Vibe-Coding, Physical AI, San Francisco – Kickoff of the Digital Challenge 2026

We’ve kicked off an intense week. The falkemedia Group, Kristronics GmbH, Treurat und Partner Unternehmensberatungsgesellschaft mbH, and the Hermann Ehlers Foundation & Academy have invited students to develop digital solutions for very specific challenges in a very short amount of time.

We are very pleased that the Digital Challenge is taking place for the 10th time and that we are able to continue developing it together with our co-organizers, KI.SH and DiWiSH—Digital Economy Schleswig-Holstein—as well as the universities.

New this year: Using a Vibe coding tool from the KI.SH Application Center, students can develop initial prototypes with the help of AI and text input—without any programming knowledge at all.

“Physical AI is the next frontier.” A special highlight of the kick-off event in Kiel was the impromptu visit by Professor Larry Ebert, who is teaching a course on agentic AI and its impact on critical and creative thinking during the Interdisciplinary Weeks at HAW Kiel. He reaffirmed that Physical AI is the next stage of development and, combined with German engineering expertise, offers new opportunities for our economy.