the centre of an intensifying innovation dynamic.

Top speakers with a clear message: roll up your sleeves for greater digital sovereignty

The highlights of the day included the keynote speeches on the main stage. Oliver Schobert, Executive Director of Enterprise Sales & Marketing at adesso, welcomed visitors as the representative of the event sponsor. In his opening speech, he emphasised the urgency of rapid digitalization in Europe and greater sovereignty in key future fields. Schobert made a striking appeal: “Artificial intelligence, modern software and digital platforms are no longer mere areas for innovation – they are now strategically important. Whoever dominates in these areas has a clear competitive advantage. As such, it is time to move forward boldly and work together to strengthen Germany's and Europe's digital capabilities.”

In his keynote speech, Mark Lohweber, CEO of adesso SE, emphasised the special responsibility of the digital economy when it comes to shaping a sustainable, digital, independent future for Germany and Europe. “Digital sovereignty must become a reality, because independence is non-negotiable. And if you want to be independent, you have to be able to go your own way – technologically, operationally and strategically. We see the continued trust of our customers as a mandate to take action and work with them to shape Europe’s digital future. To this end, we are already investing in local solutions and thus in a European approach with a clear stance and strong partners.”

Another highlight was the speech by Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the transatlanticist, former Federal Minister of Defence and now Chairman of Spitzberg Partners. In his talk entitled “Europe in a world of upheaval – crisis-ridden or opportunity-driven?” he emphasised the geopolitical importance of digital independence. Without digital self-determination, Europe risks losing its innovative strength and competitiveness. To achieve this goal, he called for a different attitude, especially in Germany. According to Guttenberg, the focus is too often on problems instead of seeing opportunities and showing the courage to take action.

Industry and business leaders provide insights into digital sovereignty, AI, and the cloud

In further talks and discussion rounds, adesso partners and customers addressed the challenges and core issues of digital transformation. The overall tone was optimistic: Germany's innovative strength was highlighted, coupled with a call for greater courage and cooperation on future issues.

In the panel discussion “How are we doing?” there was agreement that technological sovereignty in Europe cannot be a solo effort, but requires targeted balancing of global dependencies. Professor Volker Gruhn (Chairman of the Supervisory Board, adesso SE), Dr Bernd Wagner (CEO, STACKIT), Dr Kian Mossanen (CIO, Siemens Energy) and Dr Kathrin Braunwarth (CIO, AXA Switzerland) stressed that Europe must make targeted use of its own strengths and make clear decisions about which areas of IT it should oversee itself. A sustainable, partnership-based system is essential for this. Companies should also rely on flexible IT architectures when choosing digital services in order to minimise the risk of technological dependencies.

Highlights included deep insights into the transformation strategies of well-known companies. Zoltan Bickel (Director Commercial Management, Vodafone) highlighted network, cloud and AI technologies as key growth factors. He said that secure, data–sovereign design is particularly important in the expansion of digital infrastructure – supported by strategic partnerships. In his presentation, Dr Bernd Wagner from STACKIT said that digital sovereignty is becoming a key success factor for European companies in their efforts to secure their future competitiveness. Above all, he underlined the importance of open source solutions and encryption in the cloud for technical independence and security. Silke Tessmann-Storch (Head of Solutions, Dataport) highlighted the challenges and solutions for digital transformation in the public sector. In order to be able to act independently in the future, authorities need technological independence and data sovereignty. Sovereign solutions should not only cover technical aspects, but also include secure processes and organisational resilience. Dr Kian Mossanen demonstrated how Siemens Energy is already using generative AI (GenAI) widely within his company, including for process automation and legal reviews. A culture of questioning is crucial. Dr Kathrin Braunwarth talked about how AI and GenAI are improving productivity and customer service at AXA Switzerland. The company is deliberately pursuing an AI-first approach to data-based process optimisation.

Transformation in retail: digitalization and AI as drivers of innovation

In the panel “Retail Reimagined – Will we still be shopping for ourselves tomorrow? Yes, but differently!” moderated by Thomas Gasber (Division Head, Industrial & Retail, adesso SE), high-profile experts Severin Canisius (CIO, Deichmann), Mark Michaelis (Managing Director, Markant), Christoph Kastaun (CIO, Tchibo) and Andreas Schobert (CTO, Hornbach) discussed the future of retail. They focused on the effects of digitalization and AI on the retail sector over the next ten years. The experts agreed that the retail sector is facing profound change. Innovative store concepts such as “Store as a Hub” with AI-controlled robots or “Store as Entertainment,” where shopping becomes an exciting event, could shape brick-and-mortar retail in the future. In particular, the panel discussion emphasised the growing importance of data and AI for personalised customer experiences and the need for a powerful data platform as the new centrepiece of corporate IT.

Hands-on knowledge transfer: Focus on data analytics, low code, and customer experience

Through several showcase sessions, talks and interactive formats in the individual themed areas, attendees were able to experience concrete use cases in AI, data analytics, cloud, low code and customer experience. The 2025 digital day not only created space for knowledge transfer, but also prompted interaction and exchange. In the networking zones, many attendees took the opportunity to discuss common challenges, innovations, projects and possible collaborations.

Sessions such as “AI – the next evolutionary stage in software development,” led by Frank Dobelmann (Head of Public Service, adesso SE) and Tobias Struckmeier (Principal Engineer, adesso SE), attracted a great deal of interest, with the adesso experts providing a practical assessment of this trending topic. The practical examples presented were particularly interesting: with vibe coding, software engineers can focus solely on the requirements, while AI develops the applications. This is especially useful for fast prototyping. In addition, the experts showed how AI agent systems can perform complex tasks using simple voice commands, such as automatically closing successful IT tickets in the service desk. The presentation made it clear that adesso will continue to stand for software excellence going forward, but now with AI as an integral component. With initiatives such as the New School of AI, adesso is actively promoting exchange and further development in the field of AI in order to be well equipped for future challenges.

Highlights of the 2025 digital day can be found in the official video.

The next adesso digital day will take place on 18 June 2026, once again at the Areal Böhler in Düsseldorf.