AI Summer Challenge 2026
Empowering Future Growth and New Ways of Working - Apply now!

Join our 2026 AI Summer Challenge, dive into the challenges faced by leaders in the industry and learn how to unlock the potential of AI in Management!

Why join an AI Summer Challenge at CDI

Work on Real‑World AI Challenges

Sharpen your understanding and critical thinking about the transformative impact of AI on leadership and society. Leading European companies will present current, real-life AI challenges. Industry experts and professors will provide cutting-edge insights for current and future AI challenges and opportunities.

Dive into Cutting‑Edge AI Leadership Training

Throughout the Summer Challenge, you will work in close contact with the companies to form and refine the solution to provide the best quality output. On the final day, senior representatives from the companies and external experts will form a jury, to discuss and evaluate your final pitches.

Collaborate with smart, outstanding European Students

Join our Network of students and graduates from leading Grandes Ecoles and universities in Europe. Our AI Summer Challenge brings together top European young STEM talents allowing an intensiv action learning based format.

Industry Challenges

The AI Summer Challenge is organized around four core topics: the use of agentic AI for operational transformation, AI for data, knowledge, and insight generation, AI for customer experience and service innovation, and AI for planning, alignment, and strategy execution.

1. Agentic AI for Operational Transformation
Exploring how agentic AI can support complex work environments (production plants) by improving workflows, decision support, documentation, and the identification of high-impact use cases.

2. AI for Data, Knowledge, and Insight Generation
Focusing on how AI can turn fragmented, unstructured, or publicly available information into structured knowledge, better evidence, and more actionable insights for building the business and reacting to the environment.

3. AI for Customer Experience and Service Innovation
Examining how AI can redesign journeys, enable new digital services, and create value through smarter, more connected user experiences with partners.

4. AI for Planning, Alignment, and Strategy Execution
Investigating how AI can strengthen organizational planning, improve cross-functional consistency, and support more transparent and adaptive strategy execution.

Apply for the 
AI Summer Challenge 2026

APPLY NOW

»It was an impressive and valuable experiment that allows us to approach AI and the concept of co-thinking in an innovative manner.
Within a few days, concepts were designed by students that will be developed further and implemented in our daily work.«

Dr. Gaetano Blanda

Senior Vice President and General Manager @ Evonik

Programme Calendar

Apply until April 26, 2026!

Candidates include M.Sc. or PhD students and current graduates from leading Grandes Ecoles or universities in Europe. The Summer Challenge is a selective event: To be admitted, you must complete the application process. It is designed for experts and non-experts in AI.

Kick-off (online, one day), May 11, 2026

Intense kick-off & Expert Insights
Presentation of the Challenges

Workshop Days at CDI Munich, Tuesday May 26- Friday May 29, 2026

Teamwork on current, real-life AI challenges in close contact with the companies (fulltime) at CDI Munich.

Pitching Day
Senior representatives from the companies and external experts will form a jury, to discuss and evaluate your final pitches.

Good to know:

Participants are 30-35 Fellows from our MBA class 2026. The Summer Challenge is a regular seminar of the CDI management programme. We open the Summer Challenge for selected students, only very few CDI seminars are open for external participants. For the Summer Challenge 2026 we can offer 10 places.