World Product Day

First World Product Day in Nuremberg – ProductTank Special at Casablanca

Join us in celebrating World Product Day in Nuremberg for the very first time!

On May 21, 2026, the global product community will come together to mark 16 incredible years of ProductTank and to celebrate the passion, progress and people that make product management such a vibrant field.
Together with the local product community and as part of ProductTank, we’re now inviting everyone worldwide to celebrate our passion and curiosity with all product enthusiasts once a year.

For our special event, we’ve chosen none other than the charming Casablanca Cinema. The perfect setting for inspiring talks, networking and a relaxed evening together. In addition to the talks in the theater, food and drinks will be available for purchase on-site.

After the talks, you have two options:
- Stay at the cinema and watch a product-related film
- Or join us at the Casa Bar and let the evening wind down in a relaxed atmosphere!

🎤 Speakers
Look forward to two inspiring talks by:

• Thorsten Jonas, Expert for Digital Sustainability & Responsible AI, Founder SUX Network
• Michael Hofmann, Head of User Experience & Design, inovex GmbH

🍿 Location & Schedule
Starting at 5:30 PM: People start arriving at the Casablanca Cinema
6:00 PM: Welcome to World Product Day
6:15 PM: Michael Hofmann: From Months to Minutes, from Chatbots to Colleagues – How AI is Transforming Product Development
7:30 PM: Thorsten Jonas: The true Price of AI - and what we really get for it
8:30 Networking at the Casa Bar
9:00 Movie: The AI Doc

1. Talk: From Months to Minutes, from Chatbots to Colleagues – How AI is Transforming Product Development
The landscape of digital product development is experiencing a seismic shift. Driven by advanced artificial intelligence, the traditional product lifecycle has been compressed exponentially. What once required months of planning, prototyping and coding can now be achieved in minutes, unlocking unprecedented opportunities for hyper-personalized digital products tailored to individual user needs in real-time.

However, this acceleration represents more than just a gain in speed, it is a fundamental shift in how we interact with technology. We are moving away from basic, single-task chatbots and entering the era of Agentic AI. Tomorrow’s digital products will act as orchestration platforms where users manage, direct, and collaborate with autonomous AI agents that function as specialized, virtual colleagues.

Yet, navigating this new era requires caution. Because AI operates as a powerful pattern amplifier, it scales both brilliant solutions and fundamentally flawed logic with equal efficiency. As a result, human problem understanding and acute problem awareness are becoming the most essential skills in the loop. Without a deep grasp of the underlying challenges, teams risk rapidly scaling the wrong solutions. Furthermore, in an industry where software projects are increasingly volatile and fast-paced, establishing long-term security, system reliabilityand user trust remains a formidable challenge

Michael Hofmann, Head of User Experience & Design at inovex GmbH
For Michael Hofmann, design is an act of empathy. As Head of User Experience & Design at inovex, with nearly two decades of industry experience, Michael is dedicated to crafting products that solve real-world problems by harmonizing innovation with user needs and aesthetics. Leveraging deep expertise in human-centered design, Gestalt psychology and interaction design, he leads the creation of digital ecosystems that put people first. Today he is harnessing the power of AI to amplify creative potential, ensuring it is used responsibly and ethically to enhance the human experience.

2. Talk: The true Price of AI - and what we really get for it
Every other day, you can read the next story about efficiency gains or the next great feature in the next great model and how even more cheap and fast things can be done with AI. But what is the true price for that? And what do we really get for this price? AI can be a powerful tool, but it is not the solution for everything - and using it wrong can result in significant business risks.
This talk challenges the current assumption that AI is a fixed reality we have to adapt to. Today’s mainstream AI is shaped - and limited - by the goals, values and infrastructures of big tech, while hiding significant societal, environmental and personal costs. When we adapt to “ AI as it is,” we unintentionally reinforce those power structures and impacts.
We will explore how our decisions shape who holds power, how data is governed and what futures become possible if we stop using AI as it is and move to an approach of actively shaping how it should be by our actions and decisions. And why this in the end is also a business case and leads to better products.

Thorsten Jonas, Expert for Digital Sustainability & Responsible AI
Thorsten is a digital Sustainability Expert, Designer and Activist, responsible AI advocate and Sustainable UX Trailblazer. He is the founder of the non-profit SUX Network as well as SUX Academy, advisor and trainer for digital sustainability, sustainable UX and responsible AI. As worldwide keynote-speaker, invited expert at the W3C for Web Sustainability , co-author of the books “User Experience Design und Sustainability” & “Usability for the World: Building better Cities and Communities” and host of the SUX Podcast, Thorsten is driving digital sustainability, responsible AI and sustainable UX on many levels.

As an outdoor person and mountaineer, Thorsten believes that it is our responsibility to use tech for the good of all beings on this planet and that design has the power to be one of the key factors to drive this change.

🤝 Why You Should Join Us

• Connect with the local product community
• Inspiring insights from experienced practitioners
• A unique event setting in a movie theater
• Networking in a relaxed atmosphere

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors, agile academy and inovex, for making this event possible.

Two talks by guest speakers who are coming in especially for us, plus a movie night featuring films related to the current Ki discourse! Doesn’t that sound like the perfect evening program!

With this beeing said, we're looking forward to celebrating World Product Day together with you!
Cheers, Philip, Jonathan & Alide