IDT final presentations: from classroom to industry

This semester’s Practical Seminar: Innovation & Digital Transformation at the TUM Chair of Information Infrastructure reached its peak with a high-impact closing event at SAP’s headquarters in Walldorf. The two-day program began with an immersive look into industrial innovation, as students toured the S.Factory to witness SAP’s production and procurement solutions in action. Following a campus-wide tour, the group engaged with Katharina Schäfer on the University Alliance program and participated in a deep-dive discussion on Business AI with Hadi Hares & Stefan Schares. The first day concluded with a networking dinner where SAP CEO Thomas Saueressig shared his personal insights on the course and the evolving landscape of digital leadership, providing students with a unique bridge between academic theory and executive reality.

On the second day, the focus shifted to the students’ months of hard work. In front of an audience including corporate partners LÄPPLE, AGILITA, SIEMENS, HENKEL, FESTO and SAP, the teams presented their findings. Two cases from the Heilbronn cohort illustrated the breadth of the seminar:

• LÄPPLE Case: Addressing the challenges of manual scheduling and shifting OEM production plans, the students proposed a transition to a Data Lakehouse architecture. Rather than jumping into isolated AI solutions, the team focused on building a robust data foundation to ensure broad accessibility and coherent coordination across all planning horizons.
• SAP Case: This project demonstrated the power of GenAI in Customer Support, successfully reducing initial response times. The team recommended focusing future efforts on context-sensitive automation for "how-to" requests to further improve reliability.

As the semester closes, the impact of these projects persists; the solutions developed will continue to evolve within the partner companies. We look forward to welcoming a new cohort of students next semester to continue this journey of digital exploration and industry collaboration.