Digital disruption at ReConf 2025: my personal contribution and outlook

Requirements management is an important part of systems engineering and ReConf is one of the most important conferences in Germany. ReConf 2025 in May will once again enable an exciting exchange with colleagues and provide plenty of inspiration.

I am looking forward to the annual exchange in Munich with new and old colleagues. And I'm also looking forward to presenting a topic again this year. On Wednesday, May 7 at 11:45 a.m., I will be presenting "If I had asked the users, they would have said: A faster DOORS." This is about the summarized results of hundreds of stakeholder discussions on the topic of AI in systems engineering, as well as my findings as a founder and consultant in three AI-RE startups (Semiant, Qualicen and Raiqon).

Below is a brief overview of the motto of ReConf 2025, the keynote speakers and my own presentation.

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The motto of ReConf 2025

"Next Level Requirements Engineering" is the motto of the next ReConf. The keyword is "digital disruption", whereby AI is just one of many digital factors that are causing disruption. Today's approaches to requirements management in such a world are reaching their limits; we need something new.

Really understanding customer needs, processing rapid and constant feedback and adapting appropriately as an organization - that is the "new" DNA.

ReConf 2025

This motto is reflected in the following five topics:

• Product Innovation - Understanding disruptive change as a driver for growth and innovation in order to secure sustainable market leadership through proactive technology roadmaps and customer-focused design.
• Power Tools - The future of tools lies in seamless, AI-powered systems that integrate legacy data, enable sustainability and ensure smooth implementation in organizations through best practices.
• Requirements Engineering - Modern approaches and AI-supported technologies are revolutionizing the collection, analysis and implementation of requirements in order to maximize efficiency and user experience in the development process.
• Systems Engineering - Mastering complexity through modular architectures, AI-supported processes and sustainable product strategies to create innovative, efficient and scalable systems.
• Mastering Interdisciplinarity - Interdisciplinary collaboration and agile organizational structures promote innovation and adaptability in order to remain successful in dynamic and complex markets.

Keynotes

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Roman Dumitrescu will be giving a keynote on AI, just like last year. Last year's presentation was inspiring. If the keynote is not a repeat of last year's, then there will certainly be a lot of good ideas.

Martin Haunschmid will give a keynote speech on an important and often neglected topic, Security. This is important today for two reasons: firstly, the importance of security has increased as more and more systems are networked and can therefore be attacked. Secondly, many companies are under so much pressure that they are happy to cut corners in this area.

My presentation: Resilient wishes from practice

This lecture is an attempt to anchor the AI hype a little in reality. I had already dealt with AI in systems engineering before the age of "before ChatGPT" and collected hard facts in over 100 stakeholder discussions. Since then, I have conducted further customer surveys and also participated in many public and non-public debates.

If I had asked the users, they would have said: A faster DOORS

Michael Jastram, Lecture ReConf 2025

What I have noticed in particular is that many people are not aware that AI is a basic technology and not a product. This means that although AI will affect all aspects of systems engineering in the medium term, very few people will buy "AI". Instead, AI will accelerate existing use cases and enable new products.

Conclusion

I attend many conferences and events, from large trade fairs (such as Embedded World) to small "boutique" conferences (such as MESConf) to informal meetings (such as the systemscamp). ReConf is still one of the most important and interesting events for me, combining a good size and good content in a great format. I'm looking forward to a great exchange at ReConf 2025.

Image source: HOOD GmbH