Unseen Rulers: The Quiet Surrender of Power to Agentic AI

​This is the second edition of The Next Decade.
At the center of the evening are again concepts that are becoming newly urgent: understanding, trust, consciousness, belief, consensus, truth and agency.

For centuries, humans held the monopoly on acting in the world. That era seems to be ending. The tech industry treats the rise of Agentic AI as an engineering triumph, but it is actually a massive, unregulated redistribution of power and responsibility. True intelligence requires a vital stake in reality—but what happens when we grant authority to systems that "act" but feel no consequences? As these invisible actors sink into our everyday lives, are we optimizing society or fatally compromising our digital infrastructure and scientific knowledge base, and who holds authority over it?

✨ IMPULSE
The evening will feature an impulse from Prof. Jeanette Hofman (Founding Director of HIIG, Berlin/ WZB) joined by Johannes Jäger (The Perspective Studio) on the panel, followed by an open salon-style conversation with the audience.

​ℹ️ DISCLAIMER
This is not a classic panel and not a startup event. It is a curated space for thinking together — a setting where different perspectives can meet without being forced into quick consensus. The goal is not to arrive at ready-made answers, but to ask better questions, sharpen our concepts and create new shared perspectives.

​Expect an evening of thoughtful impulses, honest dialogue and collective exploration around what AI is doing to our ideas of knowledge, meaning, trust and human agency.

​Drinks and snacks will be served.

The event will be in English.

​This is an invite-only event. Attendance is limited to preserve the salon’s intimate character and ensure a thoughtful, high-quality exchange among participants.

❤️ Proudly supported by ONONO and The Perspective Studio.

✅ COMMUNICATION
By participating in the event, you consent, in accordance with Section 78 of the Copyright Act (UrhG), to having your picture taken during the event and acknowledge that this consent is given voluntarily. Furthermore, by participating in the event, you agree, in accordance with Section 78 of the Copyright Act, that images of you may be used by the organisator (event host as well as partners and guests) for post-event reporting and published on their media channels, such as their website, LinkedIn, Instagram, newsletters, etc., without compensation.