Reflections from the 2025 DLD Munich Conference

TLDR: 2025 is the year of AI Agents. The AI dominance gap between the United States and Europe continues to widen. African startups are well poised to take advantage of this new wave of AI and leapfrog existing "SaaS" technologies. These are 3 of my biggest takeaways from attending the 2025 DLD Munich Conference in Munich, Germany.

I had the honor of being invited to speak at the 2025 DLD Munich Conference on a panel titled "AI in Action: Meet the startups, investors, and thought leaders shaping Africa’s future."

Joining me on stage were our moderator, Franziska Reh (Uncap), and fellow panelists Euler Bropleh (VestedWorld) and Yasmin Kumi (Africa Foresight Group). Below are my three key takeways.

Key Takeaways

1. 2025 is the year of AI Agents

   
   

   The momentum for AI agents has been steadily growing over the past few years, but 2025 feels like a pivotal moment. Sam Altman has predicted that this will be the year AI agents truly integrate into the workforce, with projections suggesting that by 2027, at least half of all companies will have deployed some form of agentic AI. This optimism was echoed at the conference, where a stellar lineup of industry leaders from OpenAI, Meta, AWS, Google AI, SAP and more showcased their advancements in adopting and scaling AI agents across various applications..

   
   

2. The AI dominance gap between the United States and Europe continues to widen.

   
   

   In his compelling presentation, "An Ocean Away, A World Apart: Tech Ecosystems in the US and EU," Andrew McAfee from MIT Sloan highlighted the concerning state of AI progress in Europe. He demonstrated how the United States continues to expand its lead in AI dominance, driven by increased funding and more startup-friendly policies. Meanwhile, Europe faces challenges as many startups migrate to the U.S. due to its supportive environment, while the EU's focus on heightened legislation hampers AI innovation and growth.

   
   

3. African startups are well poised to take advantage of this new AI wave.

   
   

   My fellow panelists highlighted Africa's tendency to leapfrog older technologies and embrace future innovations like AI. Just as Africa bypassed landlines for mobile phones and traditional bank accounts for mobile wallets like M-Pesa, the same trend is likely for AI, skipping over existing SaaS technologies to drive breakthroughs in healthcare, education, and supply chain management. This leap is fueled by the affordability of building solutions, with small teams of 5–10 people leveraging AI coding agents to accelerate development.

I wanna sincerely thank the team that made my trip possible. Special thanks to Jeffrey Akemu from Launch Africa Ventures for nominating me, Anton Hieber and Lea Buck from Azurit Foundation for organizing the panel and funding my travel, and Franziska Reh and Johannes Willms from Uncap for an engaging panel and insightful discussions on alternative funding for African SMEs.

Finally, a heartfelt thank you to Steffi Czerny, Franziska Schiegl, Anya Braithwaite, and their incredible team for hosting the 20th edition of the DLD Munich Conference. At Logistify AI, we’re already looking forward to the 21st edition. Cheers!