In many industries, it is no longer a question of whether artificial intelligence will be used, but how - and at what pace. While some companies are still hesitating, others have already implemented their first projects. With measurable success! Especially in our industrial region of Baden-Württemberg, where innovation and expertise are traditionally part of the success model, the use of AI will be the decisive competitive advantage in the future. Kilian Brauchle, consultant for social media, digitalization and data analytics, explains why.
Many employees have been using AI for a long time - seven out of ten even without their employer's approval. This is precisely where the risk lies: shadow workflows are created and legal gray areas open up. This is particularly tricky when working with sensitive data and intellectual property - for example in design, product development or customer contact. Anyone who uploads confidential information to publicly accessible systems such as ChatGPT risks far more than a data breach: they also jeopardize the economic sovereignty of their company.
"AI must become a top priority"
Studies show that generative AI will reach human level in areas such as language comprehension, logical thinking and problem solving by 2030 - much earlier than long predicted. For many companies, this represents the next big challenge - while they are still in the middle of the digitization process. Digitalization was praised in many places as a driver of modernization, but often failed because employees were unable to recognize the concrete benefits or stuck to habits, as digitalization mainly took place in supporting processes and not in central processes.
Anyone who is serious about digitalization and ultimately AI must make it a "top priority". After all, AI is far more than digitalization - it is about far-reaching structural change. What is technologically possible is becoming socially tangible: the role of qualified specialists is suddenly up for grabs. The change is not just affecting simple routine activities - the focus is increasingly on particularly demanding specialist professions. In Germany, this primarily affects academic professions or jobs with a wide range of applications. Whether business people, lawyers, teachers or engineers - they are all experiencing an unprecedented increase in the potential for automation. The middle of the workforce is coming under pressure: well trained, expensive, indispensable for a long time - now suddenly replaceable? This perspective is explosive. Those who convey change as a threat rather than an empowerment will encounter cultural hurdles.
Recognize opportunities, use AI
Artificial intelligence opens up enormous opportunities for companies: despite its innovative strength and industrial expertise, Germany is held back by bureaucracy, slow innovation processes, a shortage of skilled workers and a considerable cost structure. Products and innovations that bring prosperity have been and continue to be crushed by global competition or relocated abroad with their eyes wide open. Companies that invest in good time will be able to achieve rapid amortization effects and, above all, unprecedented growth.
Industry in particular, which is spread far and wide across the "Ländle" region with its geographical and demographic challenges, can benefit enormously from AI - from (partially) automated construction to quality assurance. However, it should not be overlooked that many companies are still struggling with legacy IT and a lack of interfaces. Building an AI-capable infrastructure takes time, investment and expertise - and is not a sure-fire success.
Anyone who thinks they can hide from the future will soon be overrun by it.
No company will close because there is AI - but many companies will disappear because another one is doing the same thing, only with AI. Whether people or organizations: those who don't move will lose, while "the economy" reinvents itself. What remains important is that the true competitive advantage does not lie in technology alone, but in the willingness to change holistically - taking into account cultural, legal and economic realities.
From tools to transformation: product-integrated AI as a true game changer
As early as 2012, a McKinsey study showed that employees spend an average of 19% of their time searching and researching. These activities are predestined for entry into AI-supported systems - provided that companies think beyond tool use. This is because the true value of AI is not created through selective application, but through integration into organizations, their core processes and their products. A company's AI must be trained and developed from within the company. At the same time, accompanying measures are needed: Further training, change management, governance structures. Otherwise, the entry will not become an ascent - and the organization will remain stuck in tool mode. When companies start to train digital twins of their products, processes and decisions, sustainable added value is created that is scalable and future-oriented.
Companies that do not act today will not fail because they do not use AI - but because others do and become faster, better and cheaper in the process. AI is not a project - it is the new pace of business.
About the author
Kilian Brauchle studied economics and business administration at Sciences Po Paris and computer science at the LSE and MIT. He has been involved in the application and development of AI technologies for many years. His focus is on the strategic use of generative AI and the development of practical AI systems for organizations. In lectures, workshops and specialist articles - including for the Chamber of Industry and Commerce - he conveys complex content in an understandable way and shows how companies can use AI profitably.
