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The opening keynote by Peter Lenz, Managing Director of T-Systems Austria, set a powerful tone. Beginning with five seconds of silence, his speech “When Five Seconds Change Everything” illustrated how vulnerable our digital world has become. “In a connected world, five seconds can change everything – no check-in at the airport, no payment in the supermarket, no patient data in the hospital. Five seconds are enough to destroy trust. And trust is the foundation of every business,” Lenz emphasised.He urged companies to anchor reliability as a leadership principle and to understand resilience as a strategic value.

“Reliability is not an IT metric. It is a value, a principle, a promise.”- Peter Lenz, Managing Director of T-Systems Austria

Christoph Schacher, CISO of Wienerberger AG, addressed the risks of artificial intelligence in his keynote “The Dark Side of AI – The Dark Side of Brilliance.” He demonstrated how powerful tools can turn into potential threats – from deepfakes and prompt injections to spoofing tools. “AI can deceive, imitate, distort – but it can also protect, if we use it correctly,” Schacher explained. The key task, he said, is to understand, control and shape AI ethically – through a clear combination of technological competence, governance and human judgment.

Looking to the future, Stephan Kasulke, Vice President Application Development & Maintenance Germany at Capgemini and co-founder of ZOIS, delivered a presentation on “Agentic AI-Driven Zero Outage Operations.” He painted a picture of an artificial intelligence that knows billions of incidents, tests and checks autonomously and prevents 99.99% of issues before they occur.

“We must continue to evolve the Zero Outage standards for the AI era – with ethical boundaries, transparency and human oversight.”- Stephan Kasulke, Vice President Application Development & Maintenance Germany at Capgemini 

The importance of trust and resilience, especially in the financial sector, was highlighted in the panel discussion “The New Currency: Trust, Technology and Resilience in Finance.” Moderated by Ian Salmon (Exactpro), Regina Melzer (Vienna Stock Exchange), Dietmar Böckmann (BKS Bank), Laura Hauser (OeKB CSD) and Scott Minneman (Zero Hash) discussed strategies for building stability within financial organisations. “Resilience goes beyond IT – we must bring every employee along on our resilience journey,” said Melzer. Hauser added: “Resilience is invisible – until something happens and trust breaks.” Böckmann pointed to BKS Bank’s initiatives in cybersecurity, awareness and customer education. The bank integrates AI and cloud technologies while maintaining strategic autonomy. “Europe must safeguard its digital sovereignty,” said Böckmann. Minneman emphasised the role of MiCA and the EU AI Act: “The goal of these regulations is to protect users and ensure they get what they expect – no matter what happens.” The panel made it clear that trust and resilience are the new currency of finance – and can only grow through collaboration, clear rules and responsible use of technology.

Gemma Maria Salazar Luque, Vice President Strategy, Marketing & Technical at Hitachi Rail, illustrated how Zero Outage works in practice. She explained how Hitachi Rail ensures continuous, safe and sustainable rail systems using digital twins, AI-based maintenance and redundant architectures. “Reliability means responsibility—for passenger safety, for operations and for our environment,” said Salazar Luque – an impressive example of how Zero Outage principles apply successfully across industries.

Amir Tavakolian, Director Business Development at Virtual Identity, shifted the focus to people. In his keynote “Empathic Resilience – The Missing Operating Principle for Hybrid Human – AI Teams,” he emphasised that empathy is not a nice-to-have but the operating system of the future. Using the framework SEE – SHAPE – STEER, he demonstrated how companies can intentionally design collaboration between humans and AI – through observation, clear roles and regular resilience exercises.

“When we understand how humans and AI interact, we create systems that not only work, but learn together.” – Amir Tavakolian Director Business Development at Virtual Identity.

Another highlight was the C-level panel “AI in Zero Outage – How to Keep Trust, Talent and Technology Aligned,” moderated by Ursula zur Nieden (T-Systems International). Gertrud Götze (T-Systems Austria), Dr. Gerald Pfeifer (SUSE), Christoph Schachner (Wienerberger AG) and Amir Tavakolian (Virtual Identity) discussed how companies can leverage AI’s opportunities without losing sight of trust, security and humanity. “Technology alone does not guarantee reliability – people do” – said in the opening words Ursula zur Nieden. Götze highlighted the importance of trust and a learning culture: “Leaders must give employees the space to experiment and question technology.” Pfeifer warned against blind tech enthusiasm: “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail – we must use AI where it truly adds value.” Schachner added: “AI will not replace people – but people who understand AI will replace those who don’t.” Tavakolian concluded with a call to action: “Empathy is not a soft skill – it is a leadership principle that builds trust and resilience in hybrid human-AI teams.”

To close, Quynh Nguyen, researcher at the AIT Center for Technology Experience, highlighted the importance of human strength for organisational success. In her keynote “Human-Centred Resilience – Strengthening People and Teams for Organisational Success,” she presented projects where technology is used purposefully to foster psychological resilience. “Resilience is both our shield and our engine for growth” Nguyen said. “Only when people are resilient can organisations be resilient too.”

The Zero Outage Executive Summit 2025 demonstrated impressively that reliability is not merely a technical discipline but a matter of culture, responsibility and collaboration. To see the full agenda of this year’s Summit and to see the photos, please go to Zero Outage Executive Summit page.