Member university · Potsdam, Germany
Hasso Plattner Institute
- Status
- Member of the SUGAR Network
- Location
- Potsdam, Germany
- Continent
- Europe
- Website
- dschool.de/en
SUGAR projects with HPI.
EGILAAn enterprise AI platform that preserves why software teams decided what, so distributed teams share context.SAPPotsdam DE
Problem
Distributed development teams lose context across time zones. Decisions become invisible, dependencies surface late and AI coding tools ignore team-specific workflows.
What they built
EGILA records why decisions are made, tracks dependencies as they form and captures trade-offs. AI agents use this knowledge to execute work while humans keep strategic control.
Impact
Less context loss and coordination overhead for teams. For enterprise sponsors, protected institutional knowledge and a safer path to AI adoption.
Takeda – Twinnie X A-Wake 2025/26An AI mirror and health profile that turn daily skin monitoring into doctor-ready summaries.TakedaPotsdam DE · Hefei CN
Problem
Digital health tools remain fragmented and disease-focused. Takeda asked how a next-generation interface could integrate treatment, wellness and lifestyle into one continuous health journey.
What they built
A-Wake, an AI-powered mirror, runs daily voice and image check-ins and detects lesion changes over time. Twinnie stores the data in a patient-controlled profile and generates a one-pager before each appointment.
Impact
Patients track 90 days of symptom trends and arrive better prepared; clinicians decide faster. Takeda gains real-world longitudinal data on disease progression and treatment response.
HUKKIAn AI-powered digital assistant that gives insurance customers round-the-clock, personalised help and seamless handovers.HUK-CoburgKarlsruhe DE · Potsdam DE
Problem
Customers expect seamless, transparent interactions with their insurer, especially in sensitive situations. Insurers must combine digital technology with personal consultation while staying cost-efficient.
What they built
HUKKI is an intelligent first point of contact that understands customer needs and guides them to solutions. When a human is needed, it hands over with full context so nothing is repeated.
Impact
Customers get help any time and understand complex procedures. Service teams are freed for complex or high-priority cases.
LexConnectA peer-matching platform where owners of micro and small enterprises exchange practical business advice.Haufe-LexwarePotsdam DE · Bologna IT
Problem
Germany's 3.8 million small and micro-enterprises are run by professionally isolated owners. They decide alone, on intuition, because consultants are too expensive and advice too generic.
What they built
LexConnect matches entrepreneurs by industry, business size and current challenges. Confidential one-to-one conversations let them exchange real-world advice and build a trusted support network.
Impact
Owners make smarter, more confident decisions and save time. Lexware adds a community layer to its digital advisor strategy and a new channel for attracting users.
SUGAR CompanionA Notion workspace that centralises templates, schedules and know-how for Kenyan teaching teams joining SUGAR.GIZKarlsruhe DE · Potsdam DE · Nairobi KE
Problem
Kenyan lecturers juggle heavy teaching loads while vital SUGAR templates and contacts sit scattered across Slack threads and drives. New teaching teams lose weeks hunting for basics.
What they built
The SUGAR Companion combines a Daily Dashboard, a step-by-step Task Compass, an AI-assisted Knowledge Hub and a Responsibility Map in one hub for Kenyan universities.
Impact
Onboarding becomes a guided sprint and students get better-prepared mentors. The network gains a replicable entry kit for expansion into Africa and beyond.
EMPOWERA workshop and lighthouse PowerApp that let BVG employees build their own software.BVGPotsdam DE
Problem
How can BVG's bus dispatching system be redesigned for flexible short-term distribution and long-term planning security, with intuitive usability for internal stakeholders?
What they built
EMPOWER pairs a workshop on the low-code platform PowerApps with a purpose-built PowerApp that shows how processes at BVG can be automated and streamlined.
Impact
Faster processes and fewer errors. Employees gain skills for ongoing digitalisation and a culture of continuous improvement.
