Business Value Meets Impact: Four AI Impulses & Joint Q&A

IMPACT NOW - From Complaining to Doing

#ImpactNOW is a movement of doers with attitude – supported by women from the business world and expanded to include people and institutions who really want change. The talk is about gender equality in the creative industry and the question: Where are we now – and what does this mean in concrete terms? With a view to digitalisation and AI, we will discuss how roles, collaboration and decision-making spaces are shifting. Using examples from the creative sector and other industries, a practical check will be carried out: Out of the state of shock and into action – with an invitation to join in.

AI Can Do Everything – But for Whom?

AI for a better world sounds good - but how do we ensure that it really helps? Zamina Ahmad, Fair AI expert and AI consultant, opens the track with the crucial preliminary question: Who is AI actually being built for? From her work on AI projects and impact and bias analyses, she distils three design principles for AI with real social benefits. Her appeal: those who consistently design in a user-centred and impact-conscious way develop better AI - and increase trust, acceptance and impact.

Shaping Inclusion with AI: Social Added Value Meets Business Value

Toilets on trains are an underestimated factor in mobility and at the same time a deficit for the mobility transition. For many people, they are simply not usable - an example of how a lack of design prevents participation.

In an EU-funded project with an international client, creative design methods were combined with AI technologies to transform a functional space into an inclusive place that creates added social value and unlocks economic potential. AI played a central role both in the design process and in the solution itself.

AI-supported voice systems, sensor technology and digital assistance create a solution that can be transferred to other sectors, products and services. The keynote speech will provide practical insights: How does AI actually drive inclusion in the design process? Which models and tools can companies use to create value? How do design solutions visualise the value of creative work in the digital transformation?

The article is a call to see design as an economic force and inclusion as a driver of innovation - and to use supporting technologies such as AI in a meaningful and human-centred way.

Social impact with AI: What companies learn from a case of affected person support

This impulse shows an AI chatbot that rethinks the digital ecosystem of victim support: it provides people with legal and psychosocial support after racial discrimination. Unlike general language models, the solution is not based on freely accessible internet knowledge, but on curated, expert-reviewed and continuously updated specialised content. In combination with technical innovation, consistent quality assurance and discrimination-sensitive design, this results in a significantly higher level of trust. A practical example that inspires players from the creative industries and digital economy to recognise social impact as a factor for the future.

In cooperation with the Hessian Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport, Housing and Rural Areas / Hessian Creative Industries Office.

Women in Design – Where Are We Now? Gender Equality in the Creative Industries

Where do women* stand in the creative economy – and what does it take to effectively change structural inequalities? Judith Augustin and Sophie Dobrigkeit use their projects DDC Women's Table, Learn & Burn and the Women's Design Academy (World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026) to show why visibility is more than just a stage: it shapes reality, creates role models and makes power relations visible. What happens afterwards is crucial: When visibility becomes networks and resilient structures, sustainable impact is created. Here, networking becomes a strategic tool for a sustainable industry.

AI, Data & the Creative Economy: How Fashion Is Using Digital Tools to Drive Real-World Sustainability

What if the tools reshaping your industry could also make it more honest? Niki de Schryver has spent 15 years proving that transparency and creativity aren't opposites — they're a competitive advantage. From building the world's first fully disclosed fashion supply chain to launching AI-powered tools that turn consumer behaviour into city-level impact data, she's done it live, in fashion — one of the hardest industries to change.

This talk will be held in English.