OEB 2025 in Berlin Recap: A Warm, Global & Inspiring Dive into the Future of Learning

Packed rooms, a global audience from more than 70 countries, and an atmosphere buzzing with curiosity and openness, that was OEB 2025 in Berlin, held from December 3–5.
As our very first event with the ed-tech community, it felt refreshingly different from what we usually experience in the world of software development. And for our new German team, the warm welcome was truly special. 💛

From the moment visitors entered the venue, our stand (C45), shared with Blackboard and DEXS (Knowmad Mood Company), was one of the first things they saw. Many attendees even said: “Blackboard is back!” and it was great to feel how genuinely excited people were to see us return to OEB.

A Global Community with Many Voices 🌍

One of the most enriching parts of the conference?
The diversity. Not just in expertise, but in languages and cultures.
Throughout the event, conversations at our booth switched naturally between German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, and even Thai.

It felt like a reminder of what OEB truly stands for:
Learning is global. And the future of learning belongs to all of us.

Meeting the Community Before the Conference Even Began

Ahead of the event, our newsletter shared this year’s theme:
“Humanity in the Intelligent Age: Empathy, Responsibility & the Duty of Care.”

It’s a topic that shaped the entire conference and every meaningful conversation we had. How do we ensure technology truly serves people? How do we keep learning human in a world increasingly shaped by AI and automation?

These questions followed us through the halls, talks, and networking spaces, and they anchored many of our discussions at the booth.

Our Experience – From Ethical AI to Ed-Tech Architecture Debates 🤝

Helping Hands (and German Language Skills) at the Stand

We supported our partner Blackboard with what can only be described as undeniably extraordinary German language skills, helping explain features, clarify questions, and welcome a wonderfully diverse crowd.

What Moved Us Most

A few topics kept coming up again and again:

💡 Ethical AI
The buzzword of the conference, but handled with real thoughtfulness.
Attendees were especially interested in ideas like:
→ AI features that never publish automatically without human approval
→ How to ensure accountability and trust in education technology

⚙️ Open Source vs. SaaS
A recurring theme:
Where is the sweet spot between small self-hosted setups and large-scale cloud-based learning platforms?
The balance (and sometimes friction) created fascinating discussions.

A Conference Full of Surprises

But the biggest surprise?

The OEB itself.
We haven’t been at such a lively, energetic and active conference in years!

And the setting adds its own charm:
31 years of OEB at the Intercontinental Berlin.
We don’t know many conferences that have stayed in the same hotel for more than three decades.

Human Moments We Loved ❤️

A personal highlight came from a visitor discovering the German Christmas Market food for the first time:

“This tastes so good! … grabs more food … this is so delicious! … grabs even more … Yummy!!”

First German sausage, first salmon bread, first crêpe and absolutely delighted.
Who says Germany can’t do great food?

These human moments made the event even more memorable.

What We’re Taking Away 🚀

✨ Ed-tech is fun – and feels a bit like the software industry 20 years ago: full of ideas, openness, and momentum.
✨ AI is everywhere – but people increasingly care about value, not hype.
✨ The community is genuinely collaborative and wants to build tech that supports humanity, not replaces it.

What’s Next?

We left Berlin inspired and absolutely want to be back next year.
To everyone we met: thank you for the warm welcome and the brilliant conversations.

👉 More event highlights, partner updates, and insights will follow soon.
Stay tuned!