elias-ai

How to be a (Startup-) CTO
2025-09-08 08:00 - 2025-09-10 17:00 (Europe/Rome) | HPI Engine Hasso Plattner Institut, August-Bebel-Str. 88, Potsdam, 14482, Germany
Ready to lead in tech? Join the Summer School 2025 by HPI Engine & ELIAS!
Are you ready to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and real-world technology leadership? HPI’s annual Summer School, with support from ELIAS, is your chance to gain essential skills and insights for a successful IT career. This year, we’re focusing on the pivotal role of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), offering a dynamic blend of theoretical knowledge, practical experience, and invaluable networking.
Gain a competitive edge with 3 ECTS credits as you delve into the intricacies of business management, project leadership, and the comprehensive skillset required of a CTO. This isn’t just about lectures; it’s about first-hand learning from experienced founders and CTOs who have personally navigated these challenges. Expect interactive sessions, including mock situations, real world case studies, and practical checklists (e.g., for GDPR compliance), ensuring that interactivity is key to your learning experience. You’ll also have ample opportunities to connect with fellow students and field experts, fostering a vibrant environment for personal exchange and future collaborations.

Summer School 2025
The course aims to shed light on central aspects of corporate management and role models in the field of startups and digital companies. The three central questions that will be answered are:

What defines the role of a CTO in a startup and which are the most important roles she has to work with
How does the role of a CTO change over the growth phase of companies?
What makes a CTO? What skills does a CTO need and how can one acquire them? What is the difference between a Developer and a CTO?

The whole course will be broken up into seven central responsibilities of a CTO – and the questions which come with it:



1. Tech: Selecting the technology, testing and application architecture, including drafting the strategic vision behind it towards an MVP

The first goal of a startup is usually the MVP, and in the beginning the CTO builds it hands-on, which also means choosing a technology. Alone this choice is complicated: Do you want to reach the MVP fast and know that lots of code has to be rewritten later e.g. for scalability? Often CTOs fall into the trap of premature optimization or love for a technology which is rarely known and results in problems when hiring developers later. Also the question of how much technology to build inhouse and source from other vendors such als Cloud Computing providers (and a potential dependence on a certain provider) is important. Also the CTO has to manage the switch from actively getting involved in coding and technology decisions to a managing role quite quickly. Last but not least, often the advice from the ecosystem of the startup such as Angel investors and peer-group CTO’s is often neglected. This phase is also a very good connection to the academic research side of things. Selecting a technology and architecture is not just a “gut feeling” (as it’s often handled – “I used that technology before”) but should be handled as writing a scientific paper – weighing in all the pro’s and cons, the potential effects for the company in its different phases – and come to a methodic, well-thought conclusion in the end.



2. HR: Hiring, managing, growing and retaining the team, including budgeting

In today’s fast changing world, the challenge of hiring a great team is harder than ever. Just a large salary and stock options won’t cut it. Should developers be hired locally or should a CTO opt for a remote-first approach (and if yes, what administrative and communicative burdens do come with it). After hiring, a team needs to be managed, especially due to the fast growing pace of a modern startup. But often in growth, retaining talent and a healthy growth is often neglected. How should a CTO work together with HR? And how to budget for a developer?



3. Tracking: KPI definition and tools

You can’t manage what you can’t measure – Google might be an excessive prime example for that, but often developers build stuff without measuring it. Is the feature actually being used by the customer? Does it put additional burden to the performance of the application? Often CTOs start and postpone the KPIs to later (or choose some vanity metrics without any meaning). A small set of well chosen KPIs – and the transparency of those for all employees – can be often crucial for the business.



4. Product Management: Customer Input and interactions, including different setups to work with a CPO or for an integrated CTPO role as well as QA

As soon as a product gets more complex, it needs a formalized product management. Often certain roles are hired for that up to a CPO – but how does a CTO work with a CPO? Often it ends up that features get decided upon and thrown over the fence for implementation to the CTO. And what’s the role of QA? Does it belong to the CTO or the CPO? Is a joint CTPO role any good? Who reports to whom? There are many product manager roles in modern startups, but it’s often the crucial point where frustration sets in and the product doesn’t advance as fast as it should.

f

5. Operations: Ensuring smooth ops, including DevOps, security and GDPR

You build it, you run it – with the advent of DevOps and Cloud Computing the operations role changed a lot within the last 10 years. Besides the crucial stability of the operation itself, it is very important to bake in aspects of security and data protection from the beginning into the product and mindset to avoid terrible surprises. It is important that everybody in the team knows how to deal with different scenarios and be prepared for them – and the CTO needs a masterplan to ensure smooth operations. ‍



6. Communication: Public representation of the company, especially with investors, in front of employees and at public speaking opportunities

Traditionally, tech people are said to be bad communicators. This is true to a certain extent as this role requires not just tech but also business-related communication skills which are often nowhere taught. How do you talk with investors? What questions are asked in a Tech DD? How do you negotiate? What are typical deal terms in VC and angel deals to watch out for? How often should you update your employees with new information? How often should you talk with customers? How important is public representation, e.g. through conference talks? Great CTOs are usually great communicators to make complicated technology as transparent as possible for anybody inside and outside of the company.



7. Personal qualifications: Staying on top of the game, staying sane.

All those requirements often require immense focus from the person filling the CTO role. Besides all that, she still needs to stay on top of the game, learn about new technologies, get new inputs through talking with customers and other CTOs. As the day still has only 24 hours, prioritization and focus is key – also in order to keep mentally sane in times of pressure. Building a startup is a marathon, not a sprint, and you need to pace yourself to make it.

Examination

The course ends with an (non-multiple-choice!) examination covering all topics mentioned above, compiled by the speakers and curated by HPI. In the questions, certain scenarios will be laid out and the student needs to describe how to handle the situation.

