Annual KI.NRW Conference KI.Forum.NRW: Entrepreneurship in the World of Agentic AI

On September 22, 2026, the Competence Platform KI.NRW invites the North Rhine-Westphalian AI community to the Cologne Conference and Exhibition Center for its annual conference—the KI.Forum.NRW.

A profound paradigm shift is on the horizon in the field of artificial intelligence: Agentic AI systems, equipped with extensive reading and writing permissions, building websites in seconds, programing highly complex apps, or simply taking over the entire accounting process. Prophetic scenarios like these have been circulating with increasing frequency since the launch of Claude Code—and indeed, it’s safe to assume that this development will challenge entire economic models and established corporate structures in the medium term. Could the vision of a one-person company—in which a lone CEO orchestrates a team of artificial AI agents—soon become a reality? The first startups are already pursuing an approach that involves founding companies using the AI-native method, meaning they design artificial intelligence as a central and fully integrated component of architectures and processes.

At the annual conference of the Competence Platform KI.NRW, renowned speakers from the worlds of research and business (DEUTZ, Carglass, REWE digital, ControlExpert, Deutsche Telekom, n8n, and many more) will discuss what’s really behind the hype, what opportunities it presents for generating value, and how companies and employees can address these disruptive changes in a smart, forward-thinking, and proactive manner. Participants can look forward to engaging panel discussions, focused presentations, and pitching sessions. As a partner of the event, the Lamarr Institute will also be represented in the exhibition area, showcasing the Lamarr Touch Table.

After the event, the gathering will move to the spacious South Foyer of the Confex, which offers views of the Rhine and the cathedral. There, in addition to music, drinks, and snacks, participants can look forward to plenty of opportunities for conversations with other experts and networking in a relaxed atmosphere—a great chance to expand their network and get to know North Rhine-Westphalia’s AI ecosystem better. The event will be held in German and is free of charge.