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AI and the Environment
During the AI Winterschool, our top talents have the possibility to provide contributions to inspire dialogue at the AI Action Summit 2025 in Paris, taking place at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.
Side Event @ AI Action Summit 2025
For the AI Action Summit 2025 in Paris, the Collège des Ingénieurs has been tasked to contribute with a cohort of 45 selected young STEM talents from leading European universities. Organized as a four-month AI Winterschool, these distinguished graduates and post-graduates will address the following questions:
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How can we actively use AI to improve sustainability in our business, e.g., circular business models, pricing models, and decision-making processes?
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How can we use AI technology more sustainably, e.g., looking at its overall power consumption?
Related to these themes, various companies present challenges that will be tackled by our participants in small teams.
Artificial Intelligence Action Summit
The AI Action Summit, taking place in Paris in February 2025 at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron, will gather heads of state and government, leaders of international organizations, CEOs of small and large companies, representatives of academia, non-governmental organizations, artists and members of civil society.
It aims to discuss the newest knowledge and possibilities of artificial intelligence.
Industry Challenges
Evaluating Impacts and Exploring Opportunities for Sustainability
How can we optimize train fleets under diverse constraints using AI algorithms?
Where should a CO2-neutral product be produced?
Which impacts and opportunities are there for sustainability in chemistry?
What challenges do global companies face with dynamic regulatory environments?
How can we leverage AI to increase healthcare sustainability?
5
challenges
Agenda
Nov 2024 - Feb 2025 | Heilbronn & Paris
Kick-off & Workshop part 1 | Heilbronn
- Presentation of the industry challenges.
- One-on-one sessions with companies to elaborate the 5 industry challenges; discuss action plans.
- Work on cases (with one-on-one sessions for supervision), encouraging fellows to apply leadership principles.
- Wrap up and prepare for the next interactions with challenge-givers.
Outcome
First pitch & presentation (solution to the challenge-givers for feedback).
Round Table | Heilbronn
The round table is about aligning the German and French visions on AI in order to bring academics and industry together. Which concrete projects and initiatives should be launched to strengthen Europe‘s competitiveness in the areas of innovation, technology, and investment?
Ongoing group work
The 8 teams work on the 5 company challenges. In two touchpoints with the challenge-givers, the teams gather feedback on their ideas.
Outcome and Learnings
- The AI challenges to be solved: The bigger pain; overview; scope of the problem.
- How could AI work to solve the challenge? Conceptual or mock-up demo, e.g. with GPT.
- What is the future horizon 2030 in the challenge-giver‘s arena?
- How can AI-driven innovations accelerate the transition to a low‑carbon economy?
- What are the industry requirements for use cases?
Workshop part 2 | Paris
- Group work and in-class sessions.
- Pitching sessions to get feedback and finalize group presentations and recordings.
- Round table and keynotes with AI experts from industry and academia.
Outcome
Recording of final presentations that will be shared with the challenge-givers for final feedback.
Final feedback
The 8 teams will get direct feedback from the challenge‑givers.
Outcome and Learnings
- Presentation of industry use cases and strategies for leveraging AI to achieve environmental and sustainability goals.
- Balancing innovation with responsibility: How to develop AI solutions that prioritize sustainability without compromising technological progress?
AI Action Summit
The results of the four-month AI Winterschool aims to inspire dialogue at the AI Action Summit 2025 in Paris.
Speakers
Arno Amabile
→ Advisor to the Special Envoy for AI of the French President
→ AI Action Summit 2025
Dr. Emmanuel Basset
→ Deputy Director, in charge of Strategy and Development of the École Normale Supérieure ‑ PSL
Dr. Michael Bolle
→ Chairman of the shareholder council of the Carl Zeiss Foundation
→ Chairman of the supervisory board of Carl Zeiss AG and SCHOTT AG
Arnaud Guérin
→ Co-Founder and Deputy CEO @ Preligens
→ AI Advisor to the CEO @ Safran
Prof. Dietmar Harhoff, PhD
→ Director of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition
→ Member of the supervisory board of SPRIND, the German Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation
Prof. Rémi Monasson
→ École Normale Supérieure
→ Research Director CNRS
Prof. Dr. Ali Sunyaev
→ Vice president of TU München, leading the TUM Heilbronn campus
→ Full professor for Information Infrastructures at the TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology (CIT)
Prof. Frédéric Worms
→ Director of the École Normale Supérieure – PSL
→ Member of the Board of Université PSL
→ Member of the International Center for Study of Contemporary French Philosophy
»I think that for France and Europe, succeeding in training, helping to develop, retaining and attracting AI talent is an absolutely essential and […] existential battle for us.«
