Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming various sectors of the professional world as well as our daily life. However, its integration into schools and universities has been largely unstructured or absent, despite its significant potential. This paper presents the first phase of a design research approach aimed at developing a university seminar to foster AI-related competencies among vocational teacher students of mechanical and electrical engineering. The seminar is based on the conceptualization of competencies by Blömeke et al. (Zeitschrift für Psychologie 223:3–13, 2015) and the DigCompEdu framework including its AI-specific extension. Additionally, an explorative preliminary study investigates teacher students’ preconceptions, affective attitudes, technology acceptance, and support needs regarding AI. The discussed findings reveal a generally positive attitude and high acceptance of AI among participants. At the same time many misconceptions about AI and a strong demand for increased support from the university can be identified. As a result of the theoretical and empirical base, the design of the planned seminar is described. The accompanying research for the second phase of the design research is outlined, which will evaluate the seminar’s implementation and its impact on fostering AI-related competencies of teacher students. This study contributes to addressing the gap in structured AI integration in education. Furthermore, it provides insights into innovative teacher training for the challenges and opportunities of AI in vocational schools.