Wiesbaden, Germany added 3,000+ tech enthusiast and hosted the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub Cloud AI Pitch Competition  between May 14-16, 2024.

We were pleased to attend the European Cloud and Collaboration Summits – to participate and to gain so much back from everyone.

It was a packed week filled with insights, feedback, and fun. Below is a recap of various aspects of the event – across keynotes, general sessions, breakout sessions, and the Expo Hall.  

You can review some great pics the ECS event team took and posted; we sprinkled our own throughout this article.  

The event in a nutshell:  

3,000+ attendees  

212 speakers overall – 121 MVPs, 11 RDs, 42 from Microsoft  

241 sessions | 12 tutorials (workshops) 

70 sponsors | One giant Expo Hall 

Keynotes & general sessions 

The event kicked off with a combined general keynote, “Thriving in the age of Copilots” with Host: Laurie Pottmeyer and panelists: Dan Holme, Vesa Juvonen, Dona Sarkar, and Jason Himmelstein.  

Across the main two days of the event, we delivered four broader, general sessions: 1) “Modern work in the era of AI” with host: Mark Kashman and panelists: Cathy Dew, Liz Sundet, and Fabian Williams, 2) “Adopt, build, and automate AI-powered solution development” with host: Heather Cook and panelists: Claire Edgson, Laura Graham-Brown, Albert-Jan Schot, Martina Grom, and Kevin McDonnell, 3) “AI landscape” with Carlotta Castelluccio, and “This is why we can’t have the nice things” with Dona Sarkar. 

The ECS team recorded the general keynote live – now on-demand on their YouTube channel, “European Collaboration and Cloud Summit 2024 Opening – Live Stream” 

Sessions
It is crucial to ensure your organization is technically ready for the full potential of AI. The sessions below focus on technical readiness and ensuring you have the latest guidance. Our experts will share best practices and provide guidance on how to leverage AI and to maximize the benefits of Copilot within your organization.  

When discovering opportunities across Azure, Copilot, and OpenAI, professionals, entrepreneurs, and businesses are invited to enhance their knowledge and establish meaningful connections. Attendees can expect interactive demos, enlightening discussions, and a deep dive into Microsoft’s strategic direction with advances in cloud. The goal is to discover both ‘how-to’ and increase awareness of the ‘what-if’ – focusing on the impact of cloud adoption and gravitating towards Responsible AI. 

Expo Hall + Cloud AI Statup Stage + tutorials  

The Expo Hal* was hopping with demos, discussions, interviews, podcasts, lightning talks, foosball, cotton candy, SWAG, prizes, and community.

There was a busy Cloud AI StartupStage, a Business Stage, and shorter talks delivered in front of a shiny airstream trailer.  

Cloud AI Startup Stage 

This was a highly informative and engaging event focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its potential for startups. The Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub Program is a platform to provide startups with the resources, tools, and support they need to succeed.  

This portion of the event offered value to budding entrepreneurs and established startups looking to scale. For example, on day 2, we focused on accelerating innovation with Microsoft Founders Hub and Azure AI. Startups could kickstart their journey with up to $150k of Azure credits and gain access to 30+ tools and services, benefiting from additional credits and offerings as they evolve. It’s a great way for Startups to navigate technical and business challenges with the help of free, 1:1 sessions. 

Women in Tech & Allies Panel – in front of the Airstream trailer on the show floor moderator Heather Cook and panelists, Jonah Andersson, Carlotta Castelluccio, Antje Lamartine, Sandy Ussia and Gabrielle Williams held an engaging discussion on the current opportunities and challenges presented by the era of AI. The panel took many questions from the standing room only crowd.  

Tutorial (Workshop) Day went full steam — depth training on AI Studio, Copilot Studio, Azure Open AI Services, Viva/SharePoint-powered intranets, Power BI, M365 extensibility & admin. This day saw 700 attendees across 12 tutorials.  

In the end… 

We are grateful for this year’s active and engaging #CollabSummit & #CloudSummit — so much goodness, caring, learning, and fun!

Great questions, stories, understanding of your concerns, and the sharing in fun.

 Thank you and see you next year!  

We look forward to seeing in Düsseldorf – May 26-28, 2025 – combining Collaboration Summit (@CollabSummit), Cloud Summit (@EUCloudSummit), and the new BizApps Summit (@BizAppsSummit) into one giant Summit. 

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