Swiss AI Summit 2026 Edition: Autonomy & Sovereignty
Main Stage
07:30-08:30
REGISTRATION AND WELCOME COFFEE
08:30-08:35
OPENING ADDRESS
Timea Nagy
08:35-08:45
WELCOME ADDRESS
Zürich: Where trust meets innovation
For Zurich and Switzerland, the question is no longer whether to participate in the AI race, but how to remain a place where talent, capital, technology and companies choose to build the future.
Carmen Walker Späh, District President and Chairperson @ Department of Economic Affairs, Canton of Zürich
08:45:-09:30
PANEL DISCUSSION + Q&A
Executive View on AI: How is AI reshaping your Global Strategy
Moderator: Dorian Selz, Co-founder and Chairman @ Squirro AG
Alfonso Gomez, CEO @ HSBC Swiss Private Bank, Country Head @ HSBC Switzerland
Anne-Sophie Litgering, CEO Europe @ NTT DATA
Julian Biegmann, General Manager Switzerland @ Revolut
Dr. Lisa Bechtold, Global Head of Group Risk Management @ Nestlé
09:30-10:15
PANEL DISCUSSION + Q&A
The new Geopolitics of Artificial Intelligence. Is AI becoming the new currency of geopolitical power?
AI is creating a new geopolitical order: Europe’s position between competing technology powers, and what strategic autonomy means in an increasingly AI-dependent world.
Moderator: Raphael von Thiessen, Lead AI – Innovation Sandbox @ Kanton of Zurich
Markus Reubi, Special Envoy Geneva AI Summit 2027 @ Feder Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA
Marc Holitscher, National Technology Officer (NTO); Member of the Board @ Microsoft Switzerland
Surprise Guest coming in from Austria. Stay Tuned.
10:15-10:30
KEYNOTE+QA
Run AI at the Quantum Edge: From Quantum Advantage to Post-Quantum Readiness
Enterprise AI is hitting a new frontier combining classical and quantum computing to solve increasingly complex problems at scale.
Jan Mikolon, CTO @ QuantumBasel
10:30-10:45
KEYNOTE+QA
Accelerate Your AI Transformation: Become an Agentic Enterprise
What does it take to truly transform with AI? The companies winning today aren't experimenting, they're deploying. Moving from AI curiosity to AI execution with Agentforce.
Arda Ergun, Director EMEA, Forward Deployed Engineering, Agentforce @ Salesforce
10:45-11:15
NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK
11:15-11:55
PANEL DISCUSSION + Q&A
Space is no longer “space”: it’s infrastructure
As space becomes critical infrastructure for defence, communications, navigation, intelligence and the digital economy, who will control the systems that societies increasingly depend on, governments, national industries, or private technology companies?
Moderator: Yusuf Barman, Senior Manager @ Wavestone
Ludovic Monnerat, Head of the Swiss Armed Forces Space Command
New Signal Detected. Or was it a breach?
Houston, we have something flying in from outer space.
11:55-12:30
PANEL DISCUSSION + Q&A
How AI moves from models and infrastructure into real economy
Data-centre capacity, energy, compute, chips, networks and cooling are becoming strategic constraints on AI adoption.
Moderator: Dalith Steiger-Gablinger, Co-Founder & CEO @ SwissCognitive
Marc Stampfli, Business Director Switzerland @ NVIDIA
Alberto Sanz, CEO @ SMG Swiss Marketplace Group
Simon Muskett, Principal AI & Quantum @ Digital Realty
Late Reveal. Stay Tuned.
12:30-12:45
INNOVATION JOURNEY + Q&A
AI Sovereignty in Practice: Lessons from an SME’s Transformation - From trusted services to AI infrastructure and governance - with the support of Innosuisse
Paula Reichenberg, Chair of the Board & Founder @ Neur.on
12:45-13:00
KEYNOTE + Q&A
Agentic AI Without Owners: Governing the Rise of Digital Zombies
Estera Kot, PhD, CTO @ Clouds on Mars
13:00-14:30
NETWORKING LUNCH
OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences – Robotic presentation
Cold Brew – Barista Show
14:30-14:40
Keynote + QA
From AI to Action: How Agentic AI is redefining work.
Which work should humans lead, which should AI execute, and how organisations should redesign the workforce for an agentic future.
Callan Abrahams, Executive: Artificial Intelligence @ iOCO
14:40-15:15
PANEL DISCUSSION + Q&A
Hacking AI agents: when autonomous AI becomes the attack surface.
How can we secure AI that can act on our behalf?
Moderator: Andy Fitze, Co-founder and Managing Partner @ SwissCognitive
Prof. Dr. Daniel Patrick Politze, Professor and Head of the Institute for Network and Security (INS) @ OST
Markus Danhel, Head AI Software Austria & Switzerland @ IBM
Mostafa Hassanin, Group CISO/CSO @ SMG Swiss Marketplace AG
Shira Kaplan, Founder @ Cyverse Capital GmbH
15:15-15:35
KEYNOTE + QA
20,000 Employees, One Mandate: Everyone Builds an Agent
Sarah Levy, Head Swiss AI Platform @ Swisscom
15:35-16:05
NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK
16:05-16:20
KEYNOTE + QA
Late Reveal. Stay Tuned.
