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Sovereign AI Platform for Critical Infrastructures 

We are developing an AI platform that processes sensitive data securely and in compliance with data protection regulations. Digital sovereignty in practice for Leipziger Stadtwerke.
#ai #energy #platform #digitalsouvereignty
Nighttime cityscape with light trails from passing traffic and illuminated street lamps. Overlaid are white line drawings of digital UI elements: a chat window with a search input field, a dashboard with a pie chart, a text window, and a bar chart.

Our Impact

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    Productive AI platform for around 1,500 employees instead of isolated pilot solutions 

  • Icon People Check

    270 employees already access the platform on the very first day, a strong signal for acceptance. 

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    100% data sovereignty: all data remains within Europe 

The Challenge

As a municipal utility owned by the city of Leipzig, Leipziger Stadtwerke carries a particular responsibility for safe and reliable public services. This translates into high requirements around data protection, information security, and digital sovereignty. At the same time, Leipziger Stadtwerke recognised the potential of AI early on. However, initial isolated pilot projects had not yet delivered their full value in operational use. That is why they decided to approach AI more strategically and holistically, together with Exxeta.

The goal was to build a long-term, sustainable AI platform with secure, centralised access to distributed company knowledge. The requirements were correspondingly high: as part of the municipal public service infrastructure and an operator of critical infrastructure, Leipziger Stadtwerke needed a solution that meets strict standards for security, data protection, and digital sovereignty. At the same time, the platform had to be independent of proprietary ecosystems and scalable over the long term.

It had to satisfy all regulatory requirements in the KRITIS environment: secure, sovereign, free from proprietary dependencies, and still scalable.

The Solution

Sovereign AI is a widely discussed term, yet in practice it often remains abstract. Together with Leipziger Stadtwerke, we therefore first defined what sovereignty in the context of AI specifically means and how it can be implemented both technically and organizationally: 

  • Data processing and storage within the organization's own infrastructure 

  • Control over models, interfaces, and access logic 

  • Avoidance of proprietary dependencies and vendor lock-in 

  • Scalability and extensibility for future use cases 

This is how a strategic goal became a clearly defined architectural principle. 

Isometric black-and-white illustration: Two hands interact with a central browser window labeled "LEIKI" featuring a search input field. Surrounding it are various digital elements: a dashboard with tiles, a candlestick chart, a code editor, a pie chart, a smartphone displaying a wind turbine, a chat window, a code symbol, and a cloud icon.

From Definition to a Robust Platform Architecture 

Based on these criteria, we developed an AI platform operated entirely within Leipziger Stadtwerke's own infrastructure.

At the heart of the platform, named LEIKI, is a chat interface that simplifies access to company knowledge while ensuring the secure handling of sensitive data. Documents from different sources and formats can be processed and used in context, without any data leaving the organisation.

The platform follows a deliberately cloud-agnostic architecture built on Kubernetes and modular open-source components. This keeps it flexible, extensible, and independent of any single vendor.

Illustration of a hand tapping the send button of a chat input field with the index finger. The text field contains the question: "Can you break down what percentage each federal state contributes to the total number of standard and fast charging points?"

Turning Platform Architecture into Real-World Application 

LEIKI delivers professionally relevant answers directly within the interface. The strength of the solution is evident not only in the architecture, but in the concrete user experience. 

LEIKI in Everyday Work 

The platform consolidates distributed knowledge into structured, traceable answers, fully compliant with data protection regulations and directly within the employees' working context. Specialist queries areprocessed with transparent calculation steps and relevant key figures, without sensitive data ever leaving the organisation. 

Screenshot of a browser window showing a LEIKI chat response. In answer to the question of what percentage each federal state contributes to the total number of standard and fast charging points, LEIKI responds with a formula, a sample calculation for Bavaria, and a table showing the percentage shares of the federal states Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, and North Rhine-Westphalia.
Stylized browser window showing a checked list of four criteria: "European provider", "open source", "modular architecture", and "easy to integrate". Each item is accompanied by a matching icon.

Systematic Selection of Technologies and Components 
 

The selection of technologies used followed clearly defined criteria: 

  • Use of a European LLM provider (Mistral) to reduce geopolitical dependencies 

  • Utilization of open-source components such as LibreChat for maximum adaptability 

  • Development of a modular architecture that makes individual services interchangeable 

  • Integration of existing systems and data sources via standardized interfaces 

In parallel, we analyzed existing data sources, document structures, and access logic to ensure a secure and consistent integration into the platform. 

 

Black and white illustration: A hand uses its index finger to push a row of smartphones, which fall over in a chain reaction like dominoes.

A Scalable Solution for the Future  

In addition to selecting technical components, the project team focused specifically on developing governance structures. Security and authorization concepts were designed, data flows were structured, and operational requirements were defined. As a result, the platform not only meets current needs but is also specifically designed to be scalable.

This will enable Stadtwerke Leipzig to integrate and connect additional use cases in the future, such as knowledge repositories with specific access rights or the integration of existing systems and workflows.

What the experts say

  • »LEIKI was created together with our partner Exxeta and is continuously being developed further. Thank you for the wonderful collaboration!«
  • »LSW has boldly built an AI infrastructure that, now that it is secure and data protection-compliant, is being used for a wide range of use cases.«
  • »What excites me most about LEIKI: together with LSW, we have created an infrastructure that grows. Every new use case is built on the same secure, modular foundation, and that is sustainable AI development that really stands out.«
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Matthias Zober

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