What makes your AI entry into industrial SMEs successful
Today, there is a wide range of useful AI applications in medium-sized industrial companies, both in manufacturing, quality, logistics, and service, as well as in sales, purchasing, planning, administration, and knowledge management. AI can make processes more stable and efficient, improve decision-making, and relieve employees of routine tasks, regardless of whether they occur on the shop floor or in the office.
However, in many discussions with manufacturing companies, we see clear recurring patterns: AI projects stall when priorities are unclear, data gaps exist, or there is a lack of coordination between production, IT, and commercial departments. Ideas are often too ambitious, get lost in endless pilot projects, or fail to deliver tangible added value for day-to-day business.
AI is successful when companies take a structured approach: specifically assessing where AI can deliver real benefits in their own operations, involving teams at an early stage, evaluating data realistically, and starting with manageable, well-defined use cases – whether in manufacturing, supply chain management, sales, or R&D.
This is exactly where the AI Innovation Lab of CyberForum, a cooperation project within the AI Alliance, comes in: We create clarity, develop viable concepts, and help you deploy AI where it delivers measurable business and operational value in medium-sized industrial companies.
Challenges in AI projects
- Rising costs & pressure to improve efficiency: AI is becoming relevant, but resources are scarce.
- Distributed or unstructured data: Potential exists, but cannot be utilized.
- Lack of internal expertise: unclear where and how to start in a meaningful way.
- Uncertainty regarding strategy, governance, and responsibilities, especially in sensitive processes.
Our approaches to solutions
- Create strategic clarity: define goals, roadmap, governance, and responsibilities.
- Developing concrete AI use cases: evaluating economic potential and developing implementable concepts.
- Get started quickly: with initial pilot projects, practical workshops, and quick-win approaches.
- Find the right implementation partners: neutral, independent, and precisely tailored to your requirements.
Our formats for medium-sized companies
Free initial consultation & AI readiness check
Gain clarity: Where is AI worthwhile in your company and how do you get started? In an initial consultation, we will work with you to analyze which areas of application are realistic in your production, quality, logistics, or administration, and together we will develop a roadmap for your AI entry.
AI strategy and governance
Industrial companies need guidance: Which AI projects make economic sense? Which processes are truly suitable? How do you take data protection, auditability, and organizational roles into account? We develop a strategy that combines technical feasibility, economic efficiency, and your industrial processes.
Development of AI use cases
We identify the use cases that deliver real benefits to your business—from predictive maintenance, automated quality control, and process optimization to demand forecasting, document processing, and AI-supported quotation generation. We analyze processes and data, evaluate benefits and feasibility, and prioritize realistic use cases for your AI entry.
Mediation of implementation partners for industrial AI projects
We connect you with experts who have experience in industrial AI, sensor technology, production engineering, data infrastructures, or automation. Whether you are a software provider, system integrator, research institute, or specialized industrial startup, we will find the right partner for you and support you in the bidding and selection process.
Employee training & enablement
We teach the skills your team needs to use AI safely and productively—from awareness to governance and the EU AI Act, to practical basics for specialist departments, to technical training in areas such as machine learning, MLOps, prompt engineering, and RAG systems.
Startup cooperations & venture clienting
Through CyberLab and our industry startup network, you gain direct access to young technology companies offering solutions for predictive quality, computer vision, automation, digital assistance systems, energy optimization, and more. We support you in pilot projects, proof-of-concepts, and collaborations.
Funding advice
We identify suitable programs for your industrial AI projects. Whether digitization, AI development, process automation, or research projects: we support you in finding suitable funding programs and aligning them optimally with your project goals.
Your contact person
Inspiration & practical examples from the SME sector
Voices from the field
As I walked out of the cell through the door towards freedom, I knew I had to leave my bitterness and hatred behind or I would remain a prisoner for life.
Those who give up freedom in order to gain security will end up losing both.
Freedom is like the sea: the individual waves are not very powerful, but the force of the surf is irresistible.
Marlies Schwarz: Let's work together to find out how AI can bring concrete benefits to your company.
- Customer Success Manager
- marlies.schwarz@cyberforum.de
- +49 721 602 897-664