Registration
We offer few places for non-HPI students in this program. If you are interested please text us at e-school-program(at)hpi.de Your application should include:

your current certificate of study (Studienbescheinigung)
3-5 sentences of motivation
a current CV

Participants who do not require ECTS can apply by mail to program@engine.hpi.de without attaching the enrolment certificate, CV, or motivation letter.
15 spots will be reserved for ELIAS-affiliated participants, for whom travel expenses will be covered.

Read more

Further Questions? Don’t hesitate to contact us!

Dr. Frank Pawlitschek, Director HPI Engine, Contact.
Anna Schnekker,Program Manager, Contact.
David Hahn, Head of Program, Contact.

Details

Start: September 8 @ 8:00

End: September 10 @ 17:00

Website

Visit Event Website

Organiser

HPI Engine Hasso Plattner Institut

View Organiser Website

Venue

HPI Engine Hasso Plattner Institut

August-Bebel-Str. 88

Potsdam, 14482 Germany

src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d2431.7813171468894!2d13.06459281594884!3d52.39430907979033!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x47a85a0e2906e52b%3A0x84b748d91b7f1bc4!2sHasso-Plattner-Institut!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sde!4v1694010623456"
allowfullscreen=""
loading="lazy"
referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade">

© 2025 Event Organisation. All rights reserved.

Thematic Workshop: Science for AI @ AI in Science Summit 2025
2025-11-03 08:00 - 2025-11-04 17:00
ELIAS & ELIAS Alliance @ AI in Science Summit 2025
ELIAS and the ELIAS Alliance are proud to lead the “Science for AI” thematic workshop at the AI in Science Summit 2025, organised by the European Commission in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen.
This workshop will explore how advances in science drive progress in AI research, fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration and innovation. Participants will engage with leading experts to discuss cutting-edge methods, tools, and applications where scientific insights enhance AI development across diverse fields.

The workshop is part of the Summit’s broader mission to showcase AI’s transformative impact on scientific discovery and define Europe’s unique approach to AI in science. Attendees will benefit from interactive sessions, networking opportunities, and insights into the latest interdisciplinary AI research.
We invite the ELIAS Consortium and the broader scientific community to join us and contribute to shaping the future of AI research in Europe.

Register for the Summit

Check out the rpogramme

Programme

Please note that the programme is subject to change.

Day 1 — Scientific AI (3h)Theme: European Leadership at the Intersection of AI & Science

AIS25: Science for AI (Thematic Workshop)

Time
Session

09:45 – 10:00
Opening Speech & Framing

Lucilla Sioli (Director of the EU AI Office, DG CNECT, EC)

10:00 – 10:25
Keynote: AI Science and Innovation

Serge Belongie (President of ELLIS Society / University of Copenhagen)

10:25 – 11:10
Spotlight Talks: Opportunities for European Research Excellence

Zhijing Jin (MPI / University of Toronto)
Antoine Bosselut (Apertus / EPFL)
Nicu Sebe (ELIAS / University of Trento)

11:10 – 11:30
BREAK

11:30 – 11:50
Sciencepreneurship Award

Honoring academic role models linking excellence with innovation.

12:00 – 12:40
Panel: “Shaping Public AI for Science & Impact”

Discussion on how EU RAISE accelerates discovery for societal good.
Panelists: Nicu Sebe, Antoine Bosselut, Zhijing Jin, Serge Belongie, Sahar Abdelnabi
Moderator: Cecile Huet (European AI Office)

12:40 – 12:45
Wrap-up & Outlook to Day 2

Day 2 — Sciencepreneurial AI (2h)Theme: From AI & Science to Innovation & Impact

AIS25: Science for AI (Thematic Workshop) - Day 2

Time
Session

09:00 – 09:10
Welcome & Framing (Intro of ELIAS Alliance)

Matthias Bethge & Arnout Devos (ELIAS Alliance Curators)

09:10 – 09:40
Keynote: State of AI 2025

Nathan Benaich (Founder & General Partner, Air Street Capital)

09:40 – 10:10
Spotlight Talks: AI Trends and Ecosystem Building

Jessica Montgomery (Director of ai@cam / ELIAS Alliance)
Tim Rocktäschel (DeepMind / University College London)

10:10 – 10:50
Panel Discussion: “Opportunities to Lead in AI Innovation”

This closing panel explores how openness and excellence can drive the next wave of AI innovation. It identifies tangible action items on collaboration, trust, and scientific rigor to achieve lasting technological and societal leadership.
Panelists: Nathan Benaich, Jessica Montgomery, Tim Rocktäschel
Moderator: Matthias Bethge

10:50 – 10:55
RAISE Speech

Miguel Rubio Escudero (Policy Officer - Excellence in AI & Robotics, EC)

10:55 – 11:00
Closing Remarks

About the AI in Science Summit
The AI in Science Summit is a flagship event organized by the European Commission in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen. Taking place on 3–4 November 2025, the Summit brings together leading scientists, industry experts, policymakers, and investors to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming scientific research and innovation. The event features high-level talks, thematic workshops, hands-on sessions, and networking opportunities, and it will also launch the Resource for AI Science in Europe (RAISE), a platform to pool talent, data, computing power, and funding to advance interdisciplinary AI research across Europe.

Details
Event: AI in Science Summit 2025
Thematic Workshop: Science for AI
Date: 3–4 November 2025

Website
Visit Event Website

Organisers

ELIAS & ELIAS Alliance
Website

University of Copenhagen
Website

European Commission
Website

Venue
Bella Sky Hotel
Copenhagen, Denmark

© 2025 AI in Science Summit. All rights reserved.

ELIAS @ EurIPS 2025 — Workshop & Startup Village
2025-12-03 08:00 - 2025-12-07 17:00
Content is protected.