16:20-16:55
PANEL DISCUSSION + Q&A
AI-Driven Commercial Operations: from marketing automation to autonomous growth
Moderator: Franziska-J Klebon, General Manager, Member of the Executive Board @ Clouds on Mars
Lena Kukharets, Head DACH & EMEA Lead AI Partnerships @ Depositphotos & VistaCreate (Vista)
Late Reveal. Stay Tuned.
Late Reveal. Stay Tuned.
16:55-17:30
PANEL DISCUSSION + Q&A
AI & Healthcare: Use Cases, Challenges, and Trade-Offs
Moderator: Dr. Alessandro Palese, International Product Manager @ Roche
Klaas Neubert, Head of AI Engineering @ Adesso
Matthias Bryner, CIO @ Kinderspital Zürich
Leila Schwery, VP Manufacturing & Technical Operations @ Johnson & Johnson
17:30-18:00
PANEL DISCUSSION + Q&A
Who controls the intelligence of finance? AI & Big Tech & the future of Financial Sovereignity.
Moderator: Andra Maute, Executive Board Member & DLT Lead @ Swiss Fintech Innovations
Michael Föhner, Global Head Data & AI Governance @ SwissRe
Anastasia Stasenki, Co-founder @ Pleias
Silvan Lohri, Head AI Transformation @ Swisscom
Christian Sebregondi, Head AI @ Zürcher Kantonalbank
18:00-21:00
NETWORKING APÉRO
IN PARALLEL: ROOM 1
Roundtables & Workshops
09:00-10:00
ROUNDTABLE
Building Trustworthy AI Frameworks in Financial Institutions
Prof. Dr. Cornelia Stengel, Partner @ Kellerhals Carrard
Jonas Tresch, Associate | Attorney at Law @ Kellerhals Carrard
Philip Dieringer, Member of the Executive Board & Chief AI Officer @ Ti&m
Frank Panknin, Head RegTech Switzerland @ Capco
Yvonne Dharshing, Head of Data, Ethics, Governance & Controls @ Zurich Insurance
Urs Häusler, Head of Ecosystems, Innovation & Strategic Investments @ Mobiliar
Eva Blaya, CFO @ BBVA
Cornelia Oppliger, Head of Digital Banking and Channel Management @ Valiant
10:30-11:30
ROUNDTABLE
Autonomous Battlefield: AI & Robotics & the Race for Defence Sovereignty
Late Reveal. Stay Tuned.
10:50-11:15
NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK
12:00-13:00
WORKSHOP
Stream First, Think Fast: Fueling Agentic AI with Data in Real-Time for Real Value
Jaysen Kratz, IBM Data Platform Specialist @ IBM
Simon Anliker, Senior Solution Engineer: Confluent @ IBM
13:00-14:30
NETWORKING LUNCH
14:30-15:30
WORKSHOP
The Next Pharma Revolution: From AI Adoption to Autonomous Innovation
Vincent Irrling, Founder & Managing Director @ Kapsly GmbH
Mourad Kalai, Transformation Leader @ Novartis
Damir Bogdan, Founder & Chief Strategy Officer @ Quantum Basel
15:30-16:00
NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK
IN PARALLEL: ROOM 2
II. Roundtables & Workshops
09:00-10:00
Workshop
Manufacturing 2030: How AI, Data, and Resilience Shape the Factory of the Future
Christian Seider, Country Lead @ NTT DATA
Andie Zhang, Global Portfolio and Technology Manager @ ABB
Marcel Dähler, CDIO - Head Digitalization and Information Technology @ Debrunner Koening AG
Stay tuned for late reveals.
10:30-11:30
Workshop
AI Agents in Action: Transforming Customer Experience with Agentforce
Jan-Pieter Nentwig, Senior Director, Solution Engineering @ Salesforce
10:50-11:15
NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK
12:00-13:00
WORKSHOP
Use the “Right AI-Operating Model for you” with focus on sovereignty and optimized token-consumption
Ralf Balayan, Practice Area Lead AI @ Innflow AG
John Künzler, Principal Consultant @ Innflow AG
Loïc Battistelli, Lead Digital Product @ Zurich Insurance
Laure Frank, Director Digital Business @ Raiffeisen
Adri Purkayastha, Group Head AI Technology OpRisk @ BNP Paribas
Silvia Signoretti, Co-founder & President @ Swiss InsurTech Hub
Stay tuned for late reveals.
13:00-14:30
NETWORKING LUNCH
14:30-15:30
WORKSHOP
Designing the Enterprise AI Operating Model
How enterprise data, applications, integration, AI and governance come together to turn AI from intelligence into action.
Thierry Buecheler, Head EMEA, Business Value & Strategy @ Oracle
15:30-16:00
NETWORKING COFFEE BREAK