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ABOUT US, OUR VISION, MISSION AND OUR TEAM

The AF Institute has set itself the goal to make the conditions in medicine easier, more logical and better with the help of Artificial Intelligence. For this, algorithms are developed and special software solutions are trained that make it easier to solve medical problems.
Apart from the medical field, we are also working on ways to use artificial intelligence to analyze and thus make tangible all kinds of large amounts of data.

Team

Addison Fischer

Addison Fischer

Founder

Addison Fischer is the founder and sponsor of the AF Institute for Research and Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence, one of his latest philanthropic projects, which was founded in August 2016.

Mr. Fischer has a long history of supporting the public interest through philanthropic and other not-for-profit endeavors.

He is a member of the advisory board of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a public interest research centre with a focus on protecting privacy, freedom of expression, and democratic values in the information age.

He also serves as a board member of the East West Institute, an NGO active in preventing and resolving global conflicts through non-governmental diplomatic channels.

Mr Fischer has also worked extensively to support the environment. His own personal conservation work has included acquiring and preserving rainforests and land in both Costa Rica and the Patagonia region of Chile.

He has supported the worldwide conservation efforts of the Jane Goodall Institute, and has served as a board member and vice-chairman.

He organised and co-founded Oceans 5, an international funder’s collaborative with a focus on marine life, particularly constraining overfishing and establishing marine reserves.

Mr Fischer also founded Planet Heritage Foundation, a non-profit with a focus on global ecological issues. One of Planet Heritage Foundation’s key initiatives is the Electrification Coalition — an alliance of business leaders committed to promoting electric vehicles on a mass scale.

Mr. Fischer’s career began as a computer entrepreneur when he founded his first high-tech start-up company in 1973. He ultimately went on to become majority owner of RSA Data Security, which founded VeriSign. He served as co-owner, with Mr. Stanley Druckenmiller, of Duquesne Capital Management from 1981 until Mr. Druckenmiller’s retirement in 2010.

Erwin Bendl

Erwin Bendl

Secretary-General

Erwin Bendl has been the Secretary-General of the AF Institute since May 2020. He oversees the day-to-day business, while maintaining external contacts and conceiving strategies for the further development of the AF Institute.

Bendl brings with him a wide range of experience. He worked as Attaché for Industrial Affairs at the Permanent Representation of Austria to the European Union in Brussels. Acting on behalf of the Federation of Austrian Industry, he has brought forward Austria’s position into international working groups at the OECD and into European Union negotiating committees.

He has headed marketing and PR departments, has founded his own company and was Assistant Researcher at the Institute for Economics in Salzburg. Bendl carried the responsibility for a complex worldwide software business for Siemens, where he negotiated contracts with global clients and international project partners.

Bendl holds a master’s degree in law from the University of Salzburg, and he has completed the Export Academy at the University of Innsbruck and executive training at Babson College (USA).