Teaching collaboration launched with the University of Stuttgart: FITLO supports Master’s module on AI in supervisory boards

In the 2026 summer semester, FITLO | Institute for AI Governance is launching a new teaching collaboration as an industry partner of the Chair of Information Systems II (WIUS), led by Professor Dr Georg Herzwurm at the University of Stuttgart. In the Master’s module “Innovation Methods for Software-Intensive Business Models”, students develop AI-based solutions for the work of supervisory boards. Their work is guided by a design challenge addressing current questions at the intersection of AI, governance and business model innovation.

The kick-off on 10 April 2026 officially marked the beginning of this year’s teaching collaboration between the Chair of Information Systems II (WIUS) at the University of Stuttgart and FITLO | Institute for AI Governance. This year, the module focuses on a question of growing importance to organisations and their supervisory bodies:

How can artificial intelligence support supervisory boards in fulfilling their role more effectively while balancing operational efficiency with shaping the organisation’s future?

The module addresses an area that is becoming increasingly relevant to many organisations but has yet to be approached systematically. Today, supervisory boards operate at the intersection of stability and transformation. On the one hand, they must safeguard the existing business, support strategic decisions and fulfil their oversight responsibilities. On the other, they are increasingly expected to consider the organisation’s long-term viability, assess emerging technologies and identify the potential effects of AI on business models at an early stage.

During the kick-off, this dual perspective was explored through the concept of ambidexterity: improving and safeguarding the existing business while simultaneously pursuing new opportunities and actively shaping the future.

The module follows a project-based approach. Working in small teams, students progress through a design thinking process comprising several workshops and project phases over the course of the semester. The focus extends beyond the application of methods. Students are expected to understand real-world problems, translate them into a viable business model logic and develop a robust solution concept.

As the module progresses, the teams will create innovation prototypes, pitch decks and final presentations, which they will present during a final pitch at the end of the semester. The module includes several in-person workshops, interim project submissions and the final pitch on 13 July 2026.

For FITLO, the collaboration with WIUS represents a logical next step. As an institute focused on the strategic assessment and organisational design of AI in leadership and supervisory bodies, FITLO brings current practical challenges into university teaching while creating a space in which new approaches can be explored and tested.

The collaboration with the students is deliberately open-ended. The aim is not to arrive at the quickest possible answer, but to engage systematically with an emerging problem space that many organisations are only beginning to address.

This is precisely why the chosen practical challenge is so relevant. In supervisory bodies, AI is not merely a potential efficiency tool for activities such as preparing information or analysing reports. It can also become a driver of strategic change by transforming processes, roles and business models.

For the students, this means that they are not simply developing a digital tool. They are exploring the future role of supervisory boards in the context of AI, governance and organisational transformation.

The module is supervised by Professor Dr Georg Herzwurm and Dr Florian Härer. Dr Härer supports the programme as a lecturer while also contributing the practical perspective in his role as Director of FITLO. By combining academic foundations, structured innovation methods and practical application, the collaboration demonstrates how university teaching can engage effectively with emerging strategic challenges.

FITLO looks forward to working with the students and to seeing the ideas, concepts and prototypes that will emerge over the course of the semester.