Event Overview

Event Title: KI trifft Personalprozesse: Ein praxisnaher Blick ins Labor
Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Time: 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Location: PIA Lab, University of Duisburg-Essen, Campus Essen
Entry: Free (Registration required)

Why AI in HR?

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping HR practices. But how exactly does it change HR processes? What tasks will AI take over, and which human skills will become even more essential? Join us for a hands-on demonstration where you can witness live AI applications in HR.

Agenda

• 04:00 PM: Introduction to AI in HR – Why HR processes are the perfect field for AI exploration.
• 04:30 PM: Reconstructing a traditional HR process – a deep dive into today’s manual workflow.
• 05:00 PM: Live Demo – See how AI can transform HR processes step by step.

https://www.eventbrite.de/e/ki-trifft-personalprozesse-ein-praxisnaher-blick-ins-labor-tickets-1988749464183?aff=oddtdtcreator

Hosted on a local university server, the platform includes tools such as n8n, ERPNext, and Whisper, as well as space for student blog posts, project opportunities, and further content related to business information systems. The goal is to enable students to experiment with relevant technologies in a practical way without needing to set up their own infrastructure or pay for external services.

The platform is already available and can be accessed via the university network, either through VPN or campus Wi-Fi.

This new offering is intended to make practical digital tools more accessible and to strengthen applied learning opportunities for students.

The PIA Lab participated in this year's Girls Day with a workshop titled "Die Welt der digitalen Geschäftsprozesse" at the University of Duisburg-Essen. The event brought together a group of young women for an afternoon of learning, building, and experimenting with real digital tools.

The workshop focused on the fundamentals of digital business processes, APIs, and AI agents. Using approachable metaphors and visual storytelling, participants were guided through the logic of how modern automated systems work, from receiving a request to delivering a result.

The highlight of the day was a collaborative hands-on project: the participants designed and built their own AI-powered concert ticket finder using n8n. The system consisted of multiple AI agents working together, from understanding the user's input, to querying ticket providers via API, to delivering the result in a structured format. Participants first sketched the workflow on paper before bringing it to life digitally.

The event demonstrated that complex topics like automation and artificial intelligence can be made accessible and engaging for young audiences. The enthusiasm and creativity shown by the participants throughout the workshop were a strong signal of the potential that lies in early, practice-oriented technology education.

We would like to thank all participants for their energy and curiosity that made this Girls Day a great success.

The new Bachelor and Master project topics for the Summer Semester 2026 are now available on our website. The projects address current challenges at the intersection of business processes, enterprise systems, and AI-enabled information systems.

This semester’s topics:

• building AI agents that interact with ERP systems and generate realistic process data,
• designing AI-supported workflows for HR processes using modern automation tools,
• developing conversational AI copilots for enterprise systems.

You can find more detailt regarding our offered student projects here. 

All projects combine conceptual work with practical implementation. Students will design and develop prototypical solutions, work with realistic use cases, and gain experience with current technologies in process automation and AI. In some cases, project results are presented to partners from industry, providing additional practical feedback and perspective.

Students are encouraged to form small groups and apply for the topics of interest. Further information on the individual projects and the application process is available on the respective project pages.

The RIS Afterwork Exchange has been established to provide exactly such a platform. The event format combines impulses from current research with practical perspectives from industry. This creates a setting that encourages open discussions and knowledge exchange in a relaxed atmosphere – accompanied by an afterwork drink in the center of Essen.

The first RIS Afterwork Exchange focused on the topic of Process Mining. Together with representatives from various organizations, participants discussed how companies can increase process transparency, enable data-driven decision making, and successfully apply Process Mining in practice. The exchange highlighted both the opportunities and the practical challenges organizations encounter when transforming operational data into actionable insights.

The discussions throughout the evening demonstrated the value of bringing together researchers and practitioners to reflect on emerging technologies and organizational change. Such interactions not only enrich academic perspectives but also help translate research insights into practical applications.

We would like to thank all participants for the engaging discussions and valuable perspectives that contributed to the success of the first RIS Afterwork Exchange.

Following this promising start, the next events are already being planned. The aim is to establish the RIS Afterwork Exchange as a recurring format throughout the year, providing a regular platform for dialogue between research and practice.

The date of the next event will be announced soon.

• Prof. Dr. Ralf Plattfaut hat eine Keynote zum Thema "Leading AI-Augmented Teams – Thesen zur Führungskraft der Zukunft” gehalten
• Im Anschluss war Ralf Plattfaut teil des Panels zum Thema “KI im Spannungsfeld zwischen gesellschaftlicher Verantwortung und unternehmerischer Innovation”
• Parallel haben Nachwuchswissenschaftler der Arbeitsgruppe mehrere Poster zu aktuellen Forschungsthemen präsentiert

Highlight war sicherlich die Prämierung des Posters von Ali Ergün als Runner Up für das beste Poster.