Preliminary Program

08:30 – 09:30

Arrival & Welcome Coffee

Registration and initial conversations

09:30

Welcome & Opening Talk

Markus Langemann & Diana-Maria Stocker

Keynote – Prof. Dr. David Engels

Chronicler of the West in Transition

Historical Lessons and Forecasts on Europe’s Future Development.
With the analytical precision of a historian and the eye of a chronicler, he interprets present-day Europe through the mirror of past civilisational cycles. His comparisons between the late Roman Republic and today’s European Union open a differentiated view of long-term developmental dynamics and possible future paths.

Keynote – Prof. Dr. Werner J. Patzelt

A Seismograph of German Democracy

Future-Ready in Uncertain Times – Why Political Systems Are in Transition.
Prof. Dr. Patzelt examines long-term changes in political orders. Within the tension between freedom and stability, society and institutions, he outlines structural adaptation processes and the conditions for the sustained functionality of modern democracies.

TALK – Prof. Dr. Engels & Prof. Dr. Patzelt in Conversation with the Audience

“Europe Under Pressure: History, Institutions and Political Resilience”
A dialogue on historical lessons, institutional fatigue, social conditioning and the question of which factors shape Europe’s long-term development.

11:00 – 11:45

Viennese Coffeehouse Dialogue

Networking in the Spirit of Viennese Coffeehouse Culture.

Interview – Dr. Hans-Georg Maaßen

Voice of Conservative Reorientation

Between Security and State Responsibility in the Digital Age.
In his assessment of global developments, he describes the balance between state responsibilities and individual rights. His perspective on statehood focuses on the prerequisites for security, functionality and trust under conditions of advancing digitalisation.

TALK – Dr. Hans-Georg Maaßen in Conversation with the Audience

“State – Power – Data: How Much Control Can Freedom Endure?”
A compact dialogue on the state’s capacity to act, security architecture and the boundary between the mandate to protect and digital control.

12:35 – 13:35

Lunch Break

K & K Viennese Culinary & Conversation

Keynote – Prof. Dr. Philipp Bagus

A Visionary of Economic Renewal

Argentina as an Economic Test Case
What Europe, the Mittelstand and asset owners can learn from Javier Milei’s reform agenda. Prof. Dr. Philipp Bagus offers personal insights into developments around Javier Milei in Argentina and analyses what lies behind one of the most closely watched free-market reform experiments of our time. At the centre is the question of which economic stabilisation measures are possible under real crisis conditions – and what lessons Europe, the Mittelstand and the protection of assets can draw from them. Bagus examines prejudices and media framing directed at free-market reforms and discusses the necessary steps in monetary and foreign policy.

Strategic Reality Check

Prof. Dr. Philipp Bagus, Prof. Dr. Werner J. Patzelt & Dr. Christian W. Konrad

“Reform Capacity Under Real-World Conditions: Economics, Politics, Law”
Bagus outlines the economic logic of a stabilisation programme: What would have to happen if a state is to regain economic capacity to act? Patzelt assesses which political systems can sustain such reforms. Konrad adds the legal and institutional perspective: What order does capital need so that trust, investment and economic sovereignty can emerge? A focused reality check on economic necessity, political enforceability and legal resilience.

Bagus Direct – Questions from the Audience

“Milei, Markets and the Mittelstand: What Protects Economic Sovereignty?”

Featured Talk – Dr. Christian W. Konrad

Sovereign Navigator in International Legal Arenas

Legal Systems as the Foundation of Economic Sovereignty and Investment Security
In a multipolar world of colliding legal orders, Dr. Christian W. Konrad safely navigates investors and companies through conflicts – often directly in litigation. As founder of Konrad Partners and arbitrator at international institutions, he masters both Civil and Common Law from Europe to the Gulf region. With sober, rule-based clarity, he sees the UAE as a model of clear structures.

TALK – Dr. Christian W. Konrad with Audience Participation

“Legal Certainty, Capital and Choice of Location: Where Do Resilient Framework Conditions Emerge?”
On real opportunities within other legal systems, international investment security and the question of why functioning legal spaces become strategic location factors.

Interview – Dr. med. Anian Künlen

Guardian of Human Performance
Longevity as a strategic resource. Physical performance, prevention and conscious self-leadership. How health, energy and regenerative capacity can be preserved in demanding phases of life and work.

15:35 – 16:20

Viennese Coffeehouse Dialogue

Networking in the Spirit of Viennese Coffeehouse Culture.

Featured Talk – Prof. DDr. Christian Schubert

Analyst of Human Resilience

Security Begins Within the Individual
Sustained uncertainty affects not only markets, institutions and political decisions. It affects the individual: the nervous system, the endocrine system, the immune system and the ability to make clear decisions. From the perspective of psychoneuroimmunology, Prof. DDr. Christian Schubert shows what chronic stress, fear, loss of control and social pressure do to body and psyche – and why resilience is not a soft comfort formula, but a central prerequisite for personal sovereignty.

TALK – Prof. DDr. Christian Schubert with Audience Participation

Mental Health, Physical Resilience and Individual Sovereignty

Keynote – Kai Gondlach

Futurist for Strategic Orientation

AI, Scenarios and the Future Readiness of Companies
Kai Gondlach analyses the future not as speculation, but as strategic work with scenarios, technological development trajectories and social tipping points. At the centre is the question of how companies, investors and decision-makers can remain capable of action under conditions of AI, geopolitical realignment and economic uncertainty.

Featured Talk – Prof. Dr. Sarah Spiekermann

Architect of Ethical AI

Trust as a Competitive Advantage – Will Ethical AI Shape the Future of Business?
Artificial intelligence is transforming business and society faster than any technology before it. The defining question will no longer be what AI is capable of, but whether people trust it. Sarah Spiekermann explains why ethical AI is becoming a decisive competitive advantage.

Interview – Prof. Dr. Sarah Spiekermann

Where AI Should Decide – and Where Humans Must Remain in Control
Which responsibilities should companies entrust to intelligent systems? Where are the limits of automated decision-making?

Panel – Prof. Dr. Sarah Spiekermann, Kai Gondlach & Prof. Dr. David Engels

Looking Ahead

Humans, Machines and Values. What Lies Ahead – and Who Will Decide?
Technology is reshaping our world. But according to which principles? Three distinguished scholars discuss how innovation can succeed without sacrificing freedom, identity, and responsibility.

Summary and Outlook

With Markus Langemann & Diana-Maria Stocker

18:30

End of the Summit

from
19:30

Viennese Evening Salon

for Salon Ticket Holders