I had the privilege of joining an outstanding panel at the Plug and Play Germany Summit 2026 at BMW Welt — "From Tech Pilots to Scaled Impact: What Actually Works in Partnership-Led Innovation."
Together with Dr. Martin F. Köhler (Audi), Urszula Kosidlo (Motherson), Dr. Xenia Schmahl (Plug and Play), and moderated by Luka Baumhauer (Mastercard), we explored what it actually takes to move AI from promising pilots to production — across automotive, manufacturing, and insurance.
Governance as a design principle
My core message: governance is not a filter at the end — it's a design principle from the beginning. When choosing whether to build, buy, or partner on AI, the decisive question is not who builds the best model or who has the most brilliant demo. It's: can we actually deploy this under regulation?
Smart governance scopes and designs AI solutions to avoid unnecessary regulatory burden. If you get the design right, you can avoid a high-risk classification under the EU AI Act altogether. Governance shapes what you build, not just whether you can deploy it.
Europe's unexpected advantage
That's also a chance for Europe. Companies that treat the EU AI Act as a compliance exercise will always feel slowed down. Companies that treat it as design guidance will discover something unexpected: a competitive advantage in building trustworthy AI. Startups and enterprises that master this will set the global standard.
Companies that treat the EU AI Act as design guidance — not compliance burden — will discover a competitive advantage in building trustworthy AI.
Eight years of ecosystem maturity
As an Anchor Partner in Plug and Play's Insurtech Europe program since 2017, we've seen the ecosystem mature — and we've matured with it. Eight years ago, we asked "what can this startup do?" Today, we ask "are we ready for what this startup can do?"
That shift in mindset is where real impact begins.