Foresight Studio: The Z_punkt Webinars

What changes when AI enters innovation foresight? Where does it genuinely help, and where does it quietly make things worse? How do teams avoid getting ‚busy' with AI while decisions stay unclear? And what does it take to use AI as a sparring partner without giving up human judgement and responsibility?

In this session, Sivert von Saldern and Julian Menninger will show how we use AI to strengthen the work without turning it into noise, and how we keep quality and accountability firmly human-owned. Expect to learn more about:

• How we at Z_punkt approach AI in innovation foresight, and the principles we use to decide where AI helps and where it does not
• What we have learned about making AI use reliable in day-to-day work, including review points and simple standards that prevent 'convincing but fragile' results
• How we structure AI-supported work from early scanning to decision-ready outcomes, and what we do to keep long-term direction and short-term change in one coherent view
• Where AI tends to create the most value in our practice, and how we keep expectations realistic without losing ambition

Leave with a clear sense of what a disciplined, human-led AI approach looks like in innovation foresight, and what you can take into your own work right away.

How could the development of mobile and humanoid robotics change value creation in your industry? In this session, we explore how humanoid and mobile robotics could reshape workflows, tasks, capability requirements, and competitive dynamics. We introduce the emerging landscape of mobile and humanoid robotics and discuss:

• Which selected value creation areas are likely to shift first and which relevant use cases do we see
• What the five-stage robotics model means in different contexts, including supervision, safety, and reliability requirement.
• How uncertainty can be translated into concrete action by combining value creation area analysis with foresight scenarios. This helps to derive practical options for today and roadmaps that remain robust across multiple adoption futures.

How can organizations create lasting value in a world shaped by ecological disruption, shifting demographics, and rapid technological change? A promising answer lies in a new paradigm: Regeneration. In this webinar we explore how regenerative thinking opens up new pathways for future-positive business. Going beyond sustainability, regeneration invites companies to create conditions in which ecosystems, communities, and people can thrive - today and over the long term.

In this session, we introduce the emerging landscape of regenerative futures and discuss:

• Why regeneration is becoming a strategic imperative across industries – ranging from new differentiation potentials and growth opportunities in consumer markets to strengthened resilience and reduced public expenditure
• How regenerative approaches operate at multiple levels – from planetary systems to the built environment to human wellbeing
• What early signals, best practices and next practices reveal about regenerative opportunities in a changing world
• How foresight supports corporations and public organizations in designing meaningful regenerative strategies – ranging from the identification of regenerative opportunities to the development of frameworks to incentivize regenerative value chains  

New realities demand new approaches to strategic thinking and action. In this context, strategic foresight is becoming an integral part of strategic corporate dialogue, which is characterised by high volatility and a multitude of uncertainties in the market environment. This is particularly true of the Vaillant Group. Vaillant has achieved what many companies in other sectors have not: In addition to its successful core business with gas-fired heating appliances, Vaillant was able to establish a sustainable future business with heat pumps at an early stage. A foresight process more than 15 years ago paved the way for this. In an interview with Andreas Neef and Kai Jannek, Jaqueline Frieten and Markus Wieber talk about this first foresight experience and its particular success factors. They also give an overview of how they have developed the Vaillant Group's foresight activities in recent years and made them an integral part of the company's overall strategy.

This is what the webinar is about:

• Introduction: The role of foresight in corporate strategy work
• The right choice: Four types of foresight processes in strategic planning
• Best practice: The Vaillant Group's first foresight process and its impact on corporate strategy
• Follow-up: Current foresight processes at Vaillant
• So what: Key learnings from the successful foresight work at Vaillant

What medium- to long-term risks do European companies face after the US election? How can we better deal with global uncertainties?
Z_punkt has developed an approach that uses foresight methods to systematically analyse strategic risks and translate them into proactive action.
In the webinar, Daniel Bonin and Dr Christian Grünwald will discuss the practical implementation of risk foresight, strategic resilience, and anti-fragility.

In the webinar:
- Get to know the biotope of relevant disturbances, from ‘grey rhinos’ to ‘black jellyfish’.
- Get a concise introduction to the Z_punkt risk map
- Discuss a specific risk scenario for Europe and what companies can do to proactively prepare for it.

We look forward to seeing you there. As a pre-read, we recommend reading our white paper Risk Foresight: Strategic Resilience in the Age of Multiple Risks
https://z-punkt.de/en/themen/risk-foresight-als-hebel-fuer-resilienz-im-zeitalter-multipler-risiken

It is clear that sustainable energy, circular bioeconomy and robotic value creation are transformative growth markets that cannot be addressed by one company alone. We need shared entrepreneurial visions and systemic innovation strategies that transcend industry boundaries. In the webinar, Z_punkt Directors Sivert von Saldern and Andreas Neef will discuss the power of cross-industry innovation. They will also talk with Fabien Donze from the DEME Group about '4Future', an exciting cross-innovation initiative, and the role that foresight plays in such kinds of open partnerships.