Eberhard Becker studied architecture and urban planning in Stuttgart and has worked for asp Architekten (formerly Arat-Siegel & Partner) since his studies. He has been a permanent employee at the architecture firm since 1997 and was subsequently appointed managing director at asp Architekten in 2017 and partner in 2020. In his role, he is actively involved in competition processing, project management as well as planning in all service phases and construction management. The selection of successfully completed projects includes a number of stadium buildings such as the new construction of the Neue Arena (large sports hall) in Leipzig, the new construction of the Galatasary football stadium in Instanbul, the conversion of the Mercedes-Benz Arena Stuttgart, (and expansion for EURO 2024) and the Liederhalle culture and congress centre in Stuttgart.

Marc Hadorn is Head of Brand & Identity at Swiss Post. For more than 6 years, he has been responsible for the strategic and creative development and management of the DIE POST brand and the brand portfolio of the entire Group. Previously, he was on board at the Munich-based strategy and branding consultancy KMS TEAM for several years - most recently as Brand Strategy Director - where he was responsible for brand strategy consulting for clients such as BMW Motorrad, Canyon Bicycles, Diakonie, JINS, Osram/Ledvance, Schneider Schreibgeräte and Viessmann.

Marc Haines studied architecture at the University of Applied Sciences in Stuttgart and has worked on large construction sites for clients in project supervision for the past 25 years. As project manager for Gassmann & Grossmann and Drees & Sommer, he was responsible for the construction of high-rise buildings as well as retail and life science properties. He was also active in this function in residential and office construction. At the same time, he and three partners founded restado.de 10 years ago and developed this internet platform into Europe's largest trading place for used building materials. With the experience gained in the process, a comprehensive ecosystem for circular construction was created in Germany with Concular GmbH 2020 to promote the reuse of building materials. Concular is active throughout the DACH region. As co-founder and circular construction expert, he is Concular's site manager in Stuttgart and oversees the Circularity Assessments in the Southern Germany region.

Julius Jäger is Executive Strategy Director at Jung von Matt BRAND IDENTITY. After several years at Hugo Boss, he switched to brand consulting, where he has now been helping companies from a wide range of industries to develop authentic brand identities and translate them into sustainable and customer-relevant experiences for almost 10 years. With his creative-strategic approach, he has worked for brands such as Swiss Post, Mig-ros, Mobiliar, Switzerland Tourism, Sidel, Model Group and ZF Friedrichshafen.

Antje Kruse-Schomaker is Design Principal and Executive Design Director at IBM iX. As a trained designer and business consultant, she has been concerned with the interplay between design, technology and business challenges for many years. In this context, she has built teams that combine technology and user-centricity. As a practice leader, she is responsible together with Marko Thorhauer for the leadership of more than 200 designers in DACH. As a member of the global Design Leadership, she develops the design profession at IBM. She advises companies throughout the entire transformation process on the introduction of Enterprise Design Thinking and Experience Design. She has received several international design awards for the results of her work. Her current focus is on service design, design management and design strategy.

Stefan Ponikva began his professional career in 2004 after completing his Master's degree in Business Consultancy in Vienna, at the in-house creative agency of BMW AG in Munich. Between 2009 and 2017, he held various project manager and team leader positions in international marketing at BMW AG. Marketing at BMW AG, including the development of the electric sub-brand BMW i. In 2018, he moved to the function of Head of BMW Group Events and Trade Fairs and established the international communication platform #NEXTGen, as part of which BMW launched the virtual world "Joytopia", among other things. Since 2019, as Vice President BMW Brand Communication and Experience, he has been responsible for global marketing communication with the classic, digital, physical and virtual brand channels. Under his leadership, engagements with the music festival Coachella, the lifestyle label KITH, various esports teams such as Fnatic and T1 or the Coldplay cooperation including virtual concert experience (Joytopia) were created.

The only constant is change. This well-known adage has proven its validity since time immemorial. And yet, we don't really seem to be prepared for the much more complex challenges ahead for society, the economy and politics.

Room Zero is the result of a collaboration between students at the University of Design Schwäbisch Gmünd and Tangity, NTT DATA's Design & Innovation unit. The Room Zero system helps us to identify existing and future dependencies and complexities, and serves as a catalyst to rethink organizational structures from the ground up, and to visualize target images as motivation and impetus for upcoming transformations.

Dr Christopher Stillings is Head of Colour & Design (CMF, Color Material Finish,) for the Engineering Plastics business unit at Covestro. Dr Stillings' previous roles at Covestro, one of the world's leading producers of high-tech polymer materials, include responsibilities for Marketing, Strategic Planning, Business Development and Innovation Management - both at Group and Business Unit level. Dr Stillings worked for the company in China from 2012 to 2021. Before joining Covestro, then Bayer MaterialScience, in 2008, Christopher Stillings co-founded a nanotechnology start-up, worked as a research assistant at Philipps University Marburg and in innovation management and entrepreneurship consulting. He studied and obtained his PhD in polymer chemistry and physics at the Universities of Marburg and Galway in Ireland and completed a master's degree in innovation management at EBS University in Oestrich-Winkel.

Marko Thorhauer is Executive Creative Director and Design Principal at IBM iX, IBM's experience agency. Together with Antje Kruse-Schomaker, he leads the IBM iX design team in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. With around 200 designers, he advises companies and organisations on digital strategies and designs experiences, products, services and digital communication. He is a member of IBM's global Design Leadership and supports initiatives such as the IBM Design System Carbon, the IBM Spark Design Congress or the Brand Experience of IBM iX.Prior to his current position, Marko Thorhauer was Executive Creative Director at the digital agency Aperto in Berlin. Before that, he was a freelance creative director, co-founder and design consultant for agencies, start-ups and companies, as well as a lecturer for digital media at the University of Applied Sciences Europe, Berlin. His work has won numerous national and international awards. He is a juror for design and creative competitions.