Learn, apply and connect around AI in NRW.

Webinars, masterclasses, hackathons, meetups and a community — on site in Cologne & Düsseldorf and online. The formats are led by practitioners from the STARTPLATZ ecosystem.

See upcoming events Explore the formats

1,200+

AI Friday visits / month

~400

Members in the KI Campus

110

Participants at the last hackathon

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How the AI Hub works.

The AI Hub is part of the STARTPLATZ ecosystem — between startups, builders and companies. The formats focus on concrete use cases, guided by people who use AI every day.

Hands-on

Concrete projects and use cases.

Community

A network beyond the events.

On site & online

Cologne, Düsseldorf — and online.

Practitioners

Led by people with hands-on AI experience.

See the formats

Community at the Startup BBQ at STARTPLATZ

The formats at a glance.

Masterclasses

Compact hands-on sessions on one topic. 90 € — included for KI Campus members.

KI Campus

An ongoing practice space and community with 400+ members.

Meetups & AI Friday

Monthly in Cologne & Düsseldorf — share knowledge, meet people. Free.

Hackathons

Build a prototype in a team — from idea to demo.

Webinars

Online sessions on current AI topics.

Inhouse & Enterprise

AI enablement programs for entire teams.

The AI Hub in numbers.

1,200+

Visits/month across the AI Friday series

110

Participants at the last AI Coding Hackathon

~400

Members in the KI Campus

5,000+

People introduced to AI

AI Hackathon Cologne: the winning project of a 14-year-old

Recap of the AI Coding Hackathon Cologne — about Thimofej and his winning project built on an n8n workflow.

Read the recap

AI Coding Hackathon
September 2026.

From idea to working demo in teams — the fourth edition of the AI Coding Hackathon at STARTPLATZ Cologne.

110

Participants last edition

4th

Edition since 2025

Upcoming dates.

See all events

ai friday

Jul 3 · Fri · 15:00

AI Friday Köln: KI-Community & Networking

Cologne · Free

ai friday

Jul 10 · Fri · 15:00

AI Friday Düsseldorf: KI-Community & Networking

Düsseldorf · Free

ClawCon NRW

community

Aug 11 · Tue

ClawCon NRW

Cologne · AI Hub Community

hackathon

Sep 4 · Fri

AI Coding Hackathon September 2026

Cologne · AI Hub

Who leads the formats.

Jakow Smirin

CEO & Founder AI Hub · 10+ years in AI, builds with n8n daily

Lukas Stratmann

Chief Evangelist · Business psychologist with hands-on AI experience

Lorenz Gräf

Founder & Managing Director STARTPLATZ · Serial entrepreneur

Maurice Guss

Instructor & Teaching Assistant · Cologne

…and more, including Akram Mihyar (Chief AI & Operations Officer) — See all instructors →

Certified AI training.

AI Manager Certificate

How the AI Manager certification is structured and what it covers.

AI Competence Certificate (EU)

Demonstrating AI competence in line with EU requirements — overview and context.

AI Manager Competence Framework

The competence framework the AI Manager training is based on.

Looking for a subsidized AI training program?

Our independent sister organization, the AI Academy, offers AZAV-accredited programs such as the AI Manager — funded up to 100 % via the German Bildungsgutschein (education voucher).

Go to the AI Academy

Good to know.

Do I need prior knowledge?

No. There are formats for absolute beginners as well as for experienced builders.

What do the formats cost?

Meetups and AI Friday are free. Masterclasses usually cost 90 € — they are included for KI Campus members. The KI Campus costs 49 €/month.

Where can I find certified training programs?

Subsidized, AZAV-accredited programs (e.g. AI Manager) are offered by our sister organization, the AI Academy.

We are a company — can we do this in-house?

Yes. There are in-house and enablement programs for teams and management.

Join the AI Hub via the next event.

A meetup, a masterclass or a hackathon is a good starting point. Meetups and AI Friday are free. All dates are listed in the event overview.

See upcoming events

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