Facilitating in Hot Times – With and Without AI
Reflections from Lernforum Oberursel: between synthesis and encounter
At the Lernforum Oberursel I experienced how AI can condense dialogue into smart theses within minutes. I felt inspired and irritated. Because what was truly essential in the room doesn’t fit into a report: encounter, resonance, presence. AI can synthesize incredibly fast in facilitation—and still miss what matters most. Transformation isn’t a data problem; it’s a relational and resonance-based process.
Topics: AI in facilitation, large groups, transformation, resonance
“Being effective in hot times – with and without AI”
That was this year’s theme at Lernforum Oberursel, a long-standing format for large group facilitation, hosted by Matthias zur Bonsen, Jutta Herzog and Myriam Mathys.
And yes: “hot times” fits. We are living through constant movement and disruption—high energy, messy, often conflict-laden. 2026 is the year of the Fire Horse.
AI can synthesize—but it does not automatically understand
On Sunday we experienced live how AI can support facilitation processes. Resonances from small circle dialogues were collected via an app; up to 2,000 inputs were condensed within minutes. And by Sunday evening, we received a multi-page report capturing the entire dialogue process.
I felt inspired and irritated at the same time. The patterns and theses sounded smart. Collective wisdom on fourteen pages.
Yet what felt essential to me in the circles and in the plenary—what moved me—was not in that report.
Synthesis is not automatically understanding. Transformation is not only a thinking or data problem. It is a relational and resonance-based process.
What good facilitation in hot times looks like
Not how quickly many voices become a report—but whether people can see more clearly afterwards, listen to each other again, and re-orient responsibility. AI can draw the map faster. But moving from map to movement is something teams do through relationship, courage, and resonance.
Open Space: three moments that sharpened my view
This tension differentiated further in the Open Space on Monday. Many encounters and impulses from these sessions still resonate in me.
Voice agents for organizational development and transformation
One session explored building voice agents for organizational development and transformation processes. My experience with Susanna, a very human-sounding voice agent, in the run-up to Lernforum made me curious.
My key insight: the tools matter, but at least as important is the context and the stance we bring to them. AI is not neutral. It can amplify existing assumptions. This makes precise questions, clean ethics, mindful prompting, and the willingness to consider our own biases even more important.
Constellation work instead of analysis: insight as experience
The constellation “Human beings in relationship to origin and future, nature and culture—when AI becomes part of our reality” was fascinating, unsettling, and surprising.
This was not about tools. It was bodily, spatial, relational. Insight not as analysis, but as lived experience.
Facilitation without AI as a conscious counterpoint
In a Thinking Circle, a deep dialogue emerged around the thesis: facilitation without AI becomes a USP.
Not as an anti-AI stance, but as a conscious counterpoint. Presence, resonance, compassion, meaning-making, and encounter are not nostalgic values. They are future capabilities—especially in hot times.
My facilitation profile: reduce friction with AI, deepen connection without it
My profile as a facilitator sits exactly here.
I use AI where it reduces load, creates structure, clarifies, and supports—a wide field for curiosity and experimentation, including in work with teams.
And at the same time, I open, hold, and shape resonance spaces in which no AI is running. Spaces where people can reconnect—when more listening, pausing, or feeling is needed. Moments of silence, productive irritation, and not-knowing.
Or, as Martin Buber put it:
“All real living is meeting.”
Bridge to my work
If you are planning a workshop, offsite, or an organizational development or change format in which things feel fast, tense, or unclear: I support leaders and teams in combining both—clear structure (where AI can help) and genuine encounter (where presence and resonance make the difference).