InsightsOutA programme and web app that bring public and museum perspectives into B2B innovation, for ZEISS and ZKM.ZEISS / ZKMPotsdam DE · Karlsruhe DE
Problem
Established B2B companies must innovate in unexplored fields with little knowledge of the future. How can public spaces such as museums feed their early innovation process?
What they built
InsightsOut connects innovators, curators, artists and the public through panel discussions, a museum exhibition and a web application with a chatbot that retrieves everything the ecosystem has learned.
Impact
Companies gain external perspectives on societal trends. Museums stay relevant, artists work freely and the public shapes future development.
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d-kleepAn app and modular pillbox that help polymedicated patients manage treatment without giving up active lives.OmnicellParis FR · Potsdam DE
Problem
In primary care, patients manage their own medication, risking non-adherence and poor disease control. Existing options remove responsibility entirely or ignore active lifestyles.
What they built
The d-kleep app shows prescriptions in a colour-coded view for easy pillbox filling, with a pharmacist filling service, symptom tracking and appointments. A modular, detachable pillbox fits any routine.
Impact
Patients understand and manage treatment autonomously. Omnicell gains a route to medication management that supports patient autonomy.
PowerPilotA machine-learning tool that schedules industrial cooling to cut energy costs and carbon emissions.GEAPotsdam DE · Karlsruhe DE
Problem
Industrial heating and cooling cause around 10% of industry's carbon emissions. GEA sought a data-driven way to optimise energy use in its compressors and chillers.
What they built
PowerPilot predicts future cooling demand from historical data and optimises machine usage by energy price, carbon emissions or both, including on-site solar power, across one or many plants.
Impact
Lower operating costs and emissions for users. GEA gains a platform that answers customers' demand for carbon-footprint reduction.
Tier XA tool that gives corporate customers transparent ESG figures across their supply chains.LBBWPotsdam DE · Nice FR
Problem
How can ESG key figures be generated and presented transparently and reliably for corporate customers, from product through production to the whole company?
What they built
TierX tracks shipments, monitors inventory and delivers analytics on supply-chain performance. Automation and predictive analytics help companies assess supplier risks.
Impact
Full visibility into supply chains and comprehensive risk assessments of suppliers.
KnockA Microsoft Teams app that shows where colleagues are and whether they can be reached.NestléPotsdam DE · Bologna IT
Problem
In hybrid work it is hard to know where colleagues are and when to reach them. People wait for answers and lose focus to constant notifications.
What they built
Knock visualises colleagues' status and location from calendar and network data, with privacy settings for how much is shared. If someone is available, a Knock video call starts in three clicks.
Impact
Focused, respectful work and faster interactions. The company gains productivity from less waiting and fewer distractions.
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SellableAn investment platform where Gen Z investors buy a share of creators' future ad revenue.VNTRSt. Gallen CH · Potsdam DE
Problem
Gen Z wants to learn about investing but finds banks outdated. Creators need money now and cannot wait for ad revenue to add up.
What they built
Through an auction, creators set a price for a video and keep ownership. The winning investor receives part of the ad revenue over time while the creator is paid upfront.
Impact
Fans support creators and earn a return; creators get money upfront. The bank reaches young investors and the creator economy.
KnowstléA collective-intelligence platform that connects similar projects across Nestlé and reduces double work.NestléPotsdam DE · São Paulo BR
Problem
How might digital experiences scale global innovation across Nestlé's brands and continents while fostering trustworthy innovation capabilities?
What they built
A browser extension lets employees add findings to their projects and share them. Knowstlé identifies similar projects, connects their members and recommends useful articles.
Impact
Less double work and frustration, and silos broken between departments and locations.
SwiEasyAn international money-transfer app for Switzerland that needs no new bank account and shows costs transparently.PostFinancePotsdam DE · Linköping SE
Problem
International transfers are a hassle: hidden costs, complicated input and uncertain status. PostFinance was losing customers in this service.
What they built
SwiEasy works without opening a new account, needs fewer clicks and supports cards, bank accounts or payment at the Post Office. It shows exchange rate, cost and shareable real-time tracking.
