“There were plenty of moments when we didn’t know whether our plan would hold up to the pace of our growth. In the end, what mattered wasn’t the perfect plan – it was discipline: deliver every quarter, hit or beat every target. That’s exactly where our enterprise sales model came from: predictable, with forecasts backed by real pipeline.”
– Sascha Poggemann, Co-Founder & COO bei Cognigy
In 2016, Phil Heltewig, Benjamin Mayr and I started building an idea in Düsseldorf: what if companies could communicate with their customers the way people do – by voice and chat, in every language, without it feeling like a machine? We had no finished plan, and certainly no Silicon Valley blueprint to copy. What we had was the will to start early and to work our way, step by step, towards what is known today as Agentic AI.
That idea became a platform used today by more than 1,000 companies worldwide, among them Mercedes-Benz, Nestlé, DHL and the Lufthansa Group. And the small team became a company of around 300 people – grown in Düsseldorf, not despite the location but with it.
What sounded like a distant vision to many in 2016 is today one of the fastest-growing topics in tech. Agentic AI is long past being a niche subject; it is the direction whole industries are moving in. We backed a horse early that is mainstream today.
Europe’s Largest AI Exit – Made in Düsseldorf
In 2025, NiCE, one of the world’s leading providers of AI-powered customer experience, acquired Cognigy, the largest acquisition of a European AI company. For us it was never about the number, but a confirmation: you don’t have to sit in Silicon Valley to build a global AI company. You can do it from Düsseldorf too – but you have to establish an international mindset inside the company. Competition doesn’t happen only locally, and anyone who wants to play at the very top, in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for example, has to set themselves up accordingly.
For us as founders, the acquisition was above all one thing: confirmation that the journey was worth it. At the same time it is a real leap – from founders who made every decision themselves to becoming part of a global group with thousands of colleagues around the world. We’re happy to talk openly about exactly that transition at the Fireside Chat – what it means and how it feels.
Come By – We’ll Tell the Whole Story
On 8 September, as part of Startup Week Düsseldorf, we’re inviting you to a Fireside Chat at our office. Phil, Benjamin and I will speak openly about the beginnings, the doubts, the turning points – and about what the acquisition by NiCE has meant for us as founders. Three perspectives on the same journey: from the first prototype to international scaling. Not a polished success story, but the unfiltered version – including the moments when we didn’t know how things would go on.
Afterwards there will be time for questions, one-on-one conversations and networking in a relaxed atmosphere. For anyone just starting out: the difference between an idea and a company is usually just the first, imperfect step. We’d be glad to talk with you about what ours looked like – and what yours could be.
Dream Big, Build Local – The Story Behind Cognigy’s Founders
8 September 2026, 2:30–17:30, Kesselstraße 3, Düsseldorf