Resilience through partnerships and AI
Ever since the American company OpenAI made its chatbot ChatGPT publicly available almost exactly a year ago, the whole world has been talking about artificial intelligence (AI). Yet AI has long been an important factor in industry, offering enormous opportunities for Germany in particular.
According to an ifo economic survey conducted in August of this year, 13.3% of companies in Germany are already using artificial intelligence and 9.2% are planning to use it. A further 36.7 percent of all companies surveyed are discussing possible application scenarios.
For Sami Atiya, member of the Group Executive Board of ABB Ltd and Head of the Robotics and Factory Automation division, AI offers enormous potential in a wide range of economic sectors in the future, as he wrote in a guest article for Handelsblatt in June:
"It is assumed that generative AI technologies can enable an annual increase in productivity of 2.6 to 4.4 trillion dollars worldwide. This is roughly equivalent to the gross domestic product of the UK in 2021."
A study by the Research Institute of the German Economy Cologne commissioned by Google confirms this potential: systems with generative AI functions could, according to of this study contribute around 330 billion euros to the added value of the German economy in the future. The prerequisite is that at least half of the companies use appropriate technologies.
According to Atiya, who is also a long-standing partner of the Munich Management Colloquium (MMK) generative AI acts as a catalyst for innovation. At the MMK on March 5 and 6, 2024 in Munich, he will explain exactly how AI and robotics are driving innovation in the industry. He says: "Higher productivity is essential to counter the shortage of skilled workers, which affects every second company in Germany. AI is therefore one of the key technologies that will help determine future prosperity in Germany."
But it is not only global players such as ABB that have long recognized the potential of AI. The start-up company sewts, which has already been a guest on the start-up stage at the MMK in the past, says it wants to "become the world's leading partner for automation processes with easily deformable materials".
sewts founder Alexander Bley said at the MMK: "Our big vision is the complete automation of clothing production. To make this vision a reality, we are developing industrial software in which we combine our skills in the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics and material simulation." For example, the robot can sew a tailor-made suit, which, among other things, shortens transport routes and reduces CO2-emissions can be saved.
"Artificial intelligence holds the opportunity for German industry to become an active shaper again," says MMK founder and Managing Director Prof. Horst Wildemann. And even if the media presentation does not directly suggest it: "Germany is a leader in the field of AI when it comes to combining domain knowledge and new algorithms," emphasizes Wildemann. "To make the most of this opportunity, we must not get bogged down now."
How Germany can once again become the world champion of innovation and what entrepreneurs can learn from the best will be the topics at the upcoming MMK. Under the motto Strong together top executives from large and medium-sized companies, successful start-ups and thought leaders from science and politics will present blueprints on how companies can become resilient through networking and collaboration. "AI is not just a tool, but a strategic partner that is revolutionizing decision-making," says Wildemann. Or as Atiya puts it: "Artificial intelligence offers German industry more opportunities than risks."
Further information can be found on our website at: https://management-kolloquium.de.