MAIN STAGE
INNOVATION
track
DURST next
TECHNOLOGY FESTIVAL 2026
panels > panel content
friday JUNE 26, 2026
15:25 - 16:10
Build to Scale. Built to Last.
Deep Tech, Digital Twins, and Agentic - start ups at the speed of intelligence.
Radical innovation doesn’t happen behind closed doors. It happens in ecosystems — where researchers, startups, industrial companies, and talent collide at speed. The companies that are structurally part of those ecosystems shape the next generation of technology. The ones that are not see it only when a competitor has already shipped it.
This panel explores what it takes for industrial companies to stop watching and start building from the inside. It begins with an impulse from TUM Venture Labs: what is being built in one of Europe’s most productive deep-tech ecosystems today, and why it matters for industry.
This panel explores what it takes for industrial companies to stop watching and start building from the inside. It begins with an impulse from TUM Venture Labs: what is being built in one of Europe’s most productive deep-tech ecosystems today, and why it matters for industry.
ON STAGE
MODERATOR Birgit Ranzi
Dr. Philipp Gerbert
Wolfgang Knotz
Build to Last. Built to Scale.
BIRGIT Ranzi
Durst, CPO
Birgit Ranzi is Chief People Officer of Durst Group AG, shaping the people strategy behind the company's transformation into a global technology leader. With two decades in senior HR roles across the financial industry in Switzerland and the UK, she shaped culture and performance at scale. She focuses on strategic HR, leadership development, and environments where people and business thrive.
Build to Last. Built to Scale.
DR. PHILIPP Gerbert
TUM Venture Labs, Chief Executive Officer
Philipp Gerbert is CEO of the TUM Venture Labs, a start-up factory in deep-tech and life sciences founded jointly by TUM and UnternehmerTUM (www.tum-venture-labs.de ). The TUM Venture Labs are a unique fully integrated network across 12 megamarkets/technology fields, providing domain-specific entrepreneurial support combined with leading edge methodologies. Previously Philipp Gerbert served for 15 years as a Senior Partner of the Boston Consulting Group, focusing on AI in Business and Climate Tech, as well as Innovation across many technology-driven industries on both sides of the Atlantic. He also lived for many years in Silicon Valley, working with The McKenna Group and bringing new technologies to market. By background Philipp Gerbert is a physicist. He holds a Master from the Max-Planck Institute/LMU Munich and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA. He also worked for several years as a researcher at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).
KYVERIS
WOLFGANG Knotz
Durst (CTO)
Wolfgang Knotz is CTO at the Durst Group and responsible for the group-wide technology agenda, with a strong focus on integrating software, data, automation and new business models. The goal is to further strengthen Durst Group’s innovative capabilities and provide customers worldwide with even more comprehensive, integrated technologies. Knotz holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering and economics and has held various leadership positions at Durst for many years, most recently serving as Managing Director of Durst Austria, where he was responsible for technological and operational activities at the Lienz site. Since joining the company in 2013, he has played a key role in shaping core production and technology structures. In particular, as Head of Development from 2016, he has been instrumental in advancing and optimizing digital printing systems.