Forum des Mittelstands

Making it happen: Entrepreneurial courage in times of change

November 12, 2026, Bielefeld

A joint event hosted by Aderhold Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft, Wortmann & Partner Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, LegalTegrity, and Sustaind.

Harald Nikutta

Harald Nikutta is a co-founder of Navigator's First and guides companies through the transition from risk management to resilience strategy. At the Forum des Mittelstands, he provides an analysis of the macro environment and sharpens the focus on the reality in which business decisions are truly made today.

Dr. Anne Duncker

Dr. Anne Duncker is Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at GOLDBECK and combines international NGO and political experience with entrepreneurial practice. At the forum, she asks what medium-sized companies owe to society—and why corporate citizenship is not an optional extra, but a strategic necessity.

Christoph Harras-Wolff

Christoph Harras-Wolff is the fourth-generation managing partner of the Dr. Wolff Group, the company behind brands such as Alpecin and Linola. At the forum, he speaks about the role of the entrepreneur in times of change and what courageous decision-making in a family business really means today.

Dr. Thomas Altenbach

Dr. Thomas Altenbach is the founder and CEO of LegalTegrity and one of the most sought-after compliance specialists in the German-speaking region. Shaped by his time at Daimler and Deutsche Bank, he demonstrates at the forum how regulation can become an entrepreneurial lever rather than a bureaucratic burden.

Pia Michel

Pia Michel is the co-founder and COO of LegalTegrity. As a long-time consultant for organizational development, she experienced firsthand how uncertainty in dealing with misconduct kept even critical incidents hidden. At the Forum des Mittelstands, she leads the closing discussion with Christoph Harras-Wolff on mindset and entrepreneurial decision-making.

Christina Sontheim-Leven

Christina Sontheim-Leven is a former SDAX board member, AI consultant, and speaker. As an expert in AI and leadership culture, she demonstrates at the Forum des Mittelstands why artificial intelligence is not an IT issue, but a matter of mindset, responsibility, and strategic leadership competence.

Dr. Christian H. Müller

Dr. Christian H. Müller is a partner at Aderhold Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft and one of Germany's leading antitrust law specialists. He advises medium-sized companies on compliance, merger control, and competition law.

Volker Ervens

Volker Ervens is a partner and auditor at Wortmann & Partner, as well as chairman of the Wirtschaftsinitiative Kreis Gütersloh. As the moderator of the deep-dive interview, he brings a strategic entrepreneurial perspective and asks the questions that leaders should be asking themselves.

Louis Schulze

Louis Schulze is the co-founder and CEO of Sustaind, a Bielefeld-based startup that helps medium-sized companies efficiently navigate regulatory requirements using AI. As one of the four hosts of the forum, he combines entrepreneurial drive with a keen eye for the opportunities presented by change.

Dr. Carsten Kruchen

Dr. Carsten Kruchen is a partner at Aderhold Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft and an expert in corporate, capital market, and regulatory law. He advises companies, investors, as well as management and supervisory boards on M&A, corporate governance, compliance, and director liability.

DATE

November 12, 2026

location

Heins, Bielefeld

Schedule

9 AM to 5 PM

About the event

Concept

The Forum des Mittelstands is a networking and information event that will take place for the third time in November with 120 guests at the H1 (Heins) in Bielefeld.

The idea behind the four event partners—Wortmann & Partner, LegalTegrity, Aderhold, and Sustaind—is to create a lively format for exchanging ideas on current entrepreneurial challenges. Together, we want to explore how we can pragmatically turn today's risks into opportunities.

The event is designed for anyone who holds entrepreneurial responsibility in medium-sized structures or deals with risks and compliance on a daily basis.

Agenda

We will kick off the Forum des Mittelstands with a joint pre-event evening at the Pioneers Factory in Bielefeld. For those arriving the day before, you are welcome to join us on November 11th from 6:00 PM to get in the mood for the event.

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We have planned the following program for November 12th:

09:00 AM Doors open
09:45 AM Welcome by the partners
10:00 AM The macro situation: Navigating the polycrisis
10:30 AM Interview with Christina Sontheim-Leven
11:00 AM Coffee break
11:30 AM Interview with Dr. Anne Duncker
12:00 PM Lunch
01:30 PM Workshop: Making bold decisions, acting with legal certainty: Risk management for executives and managers
01:30 PM Workshop: Do's & Don'ts - Using AI in compliance with legal certainty
02:30 PM Workshop: Resilience in times of disruption: Setting the course for the future viability of the SME sector
02:30 PM Workshop: From AI legal register to integrated AI compliance - status quo, background, outlook
03:30 PM Entrepreneur talk with Christoph Harras-Wolff
04:00 PM Coffee and after-work networking
05:00 PM End

The Partners

Wortmann & Partner is a medium-sized auditing and tax consultancy firm that sees itself as a holistic business advisor for the SME sector.

LegalTegrity is an innovative LegalTech company from Frankfurt. Starting with a solution for the Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG), the company now provides holistic support to clients in ensuring their own compliance.

The law firm Aderhold advises companies on all legal matters and sees itself as a trusted partner for the SME sector.

Sustaind is a digital company based in Bielefeld that has developed the first AI-powered global legal register to relieve medium-sized companies of bureaucratic, manual tasks.

Your participation

Secure one of the 100 available tickets for the Forum des Mittelstands.

The ticket includes your participation in the event day and the pre-event evening, including catering.

The ticket price is €299 net.

Recap Forum des Mittelstands 2025

Register for the event

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