Impact
Secure, transparent transfers for users. PostFinance retains customers and reaches new ones through a marketing plan built around sharing.
HabitualA tracking app that helps people with narcolepsy understand how symptoms, medication and lifestyle interact.TakedaPotsdam DE · Melbourne AU
Problem
How might people with narcolepsy predict and manage their condition? Behaviour change is central, but each person's symptoms and lifestyle factors interact differently.
What they built
Habitual lets users track their specific symptoms at a time of day that suits their energy. Over time, the data shows correlations with medication, lifestyle and sleep.
Impact
Users adapt routines based on their own patterns. A customisable report supports better conversations between patient and practitioner.
IRISA modular camera and sensor kit with a dashboard for remote diagnosis of production-machine errors.BMW GroupSt. Gallen CH · Potsdam DE
Problem
Remote machine monitoring at BMW remains largely manual. Understanding downtimes usually requires physical inspection, so planners travel frequently to plants.
What they built
IRIS installs cameras and environmental sensors on a machine within minutes. Incidents are sequenced and visualised in a cloud dashboard on a tablet for evidence-based decisions.
Impact
About 50% less troubleshooting time and lower travel costs across BMW's global network, with an ROI above 100% and break-even within a year.
ShouhuA web application that analyses industrial wastewater in real time and recommends how to combine it, for GF.Georg FischerPotsdam DE · Shanghai CN
Problem
Industrial parks in China collect factory wastewater in one pool, ignoring synergy effects, while illegal discharge pollutes rivers and lakes.
What they built
Shouhu analyses properties such as pH, temperature and chemical oxygen demand and recommends how operators should classify and combine wastewater to save costs and energy.
Impact
Operators save additives and energy and gain flexibility. GF gains valuable data for better data-driven treatment models.
CircuitAn app and in-car extension that plan and accompany seamless road trips in an electric Porsche.PorschePotsdam DE · Karlsruhe DE
Problem
With the Taycan, Porsche enters the electric market and user experience matters as much as technology. How might customers of an electric Porsche enjoy a seamless experience?
What they built
CIRCUIT recommends trips to personal taste, books tables and charging stops, transfers everything to the in-car system during the drive and keeps photos and driving statistics afterwards.
Impact
Less planning and no range fear, so owners drive more. Shared memories advertise Porsche and strengthen loyalty.
AgoraA table-top TV with two back-to-back screens so viewers face each other without missing the action.PanasonicParis FR · Potsdam DE
Problem
How could TV use improve while people keep interacting? 65% of viewers do something else while watching, and complex remotes degrade the experience.
What they built
Households still gather in front of the TV, but wall-mounted sets line people up side by side. AGORA places two 23-inch screens back to back on the coffee table.
Impact
Testers felt a stronger human connection. Panasonic can step away from bigger is better and lead towards a more social living room.
PulseAn app where people create sponsored events by taking a picture, making advertising a shared experience, for Rovio.Rovio EntertainmentPotsdam DE · Espoo FI · Kyoto JP
Problem
Advertising is largely ignored and mistrusted. Rovio asked for a new, organic and engaging advertising format for digital entertainment.
What they built
Any group can start a Pulse event by taking a picture. Events collect photos in real time, appear on a heat map and carry a sponsor whose Smart Content improves the experience.
Impact
Brands become a chosen part of experiences rather than an interruption. For Rovio, a new media channel in line with its vision.
Airport 2040An airport concept with personal shuttles that handle check-in, authentication and baggage en route.EADSParis FR · Potsdam DE
Problem
Airports are the weak link of air transport, optimised for flow rather than passengers. The Friendly Airport of 2040 must suit all travellers and remain viable.
What they built
Personal airport shuttles carry families, business travellers and impaired passengers from arrival to take-off, with authentication, check-in and baggage handled on board.
Impact
Baggage stays with the passenger, and a central airport centre with decentralised skygates shortens the way.