Management
Daniel Abbou
Managing Director
Daniel Abbou has been Managing Director at the German AI Association since May 1, 2020. His responsibilities include political and press communication as well as support for funding projects.
Daniel Abbou previously founded AI Hub Europe and advised politicians and companies. He was press spokesman in various ministries of finance and economics, including spokesman for the former Senator of Finance and current State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics Ulrich Nußbaum. In the first Baden-Württemberg cabinet of Kretschmann, he held the position of deputy government spokesman. His enthusiasm for digitization and innovation has accompanied him since his time as a television and radio journalist for new technologies.
Stefanie Baade
Deputy Managing Director
Stefanie has been our Deputy Managing Director since January 2, 2024, thus strengthening the AI location Heilbronn.
In Heilbronn, Stefanie Baade is building and expanding the community in Baden-Württemberg and is helping to shape the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence in cooperation with many partners.
After completing her studies in International Management, she worked for six years in management consulting with a focus on product and project management. Her main points of contact with AI were in projects involving autonomous driving and she is at home in the SME sector.
Team German AI Association
Katharina Fischer
Assistance to the management
She has been a specialist in office and project organisation since 2020. In the last 5 years, she has primarily helped shape customer communication, marketing and sales activities as well as the development of a digital product at the futurology institute 2b AHEAD ThinkTank. She is particularly looking forward to advancing the topic of AI across Germany as well as better understanding the members and encouraging their participation.
Alex Dickmann
Project lead AI Village and location management NRW
Lukas Lanz
Project support for AI Village
Lukas Lanz is supporting the AI Village project in Hürth. On site, he works on linking member companies as AI providers with companies that want to implement AI solutions. Most recently, he was responsible for digital topics, start-up support and technology transfer between industry and the university landscape at the Association of the Hessian Metal, Electrical and IT Industry. He is currently conducting part-time research into the interaction between people and AI in the context of personnel management.
Alessandro Blank
Project Support Public Affairs and Innovation Projects
Alessandro Blank works in the public affairs team of the AI Bundesverband with a focus on EU policy. He also supports the development of the AI Village in Hürth as an innovation project manager. Previously, he worked as a student trainee in the association’s policy team.
Alessandro Blank studied Political Science in Zurich and International Affairs and Security in Berlin and Rome and worked, among other things, for a political think tank in Berlin.
Ulla Fleischer
Office Assistant AI Village
Ulla is the most experienced. She supports us in the AI Village office. Ulla studied visual communication with a focus on graphic design in Cologne. She worked in advertising agencies for many years, then became self-employed and finally switched to office management 15 years ago.
Roman Selezinka
Marketing
Roman Selezinka has been working for 8 years in Marketing with focus on campaigns, user journeys and social media. He was leading social media communications at Greentech Festival, building digital marketing presence of Futur/io Institute, working in the Sr. Strategy roles at different agencies, as well as leading multiple promo campaigns for online and offline events. Roman is inspired by exponential innovation that drives positive chance for the environment and society.
Valentina Kerst
Senior Partner Management
Valentina Kerst has been part of the team at KI-Bundesverband since September 2024. In the AI Village, she promotes the development and maintenance of an AI-focused start-up ecosystem. She also works closely with member companies and industry partners. Within the association, she is responsible for partner management and initiates programs for the establishment of AI start-ups together with project partners.
Before joining the German AI Association, Valentina Kerst was an entrepreneur, author, lecturer and State Secretary for Economic Affairs and Digitalization. She has been at home in the digital sector for many years and is involved in various committees to advance digital policy issues. She is convinced that the future can be shaped.
Stephanie Friedrich
Event Management
Stephanie has been working as an event manager at the KI Bundesverband since September 2024. Here she is responsible for community and event management in the Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg area to promote networking in the field of artificial intelligence.
Stephanie has gained extensive experience in community and event management in her career to date. She was instrumental in setting up a location and the associated community in Heilbronn, organizing events and promoting networking between members, startups and authorities, and in another position she was responsible for organizing customer events, acquiring new customers and conducting competitive analyses to strengthen the market position.
Hannah Japp
Project Member MDZ
Hannah Japp has been working as a project employee at the KI Bundesverband since November 2024 and supports medium-sized companies in the introduction of AI solutions in the “Mittelstand Digital Zentrum Franken” project. She previously worked at Fraunhofer IIS, where she gained experience in human-technology interaction and AI and innovation research. Hannah studied sociology.
Working Students
