Jan Kerschgens

Edition

2025

Day

June 4th @ Unlimitrust

Topic

Initiative AI

Track

Innovation dans le service public

Swiss AI Ecosystem Architecture

Swiss AI Ecosystem Architecture

At the Panoramai AI Summit, Jan Kerschgens, leading AI initiatives at Innovaud (Canton de Vaud's innovation agency), provided comprehensive insight into Switzerland's strategic AI investments and competitive positioning. His presentation revealed the substantial publicly funded infrastructure supporting Swiss AI excellence and emerging partnership opportunities for Swiss small and medium sized companies (SMEs) and start-ups

Billion-Franc Foundation

Kerschgens outlined Switzerland's massive federal commitment to AI research excellence: « 1 billion every year which comes here to support training, research and technology transfer » through EPFL alone. This investment supports amongst others approximately 100 AI-focused faculty coordinating over 1,000+ researchers while offering 175+ AI-related courses, including executive education modules developed with IMD.

Institutional Ecosystem Mapping

His analysis revealed Switzerland's coordinated approach across multiple institutions: the Swiss Data Science Center (achieving National Research Infrastructure status in 2025), University of Lausanne's 220 AI experts, Swiss AI Center for SMEs (HES-SO) coordinating five applied universities, and the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB) —a « silent giant » whose protein databases were instrumental in training AlphaFold.

Strategic Partnership Model

Kerschgens highlighted Canton de Vaud's 7.5 million Swiss franc partnership with the Swiss Data Science Center over five years, providing companies access to 150,000 francs direct funding plus 250,000 francs in-kind support for AI innovation projects. This model demonstrates how regional governments can leverage federal research infrastructure for local economic development.

European Competitive Positioning

Drawing on broader panel discussions, Kerschgens referenced predictions that « any measurable science ultimately will be AI science », positioning Switzerland's research infrastructure as foundational to future scientific competitiveness. His analysis suggests Swiss institutions are well-positioned for AI-driven research transformation.

AI initiative leader currently serving as AI Initiative Lead at Innovaud, where he focuses on advancing artificial intelligence applications across diverse sectors. Concurrently serves as a Full Member of the Swiss National Science Foundation's Agora Panel, fostering dialogue between scientists and society. Active in Switzerland's AI governance landscape as a Member of the SATW Expert Group on AI Law and Technology. Contributes to the startup ecosystem as a Jury Member for Venturelab's Innosuisse Jury Days and as an EPFL Start-up Mentor, supporting entrepreneurs through technical and human challenges of venture creation. Previously held leadership positions at EPFL, where he served as Executive Director of both the EPFL ELLIS (European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems) Unit and the Center for Intelligent Systems for over four years, driving research excellence and innovation in machine learning, AI, and robotics. Combines technical expertise with business acumen through his executive MBA in Corporate Finance from HEC Lausanne. A recognized #digitalshaper in AI (2022-2023), he is passionate about bridging academia, industry, and society while advancing responsible AI development across research, medicine, and industry applications

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