1,635 participants from 32 countries – AI:AT continues to expand hands-on formats, self-learning and trustworthy AI qualification in 2026
The AI Factory Austria AI:AT is further expanding its training and enablement offering for artificial intelligence. As a market-neutral, independent access point, AI:AT supports organizations along their AI journey – from initial orientation to qualification and access to European high-performance computing infrastructure through to practical implementation.
The focus is on a learning center offering that aims to strengthen sovereign, ethical and trustworthy AI application and development in the European ecosystem. In the first nine months since the training program was launched in July 2025, 42 training sessions were held with 1,635 participants from 32 countries; 505 participants came from the commercial sector
Strong demand for practical AI qualification
The program is aimed at companies, public administration, research and science. It combines training with practical access to European high-performance computing infrastructure and covers six topic categories in four formats – from Generative AI, Machine Learning and HPC 4 AI to Trustworthy AI, Agentic AI and domain-specific applications. Formats in which participants can directly apply what they have learned are in particularly high demand: Of the 42 training courses, 25 were hands-on formats, 16 were webinars and one was a hackathon; the offering was supplemented by three self-learning courses.
“Our aim is to translate the rapid pace of current AI developments into practically applicable specialist knowledge for business, science and public administration. In the first nine months of the AI Factory Austria, we have already enabled 1,635 training participants to build up valuable expertise in the field of AI. The enthusiasm in our hands-on courses shows that the talent pipeline is already in full swing.”
Claudia Blaas-Schenner, Head of the AI:AT Learning Center
The extent to which the practical orientation is perceived is also shown by participants: “I was particularly impressed by the opportunity to apply the knowledge I learned during the courses directly on the HPC system,” says Erika Pellegrino, engineering mathematician at Leonardo S.p.A. from Rome, Italy.
Lejla Rizvanovik, AI Privacy Expert and Managing Director at Servus Data Group GmbH in Vienna, adds: “The combination of ethical orientation and hands-on technology gave me the confidence I needed to implement my own AI projects.”
Training as part of the AI:AT One-Stop-Shop
The current figures also show that the program is increasingly being accepted by the business world: 505 participants came from the commercial sector; their share rose from 24.5% to 36.2% over the course of the first three quarters of the program. AI:AT is therefore not only helping to build skills, but also supporting organizations in putting AI applications into practice more quickly.
As part of the comprehensive AI:AT service portfolio, the Learning Center is embedded in a broader support offering – from onboarding and infrastructure access, AI lifecycle support and data services to innovation support, training and ethics, compliance and legal support. In addition to the actual training courses, AI:AT is also developing the Learning Platform, Exchange & Internships offers and AI Academy activities. The AI Factory Austria thus combines qualification, sovereign infrastructure, expertise and ecosystem networking in one place.
“To turn know-how into concrete application, qualification, practical implementation and a sovereign infrastructure must work together. Our aim is to introduce organizations to high-performance computing with the lowest possible hurdles and at the same time support them with data sovereignty, security and the next implementation steps”
Markus Stöhr, Co-Lead of the AI Factory Austria AI:AT
“I am very pleased that, in addition to our AI:AT trainers, we can also count on the support of the broad pool of experts from our consortium partners for our training courses. This creates a valuable transfer of knowledge from cutting-edge research to companies”
Karl Kugler, Co-Lead of the AI Factory Austria AI:AT
Consortium and governance strengthen the transfer
The training program benefits from the breadth of the Austria-wide consortium. It brings together scientific excellence, implementation expertise and regional anchoring – and thus strengthens precisely the bridge between research, business and public administration that is necessary for an effective and trustworthy introduction of AI.
“With the AI Factory Austria, we are setting the framework for consistently translating scientific excellence into effective application. It is crucial that organizations – especially in business and public administration – are put in a position to test AI under real conditions and successfully implement it.”
Andreas Kugi, Scientific Director of the AIT and member of the AI Factory Austria Governance Board
“A strong AI location in Austria requires close interaction between research, education and practical application. The AI Factory Austria creates a common framework for this, in which scientific excellence, talent development and concrete implementation are systematically brought together.”
Nikolaus Hautsch, Vice Rector of the University of Vienna and member of the AI Factory Austria Governance Board
“The successful use of AI requires more than just good models. It needs robust infrastructure, engineering expertise and a reliable transfer to real-life applications. The AI Factory Austria offers precisely this framework and brings universities, companies and public administration into action more quickly.”
Wolfgang Kastner, Vice Rector of TU Wien and member of the AI Factory Austria Governance Board
“The AI Factory Austria forms a strong cooperation network that closely links universities and companies of all sizes. In this way, we promote knowledge transfer and jointly develop practical use cases with direct added value for the entire community. The next step is to anchor artificial intelligence and high-performance computing even more firmly in the regions.”
Horst Bischof, Rector of TU Graz
“As the Austrian Academy of Sciences, we see it as our task to combine cutting-edge technological research with excellent education and social responsibility. The AI Factory Austria creates precisely this triad. The combination of AI and high-performance computing opens up enormous potential – from the simulation of complex biotechnological processes to the optimization of industrial value chains. The training program makes a significant contribution to translating this potential into concrete innovations.”
Heinz Faßmann, President of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW)
“It is the order of the day for Austria and Europe to successfully put AI applications into practice. The powerful computing resources of the AI Factory Austria are a central building block for this. Equally crucial for strengthening our competitiveness are methods and standards for developing and scaling trustworthy AI products. The AI Factory’s coaching program can make a significant contribution here.”
Ruth Breu, Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science and Physics at the University of Innsbruck
“The expansion of the AI Factory Austria training and coaching program marks another important milestone in the development of expertise in artificial intelligence. It is an important bridge between science, public administration and business as well as a clear European signal for digital sovereignty and the strengthening of Austria as a location for innovation.”
Christoph Pfeifer, Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation at BOKU University
Outlook 2026
The training program will also be further developed in 2026. Plans include a further expansion of hands-on formats and compact webinar sessions, a stronger self-learning platform as a scalable pillar of the programme, more clearly defined learning outcomes, greater diversity in the trainer pool and closer quality assurance measures with standardized feedback surveys.
About the AI Factory Austria AI:AT
The AI Factory Austria AI:AT is Austria’s national AI Factory within the framework of the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking. It is jointly managed by the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology and Advanced Computing Austria (ACA) and implemented by an Austria-wide consortium.
The partners in the consortium are: TU Vienna, University of Vienna, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), University of Innsbruck, Graz University of Technology, Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU), Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), INiTS – Vienna’s High-Tech Incubator and EODC – Earth Observation Data Centre for Water Resources Monitoring GmbH.
AI:AT combines AI-optimized high-performance infrastructure with a physical hub and supports organizations from business, public administration and applied research as a market-neutral, independent access point along the AI journey – from the first use case to practical implementation.
Funding Acknowledgement
The AI Factory Austria (AI:AT) is co-funded by the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement no. 101253078. The Joint Undertaking is supported by the Horizon Europe program of the European Union and Austria (BMIMI/FFG).
Contact:
Daniel Pepl, MAS MBA
Head of Marketing & Communications
AI Factory Austria AI:AT
Mobile: +43 664 6207805 I daniel.pepl@ai-at.eu I www.ai-at.eu
