How organisations are shaping the path towards a ‘people-centred, agent-based organisation’
On Tuesday 13 October, participants at the SICP Symposium at Paderborn University will take a look into the future – and back: experts from academia and industry will discuss the technological, organisational and cultural decisions that companies must make today. What will a company look like in 2030 when artificial intelligence (AI) no longer merely supports individual tasks, but is deeply integrated into business processes, decision-making structures and business models? The SICP Symposium, held at Zukunftsmeile 2 in Paderborn under the theme ‘AI-Enabled Company 2030’, will address this question. Anyone interested can find out more and complete registration on the event website: go.upb.de/sicp-symposium2026
Just imagine: the year is 2030. People are working alongside AI agents that independently take on tasks, coordinate processes and prepare decisions, whilst operating within interconnected data and value-creation ecosystems. This has given rise to a new form of organisation: the ‘human-centred agent-based organisation’, in which autonomous agents help shape the core of the operational value chain, whilst specifically complementing and strengthening human judgement, responsibility, creativity and scope for initiative. This newly created organisational form is at the heart of the event. Participants will deliberately adopt the perspective of the year 2030 in order to look back on the decisive years of transformation. The central question is: What decisions must companies make and implement now in order to work successfully with and through AI by 2030?
From the first ‘GenAI’ applications to the ‘AI-Enabled Company’
The path to the ‘AI-Enabled Company’ is far more than a technological transformation. Companies must further develop their organisations, build new competencies, preserve existing capabilities and, at the same time, rethink their processes, data landscapes and decision-making structures. The symposium therefore examines the transformation from various perspectives: How can agent-based application systems be developed to be both high-performing and secure? How can efficiency gains create new scope for innovation and value creation? What changes does software engineering require? How are data analytics and business decision-making processes changing? And which governance structures provide guidance without unnecessarily restricting innovation? This also involves a critical review: Which promises of AI have proved viable – and which have turned out to be dead ends, misjudgements or new dependencies?
Focus on people and organisations
The first session is dedicated to the organisational perspective. Under the title ‘Transforming organisations & upskilling people’, it addresses the question of how companies can equip their organisations and staff for an increasingly AI-driven world of work. Dr Clara Lüders, Analytics Consultant at OPTANO GmbH, and Dr Miriam Sasse, Lead Consultant at S&N Invent GmbH, are two experts who will bring perspectives from corporate practice to the discussion. The focus will be on, amongst other things, organisational change, upskilling and the question of how human capabilities and agent-based systems can complement one another effectively. A subsequent panel discussion will bring together the various practical experiences and perspectives.
Scaling agent-based AI from experimentation to widespread adoption
The second session focuses on the technological perspective. Under the title ‘Scaling the use of (agent-based) AI in business’, the session centres on the question of how initial AI applications can be developed into robust and scalable solutions for business use. Experts from the fields of research and technological development will be taking part, including Prof. Dr Axel-Cyrille Ngonga Ngomo, professor of Data Science at Paderborn University, and Dr. Xenija Neufeld, AI Lead at Accso – Accelerated Solutions GmbH. Among other things, they will shed light on the technical fundamentals and challenges associated with the deployment of autonomous and agent-based AI systems. In doing so, the symposium combines technological issues with a practical perspective: what architectures, development approaches and framework conditions do companies need in order not only to pilot AI, but to integrate it permanently into their core processes?
Barcamps: Working together on specific issues
In addition to the sessions, Barcamp formats provide a space for in-depth discussions and exchanges between academia, businesses and other stakeholders in the digital ecosystem. Planned sessions include topics such as ‘Systematic AI skills development’, ‘The future of software engineering’, ‘Cultural transformation within organisations’ and ‘AI & data analytics as business drivers’.
A vision for the future rather than technology hype
The SICP Symposium does not see itself as a purely technological conference. The focus is on how companies can shape AI in such a way that technological possibilities, economic value creation and human capabilities work together. ‘AI-Enabled Company 2030’ therefore combines future scenarios with practical guidance: based on a fictional retrospective look at the transformation since 2026, the aim is to highlight concrete insights and areas for action that companies should already be addressing today.
