Open Source AI Workshops 2026

tbd

Prof. Dr. Marcel Gygli is passionate about advancing Artificial Intelligence in the Public Sector. His focus is to drive transformative innovation, bringing cutting-edge AI research to practical applications in government.

Senior AI-Architect & MSc. Artificial Intelligence @ University of Zurich

Kateryna Portmann is a senior expert in ethical AI governance, robotics compliance, and autonomous systems, with extensive experience bridging product development, regulation, and real-world deployment of AI-enabled robotics.

She currently works as a Senior Product Manager at ANYbotics, where she is directly involved in the development and deployment of autonomous robotic systems in safety-critical industrial environments. This role grounds her governance work in the realities of engineering constraints, operational risk, and market adoption.

Ethical & Responsible AI Governance

Kateryna designs and implements governance frameworks for safe, transparent, and trustworthy AI, with a focus on embedding governance directly into industrial and enterprise product lifecycles. She is a strong advocate for treating governance as an innovation accelerator, enabling scalable and compliant AI rather than slowing it down.

Robotics & Autonomous Systems Compliance

With hands-on experience in industrial robotics, Kateryna applies AI governance principles to autonomous and physical systems, addressing safety, accountability, and risk classification. She actively aligns robotics deployments with emerging global standards, including the EU AI Act, ISO robotics standards, and functional safety requirements.

Multi-Stakeholder AI Alignment

Kateryna specializes in aligning engineering, legal, cybersecurity, safety, and business stakeholders around shared governance models for high-impact AI systems. She has led and facilitated cross-organizational collaboration to ensure that compliance, risk management, and innovation goals reinforce—rather than conflict with—each other.

Applied Industry Experience

Her work is deeply rooted in real-world robotics and AI deployments, particularly in regulated and safety-critical contexts. She consistently bridges strategic policy and technical execution, translating regulatory expectations into actionable engineering and product decisions.

Framework Creation & Thought Leadership

Kateryna is the co-developer of the “11 Key Elements for Achieving AI & Robotics Compliance in 2025 and Beyond”, a framework informed by applied industry practice and multistakeholder collaboration. She contributed to discussions at AI House Davos 2025 and advocates for governance models that support innovation, transparency, and sovereign AI ecosystems.

Community & Academic Engagement

Beyond industry, Kateryna is an active contributor to the broader robotics ecosystem. She is involved with IFR Women in Robotics, supporting diversity, leadership, and knowledge-sharing in the field. She also serves as a Lecturer at HWZ (Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich), teaching robotics and AI with a strong emphasis on governance, safety, and real-world application.

I am a PhD student doing research in NLP. I am working on an interesting Sinergia project that aims to measure the level of sustainability in call for tender documents in the domain of public procurement. Previously I worked as a Senior Machine Learning Engineer at BSI, where I was focusing on the deployment and ethical use of Large Language Models within the BSI Customer Suite. Regarding my studies, I earned my masters's in Computer Science, specializing in Data Science, from the University of Bern. During my master's program, I contributed to the development of DiBB, a Python library aimed at distributed black-box optimization.

Outside of work, I keep a close eye on emerging trends in generative AI and human-centered technology. When I'm not exploring the digital realm, you'll find me delving into psychology, decoding escape rooms, and indulging in bicycle rides.

Ornella Vaccarelli is a Senior Research Scientist at iCoSys and the Lead Scientist at SCAI (Swiss Center for Augmented Intelligence), where she pioneers innovative AI solutions across diverse domains. With expertise ranging from computer vision and computational physics to the latest developments in large language models (LLMs), she bridges cutting-edge research and practical application.

Her collaborative projects span from fundamental research at EPFL to developing an LLM-RAG system for the Swiss parliament. Ornella’s work not only advances scientific understanding but also transforms how industry and government leverage AI for informed decision-making.

A prolific researcher, her findings have been published in high-impact journals, and she is a regular speaker at international conferences. Ornella earned her PhD in Computational Physics from Sorbonne University in Paris and holds a Master’s in Theoretical Physics from the University of Bari. Her career exemplifies a commitment to pushing the boundaries of AI while ensuring its responsible and effective integration into real-world applications.

I am an AI researcher at the Berner Fachhochshule. My day-to-day activity consists of training Large Language Models, creating RAG systems and everything related to these topics. I also teach many different courses on artificial intelligence for both technical and non-technical students.