Blog

Behind the Scenes of our Director & VP Summit 2025

12 November 2025

For the third consecutive year, we hosted our Directors & VP Summit in Berlin, bringing together senior leaders from across Europe for three days of focused strategy, hands-on workshops, and cross-department collaboration. Held at a new venue, the event gave our leadership community the right setting to align on priorities, translate vision into action, and deepen relationships that will drive our next phase of growth.

The Summit gave leaders the space to focus on the bigger picture: how we enhance customer experience across our brands to maximize value for our customers. As we continue to grow, meeting in person provides room to test ideas, challenge assumptions, and align around a common direction in ways that are difficult to replicate virtually.

"With our Director & VP Summit every year, our goal is to create the space where leaders fuel up on conviction and leave ready to drive maximum growth in their teams,” shares Lukas Erhardt, Head of Employer Branding & Internal Communications and one of the key Summit organizers. “The connections formed over morning runs and late-night conversations, leaders from different markets meeting face-to-face and building the trust that makes collaboration stronger and more efficient – that's the alignment and momentum that will carry us through the year ahead."

Another key organizer was Josephine Weckert, Executive Personal Assistant. She reflects: “The summit days were filled with dynamic energy, marked by teamwork, engaging discussions, and exciting challenges!”

Practical collaboration formed the heart of the Summit. Workshops and breakout sessions brought cross-functional groups together to swap best practices, surface common challenges, and explore new approaches. An on-site AUTO1 Expo also served as a networking hub, allowing central function teams to showcase projects and giving teams the chance to further connect.

The programme combined internal perspectives with an external keynote from endurance athlete and multiple world-record holder Jonas Deichmann. His talk on resilience and long‑term determination resonated with attendees and prompted leaders to think about persistence, adaptability, and team support when pursuing ambitious goals.

“The summit was a great opportunity to not only strengthen our cross-country partnerships and team alignment, but also showcase our smaller entities and the impact they bring to AUTO1 Group’s success story,” shares Lorela Hysa, Head of People Albania. “We’re excited to translate what we learned into even stronger support and growth for our teams.”

It was an inspiring, insightful, and fun few days — thanks to everyone who made the Summit a success!