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.
Iris Hempel
Project lead OpenGPT-X
After studying linguistics and communication science at the TU Berlin, she worked for five years as an innovation manager and project manager in accelerator programmes. Here she accompanied German and European start-ups on their way from the founding idea to the conclusion of a first financing round. The focus was primarily on start-ups in the areas of high-tech, sustainability and women in tech.
In our team she is responsible for the project management of OpenGPT-X and contributes her experience in the management and acquisition of public funding projects.
Alex Dickmann
Project lead AI Village and location management NRW
Phillip Handy
Communications und Public Affairs
Phillip Handy is responsible for public relations and public affairs in the Berlin team of the German AI Association. He also co-manages the association’s OpenGPT-X project.
Previously, he worked for four years as a project manager for an event agency, organising events for clients in Berlin’s political scene. After studying politics and European studies in Cambridge (UK) and Berlin, he completed an internship at the European Commission in Brussels and worked in operations for an AI start-up.
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.
Vanessa Mehlin
Project work SME Digital Centre Franconia
Vanessa Mehlin supports in a project that aims to sustainably strengthen the SME sector in Franconia with the topics of resource optimisation, artificial intelligence, sustainability management and digital transformation.
Her academic background includes a Bachelor in Business Administration and a Master in Applied Artificial Intelligence & Digital Transformation. She has experience in various AI projects and brings particular expertise in the areas of process optimisation, sustainability and AI.
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.
Lucia Obst
Partner- & Community Management
Lucia Obst is helping to build the AI startup ecosystem in NRW: In her role as Community Manager, she supports startups to initiate innovation projects in the AI Village in Hürth. She also serves as a contact person for partners of the AI Bundesverband and facilitates successful matchmaking between these partners and aspiring startups.
With her experience as a project and innovation manager, Lucia has already established numerous international networks. These include startup incubators and young leaders programmes in the European region. Her main focus is on creating the optimal conditions for promising ideas to be transformed into concrete projects and products.
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.
Working Students
