Fabian Mehring
Bavarian State Minister for Digital Affairs
Sessions (2)
Sessions featuring Fabian Mehring at Bits & Pretzels 2026 | Founders Festival in Munich
Bavaria’s AI Moment: Building Europe’s Next Tech Powerhouse
Dr. Fabian Mehring’s core message is that Bavaria intends to position itself as a leading European hub for AI and future technologies, not as a passive observer of a global technology race led by the USA and China. The host frames Mehring as Bavaria’s top digital official: head of Germany’s first dedicated Ministry of Digital Affairs, Chief Information Officer of Bavaria, and a political figure focused on attracting world-class founders and companies to Munich and Bavaria. OpenAI, Anthropic, and Mistral are cited early as examples of high-profile companies recently welcomed to Munich, setting up the talk as a status update on Bavaria’s role in the AI era. Mehring begins by welcoming the Bits & Pretzels audience back to Munich and Bavaria, calling the region “the height of high-tech” and “one of the digital powerhouses of Europe.” He thanks the event’s founders Andy, Bernd, and Felix for bringing global technology talent into the Bavarian ecosystem and describes them as ambassadors for Digital Bavaria. He then outlines three intended themes for the speech: what Bavaria is doing to shape its digital future, who controls that digital future in the current geopolitical environment, and how to ensure the future remains “human after all,” matching the event’s stated motto. The central argument is geopolitical and economic: AI and digital technologies are redistributing global wealth and political power, so Bavaria, Germany, and Europe should not watch from the sidelines while American and Chinese players divide future markets. Mehring grounds that urgency in specific European constraints: high wages, high energy prices, limited natural resources, and Germany and Bavaria’s demographic challenge, which he describes as “running out of hats.” From that starting point, he argues that Bavaria’s practical path is to stay at the forefront of technology, innovation, and the AI revolution. Mehring then gives concrete examples of Bavaria’s AI and high-tech policy. He says Bavaria has invested 5.5 billion euros into its high-tech agenda, creating 12,000 new STEM study places, 1,000 new professorships, and 134 AI professorships. He also points to an AI accelerator, AI transfer programs for SMEs, and a dedicated VC capital fund intended to help startups scale in Bavaria rather than leaving for the USA or China. As evidence that this strategy is working, he cites a global tech ecosystem index placing Bavaria among the top AI ecosystems, says every second euro invested into German startups over the last twelve months went to Bavaria, and names Microsoft, AWS, Apple, Google, SAP, and the Schwarz Group as major technology players based in the ecosystem and investing billions. The provided transcript ends as he cites the Financial Times evaluation naming Europe’s three best tech ecosystems as all being based in Bavaria: twice in Munich and once in Nuremberg.
“we we as as Germany Germany and and Europe Europe shouldn't shouldn't stand stand at at the the sidelines sidelines”
Welcome
The opening message of the session was that the CIO AI Summit at Bits and Pretzels is designed to connect corporate decision makers with startup innovation, turning the festival’s founder-and-investor network into a demand-driven opportunity for customers and startups. Bernd Storm welcomed attendees to the third CIO AI Summit, introduced himself as co-founder and managing director of Bits and Pretzels, and explained that after twelve years focused on bringing “the best founders and the best investors” together, the event now also aims to provide customers for founders. He framed customers as “the best investors for all the startups” and pointed to the benefit of placing CIOs in the same venue as 7,500 founders and investors, where they can exchange best practices and visit the startup exhibition to find companies that may help improve their businesses, processes, and products. Storm thanked co-host Niels Doerje, Yassine, Minister Mehring, and the sponsors led by SAP, then encouraged the audience to engage with colleagues in the room and founders outside. Niels Doerje then introduced the day’s format: more than 35 speakers, eight handpicked moderators, and a mix of fireside chats, panels, keynotes, and best-practice sessions. He emphasized making the program more interactive than the previous year by involving the audience through questions and conversation, before introducing Bavarian State Minister of Digital Affairs Fabian Mehring as the first speaker. Mehring welcomed the CIOs, decision makers, fellow ministers, and partners, presenting Bavaria as “the height of high-tech,” “the heart of our tech ecosystem,” and “one of the digital powerhouses of Europe.” He thanked the Bits and Pretzels team for “rolling out the red carpet for the future” and for bringing bright minds from around the world to Munich. He then thanked the decision makers in the audience, saying Bavaria’s progress toward becoming a leading hub for future technologies was not the result of political speeches but of their daily work and decisions. He cited the tech ecosystem index worldwide, investment in future technologies and startups in Bavaria, the Financial Times’ evaluation of leading European tech ecosystems, and investments by companies including Microsoft, AWS, Apple, SAP, and Schwarz Group as signs that Bavaria’s vision is becoming reality. Mehring closed by stressing that success creates responsibility and named issues requiring joint discussion: deregulation, venture capital, digital sovereignty, and answers to warnings from AI developers about technology risks. Christina Sinemus, Minister for Digitalization and Innovation in Hesse, then announced a next-year initiative tied to Bits and Pretzels: roundtables, potentially as a roadshow across Germany and Europe, bringing digitalization ministers, startups, techies, and others together. The goal is to discuss how Europe can increase innovation and venture capital and reduce administrative processes, with European values and technical innovation positioned as assets for digital transformation.