Frankfurt AI Forum

Frankfurt AI Forum Program

Monday, 31 March 2025

12:30     Registration and coffee

13:00     Official Welcome

Thomas Lindner, CEO, FAZ, Germany

13:15    Exploring innovation and the use of AI technology in the media industry.

Ezra Eeman will give an overview of the use of AI technology in our industry, and its profound influence on content creation, distribution, and audience engagement. He will tap into the options for the future, the levers that can be implemented and the opportunities that lie ahead for content creators.

Ezra Eeman, AI Expert and Director of Strategy & Innovation, NPO, Netherlands.

13:45    How Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung uses AI to enhance products.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) successfully uses Artificial Intelligence for the personalization of digital products and several marketing initiatives. Nico will give an overview on how AI tools play a big role in product development and increasing subscriptions.

Nico Wilfer, Head of Product, FAZ, Germany

14:15  Partner presentation: How the regional German publisher VRM uses AI on several levels – presented by Protecmedia

Tobias Goldbrunner, Editor-in-Chief of News at VRM, says: ‘We have seen AI as an opportunity for further development for years. AI can help us in many areas, such as in the AIDA DXP project with Protecmedia, and we are correspondingly open to new tools and solutions.’ He will report on the status of the project and explain what is important in the collaboration between publisher and provider. ‘We have a clear credo when it comes to the use of AI: in the end, people decide what we publish. This is an important journalistic quality feature for us.’

Tobias Goldbrunner, Editor-in-Chief News, VRM, Germany

14:45    TEMS (Trusted European Media Data Space): Data Spaces as Enablers for AI Adoption

TEMS is a joint undertaking of forty-three organisations representing hundreds of stakeholders from fourteen countries in the European cultural and creative sectors. It aims to conceive and implement a common media data space across Europe. The initiative is a core element in implementing the European Data Strategy, including among many media issues, the adoption of AI and Virtual Reality technologies.

Ole Fehling, Senior Manager Data Science, Highberg, Germany

15:30      Networking coffee break

16:00    AI and news: transforming editorial workflows and reader experience

Liz Lohn, Director of Product at Financial Times will present how the FT, through a lot of experimentation in 2024, uncovered some promising generative AI use cases to support computational journalism in uncovering and developing stories. FT remains committed to responsible AI adoption – helping journalists tell richer, data-driven stories that reinforce the FT’s commitment to rigorous, impactful journalism.

Liz Lohn, Director of Product, AI and Editorial Tech Financial Times, United Kingdom

16:30   Breakout sessions. Participants will meet in smaller groups for moderator-led discussions

17:00   Fireside Chat: The European AI Act and its impact on the news industry 

When the hype surrounding AI began, so did the discussion about the legal framework. The spectrum of issues ranges from the EU AI Act to copyright debates, labour law and transparency regulations. Professor Natali Helberger is one of the leading European experts in this field. She talks to AI expert Ezra Eeman and moderator Martin Fröhlich in the Fireside Chat.

Natali Helberger, AI and Law, University of Amsterdam
Ezra Eeman, AI Expert and Director of Strategy & Innovation, NPO, Netherlands
Martin Fröhlich, Director Digital Revenue Network, WAN-IFRA

17:40    Wrap-up of Day 1.

18:30    Networking get-together

We will all meet at the Horizon Bar located in the MesseTurm, Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 49, for drinks, appetizers and great conversations!

Tuesday, 1 April 2025

8:30         Coffee and registration

9:00          Keynote: AI and the question of return on investment

News publishers have started to successfully establish the use of AI tools and strategies in their newsrooms. They have invested in licenses, devices and skills. But what is the value of that? How can you measure if this was a success? And most of all: what is the right strategy to achieve a return on investment.

Tobias Zwingmann, Managing partner of RAPYD.AI / O’Reilly Author, Germany

9:45   The AI Disruption: How Upskilling Keeps Your Teams Ahead

We are at a turning point. AI is not just a trend; it’s transforming the way we work. Companies that embrace this shift early will lead the way, while others risk falling behind.

Niloufar Behradi-Ohnacker, Senior Manager, Axel Springer Academy of Journalism & Technology, Germany

10:15     Deep dive session: Lessons learned from first 50 Newsroom AI Catalyst Prototypes.

This session will present the first successes, challenges and findings from our new ‘Newsroom AI Catalyst’ programme, running in collaboration with OpenAI. It is a programme that helps newsrooms build AI prototypes and scale AI solutions in their organisation. We will hear key learnings from some of the newsrooms who are taking part in this programme.

Stéphanie Barsch, Journalist and Consultant, Germany
Martin Fröhlich, Director Digital Revenue Network, WAN-IFRA
Alexander Houben, Managing Editor and member of the Editor-in-Chief’s team at Saarbrücker Zeitung and Trierischer Volksfreund, Germany
Jan Dalk, Head of Product Development at OWL-Digital, Germany

11:00     Networking coffee break

11:30      AI in the Newsroom – where we really stand in Germany

Christoph Mayer,  Partner and Managing Director, AI & Data Science Practice at Schickler/Highberg, Germany

12:00      Trusted Journalism in the age of Generative AI

Are Journalism and Generative AI a match? Provocatively put, they contradict each other: Journalism is about facts, Generative AI calculates probabilities. But still the latter one will in many ways change the framework for the other. Hear about possible scenarios for the future of trusted journalism and AI from the lead author of the EBU News Report.

Prof. Dr. Alexandra Borchardt, Journalist, Advisor, Researcher, Author / Member of WAN-IFRA Expert Panel, Germany

12:45      Lunch

13:45  Do I need an AI agent?
Laurens Vreekamp, AI expert, will lead the discussion on the role of an AI agent, a tool-based and simulation-based agents and how journalists can make better use of the AI agents.

Laurens Vreekamp, Author on AI, Associate Consultant Fathm, Amsterdam

14:45 AI and Strategy at DER SPIEGEL

Ole Reissmann talks about how AI is making journalism at SPIEGEL even better. How employees are trained there. Which tools SPIEGEL uses, why it develops AI applications itself and how products are being rethought. And, of course, he will also talk about the high-profile strategic partnership with Perplexity.

Ole Reissmann, Director AI at DER SPIEGEL, Germany

15:15    Networking coffee break

15:30   Breakout sessions. Participants will meet in smaller groups for moderator-led discussions

16:00    The future of AI in publishing houses: Trends, Impacts, and Predictions

The rapid development of tools, the dramatic change in the market, the potential that has not yet been fully recognised – what will news publishers need in the coming years and what should they pay particular attention to? A panel discussion as a look into the future. This session is sponsored by Eidosmedia.

Sabine Wollrab, Bureau Chief Reuters Germany, Austria, Switzerland
Margret Seeger, Director Digital Publishing and Head of AI, Rheinische Post Mediagroup, Germany
Christoph Mayer, Partner and Managing Director, AI & Data Science Practice at Schickler/Highberg, Germany

16:45      Wrap up and end of the Frankfurt AI Forum