German CEOs gather in Cologne to discuss AI and Mittelstand future

Around 50 CEOs and business leaders from the Cologne, Bonn and Düsseldorf regions attended a CEO dinner on the 27th floor of KölnSky. The event was hosted by Bernhard Schindler of the SCHINDLER Circle and featured CDU veteran Wolfgang Bosbach and education‑technology influencer Daniel Jung. Participants debated the profound changes facing Germany, noting that the next two to three years could bring more transformation than the past two decades, driven by artificial intelligence and digital education. Bosbach warned of heightened political polarization but urged confidence in Germany’s resilience, while Jung stressed that AI is already moving beyond early experiments and will reshape jobs, leadership structures and business models now. The gathering emphasized the need for the German Mittelstand to act without waiting for Berlin, highlighting talent shortages, regulatory burdens and rising energy costs as immediate challenges.

The dinner also highlighted new educational models from the Innovative University of Applied Sciences (INU), aiming to combine study, work and digital technologies, and presented examples of ideas turned into projects and new business structures within the SCHINDLER Circle network.