Scaling AI to over 50,000 Users: Lessons from the Field – with Dr. Harsha Gurulingappa, Merck

Responsible AI at ZEISS: Compliance Without Slowing Innovation – with Alexandra Wander, ZEISS

ZEISS built a Responsible AI Office so AI governance doesn’t become a bottleneck. In this episode, Alexandra Wander (Program Manager for Responsible AI, ZEISS) explains why ZEISS built the office and how it orchestrates AI governance across a global, federated organization. We discuss EU AI Act compliance, risk management, AI security, and why data governance is inseparable from AI governance – plus practical steps to build policies, training, and scalable controls without slowing innovation. This episode is part of our DATA Festival series, featuring speakers from our upcoming event in Munich. Stay tuned for more exciting insights from industry leaders sharing their cutting-edge projects and innovations. Meet Alexandra on stage at the DATA Festival Munich in June – one of Europe's leading events for data, AI, and technology leaders. 👉 Save your spot now: https://hubs.li/Q044Z4qG0 [https://hubs.li/Q044Z4qG0] ⏰ Limited time: 30% off with code PARTY30 until April 30 Alexandra Wander on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/f9usj9py [https://tinyurl.com/f9usj9py] Florian Bigelmaier on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/4z84k8v7 [https://tinyurl.com/4z84k8v7] Carsten Bange on LinkedIn: ttps://tinyurl.com/4j96bfnf BARC on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/3ft3vpxv [https://tinyurl.com/3ft3vpxv]

Menschen sind wichtiger denn je! So gelingt der Aufbau einer wirksamen Datenkultur. [Keynote]

Eine starke Datenkultur entscheidet maßgeblich über den Erfolg von Data & AI Initiativen. In seiner Keynote auf dem BARC Data & AI Summit 2025 vertieft Carsten, was eine wirksame Daten- und KI-Kultur ausmacht – und wie die Etablierung dieser in der Praxis gelingt. Im Fokus steht das erprobte BARC Data Culture Framework mit sechs zentralen Hebeln (Leadership, Governance, Kommunikation & Engagement, Ausbildung/Literacy, Data Access, Usability), sowie typischer Stolpersteine und konkreter Ansatzpunkte für Veränderung. Mehr Best Practices, Erfahrungs- und Erfolgsgeschichten gibt’s auf unserem Data Culture Summit am 23.04. – im vertieften Austausch mit Data Culture Managern verschiedenster Branchen. Jetzt noch Platz sichern: https://barc.com/events/data-culture-summit/ [https://barc.com/events/data-culture-summit/] Carsten Bange auf LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/37sdzd2s [https://tinyurl.com/37sdzd2s] BARC auf LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/492s6n9s [https://tinyurl.com/492s6n9s] Bleibe auf dem Laufenden mit unserem Newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/3ft3vpxv [https://tinyurl.com/3ft3vpxv]

Wie KI das Wissen der Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe an den Arbeitsplatz bringt – mit Andreas Totok, FI-SP

„Eins wollen wir nicht: Dass es am Ende heißt, weil die KI falsch beraten hat, sind vielleicht 10 % der Kundengelder weg – und die sind unwiederbringlich verloren.“ Wie bringt man generative KI sicher in eine föderal organisierte, stark regulierte Finanzgruppe? Carsten spricht mit Andreas Totok, Geschäftsbereichsleiter bei der Finanz Informatik Solutions Plus, über die KI-Strategie der Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe und den sicheren Einsatz von generativer KI im Alltag. Im Mittelpunkt steht der „S-KIPilot“ – eine interne KI-Plattform, die Mitarbeitende mit Chat- und Wissensfunktionen unterstützt. Sie sprechen außerdem über RAG und Vektordatenbanken, das Risko durch Halluzinationen und die Frage, wie sich strukturiertes Wissen künftig noch besser integrieren lässt. Andreas Totok auf LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/4n7krj8v [https://tinyurl.com/4n7krj8v] Carsten Bange auf LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/37sdzd2s [https://tinyurl.com/37sdzd2s] BARC auf LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/492s6n9s [https://tinyurl.com/492s6n9s] Bleibe auf dem Laufenden mit unserem Newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/3ft3vpxv [https://tinyurl.com/3ft3vpxv]

Scaling AI to over 50,000 Users: Lessons from the Field – with Dr. Harsha Gurulingappa, Merck

"Where we are moving towards is more transactional. It's not just about consuming. It's not about question answering. It's all about also to be able to perform tasks." In this episode, Carsten Bange and co-host Florian Bigelmaier talk with Dr. Harsha Gurulingappa, Global Head of AI & Machine Learning Practice at Merck about what it really takes to scale AI from pilots to enterprise-wide impact – reaching up to 50,000 employees with an internal AI companion. Harsha explains why phased rollouts outperform “big-bang” launches and breaks down the non-negotiables for scaling responsibly: governance and traceability, data privacy guardrails, security, and legal/regional compliance. This episode is part of our DATA Festival series, featuring speakers from our upcoming event in Munich. Stay tuned for more exciting insights from industry leaders sharing their cutting-edge projects and innovations. Merck will also give insights on their AI projects on stage this June at the DATA Festival Munich -- one of Europe's leading events for data, AI, and technology leaders. 👉 Save your spot now: [https://hubs.li/Q044Z4qG0] [https://hubs.li/Q044Z4qG0]] ⏰ Limited time: 30% off with code PARTY30 until April 30 Dr. Harsha Gurulingappa on LinkedIn: [https://tinyurl.com/4zsavenz] [https://tinyurl.com/4zsavenz]] Florian Bigelmaier on LinkedIn: [https://tinyurl.com/4z84k8v7] [https://tinyurl.com/4z84k8v7]] Carsten Bange on LinkedIn: ttps://tinyurl.com/4j96bfnf BARC on LinkedIn: [https://tinyurl.com/3ft3vpxv] [https://tinyurl.com/3ft3vpxv]]

The Surprising Ways AI Is Changing Collaboration in Pharma and beyond – with Julian Kurz, HMS Analytical Software

"AI's biggest advantage is its flexibility -- and the way a human can interface with it." In this episode Carsten talks with Julian Kurz, Lead Machine Learning Engineer at HMS Analytical Software, about how generative AI is changing collaboration in pharma, why practical AI needs multiple interaction layers (not just chat), the tension between ROI pressure and real-world change management, and why "context engineering" plus a strong data culture are key to reliable, cost-effective agentic systems. Enjoy this episode! Julian Kurz on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mryr3bhc [https://tinyurl.com/mryr3bhc] Carsten Bange on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/37sdzd2s [https://tinyurl.com/37sdzd2s] BARC on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/4j96bfnf [https://tinyurl.com/4j96bfnf] Stay up to date with our newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/3ft3vpxv [https://tinyurl.com/3ft3vpxv]