𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 & 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗿𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻?

That’s what we explored last week in our panel discussion.

Here are three key takeaways that stuck with me:

💡 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

The strongest differentiation starts with radically customer-centric product development. Deep user understanding beats shallow model integration – every time.

🚀 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹 – 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺

Great startups don’t just optimize workflows, they reinvent them. The most exciting ideas in this space aren’t features. They’re bold reimaginings of how things should work.

🧠 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲

We’re just scratching the surface here – but the optimization potential is massive. (Example: Studies suggest AI agents could automate up to 60–70% of tasks in customer service)

❓ And one open question we left the room with:

𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 – 𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗶𝘁?

Breakthroughs have always driven costs down. Technologies may start out priced like human labor, but that rarely lasts. We didn’t keep pricing looms based on weaver salaries. Will AI agents be any different? 

Thanks again to our brilliant panelists, to Milano Vice for powering the evening with outstanding pizza and to my colleagues Mia Bock Tim Hendrik Kunstmann Tim Beddies for the support. 

Panelists: Dr. Mario Elstner Marius Meiners Stefan Albers Tim Winter Andreas Fischer