Europe's AI Reality Check: Why HumanX Amsterdam Matters

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-16

European AI is growing up. In August, new provisions of the EU AI Act kicked in, bringing transparency rules for AI interactions and certain AI-generated content. That's a big shift for startups, investors, and business leaders across the continent. The conversation is no longer about what AI *could* do. It's about how to build, deploy, and scale it in the real world—while keeping regulators, customers, partners, and employees happy. And that's exactly where HumanX comes in. From September 22-24, HumanX will bring more than 2,500 AI leaders to Amsterdam. Founders, investors, and executives from every corner of the global AI ecosystem will gather at RAI Amsterdam. It's not just another trade show. It's a meeting of minds that actually matter. ### The Moment Europe's Been Waiting For "Europe is having its moment with AI," says Stefan Weitz, co-founder and CEO of HumanX. "You'll have world-class founders building here, global companies deploying AI here, and a regulatory environment that's influencing how the technology develops far beyond Europe." He adds that this growing influence needs a platform that reflects it—not just a trade show with content sold to the highest bidder. What's Weitz most excited about? It's not a keynote. It's who'll be in the room. "You'll have the founder building the technology sitting alongside the enterprise leader trying to deploy it and the investor deciding where the next wave of value will be created," he says. "With my investor hat on, I see these groups too often missing each other and making bad business decisions as a result. Bringing them together is where things get interesting." ### Beyond the Conference Model HumanX was created by the team behind Money20/20, Shoptalk, and HLTH. But its approach is deliberately different. Sessions are editorially chosen based on what industry, customer, and VC partners say are critical issues—not sold as part of sponsorship packages. The focus is on practical questions companies face when implementing AI. "The test for us is pretty simple," Weitz says. "Do you leave knowing something you can actually do differently on Monday? If you've spent three days at an AI conference and leave with lots of inspiration but no clearer idea what to do next, you've wasted your time and money and we haven't done our job. Most other conferences just want you in a seat so they can sell bigger sponsorships." That's why HumanX runs differently. Sessions are curated and moderated by journalists, not friendly VCs, and never sold. That independence makes any presence on stage worth something. Multiple structured programs exist specifically to set up 1:1 meetings between participants, rather than leaving connections to chance in an exhibition hall. The people running it have sat in the audience's seat through other moments when everything changed. They know how to navigate one. ### Why This Matters for Your Business "We're at the point where AI strategy is your business strategy," Weitz says. "The gap between organizations experimenting with AI and those actually rebuilding around it is widening quickly. HumanX is about putting the people already doing that in the same room, and if you aren't there, you're not just a few months behind, you're risking your own extinction." Speakers include Nikesh Arora (CEO, Palo Alto Networks), Marjan Rintel (CEO, KLM), May Habib (co-founder & CEO, Writer), Fabian Hedin (co-founder & CTO, Lovable), Jan Oberhauser (Founder & CEO, n8n), Joelle Pineau (Chief AI Officer, Cohere), Alex Kendall (co-founder & CEO, Wayve), and Susan Jones (CDO, Diageo). Investors like Nick Clegg (General Partner, Hiro Capital) will also be there. HumanX Amsterdam takes place next week at RAI Amsterdam from 22-24 September. If you're serious about AI, you should be in that room. > "If you aren't there, you're not just a few months behind, you're risking your own extinction." — Stefan Weitz So, will you be part of the conversation? Or will you watch from the sidelines?