Change management is a must for AI

Only about one in ten companies (11 percent) in Germany uses artificial intelligence (AI). The larger the company, the more frequently AI is used. 17 percent of companies with 500 employees or more use the technology.

In companies with 100 to 199 employees, however, the figure is only eight percent. By comparison, almost eight out of ten companies (78 percent) rely on cloud computing, and in small companies the figure is 76 percent. This is the result of a representative survey conducted by Bitkom Research on behalf of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

In the case of new technologies, it is not unusual for many companies to introduce them only after the competition has already been successful on the market with them and best practices can be identified. But this strategy is risky in the case of AI. It is not a mere trend, but is seen as critical to the future viability of companies. And with every day of waiting, the gap to the leading companies grows and the pressure of the market increases.

This is because there are already a wide range of application scenarios: from predictive maintenance and automated condition monitoring of machines and devices to optimized energy management and the prediction of customer needs. Today, AI-based solutions can already be found in particular in areas where a high degree of automation and the associated increase in efficiency can be achieved. One example is quality assurance in production, where pattern recognition can be used to detect errors reliably and quickly.

However, in order to use AI, specialist knowledge and corresponding experts are needed. And both are often lacking in medium-sized companies. Corporations can set up entire departments to deal with AI. In medium-sized companies, on the other hand, only a few employees would have to deal with the entire topic of digitization - including AI.

Although the shortage of skilled workers also affects large companies, they are more attractive employers because of their reputation or the broader range of topics they cover. The smaller the company, the more difficult it is to find employees with the required skills.

Which entry point to choose?

Partnerships with technology companies or even universities can provide valuable services. Companies should also take a look at AI platforms currently being developed by public cloud providers. They enable the use of powerful and scalable AI methods without having to make large-scale investments of their own.

Particularly attractive for SMEs is collaboration with industry and interest groups, which often provide industry-specific information and services free of charge. After all, the first thing is to understand the technology and recognize what opportunities it offers. How do I approach the topic in order to be able to use data in a targeted way? Where are the potential applications on the product or process side? What added value does AI offer?

Companies do not need an AI strategy right from the start. What companies do need, however, if AI is to be successful in the long term, is change management. That means communicating necessary changes to the workforce. After all, the demands on employees' activities are changing. This also increases the importance of ongoing training.

In the future, employees will use AI solutions as naturally as they use Microsoft Office today. This change must be actively accompanied by suitable change management measures. Anyone who thinks it is enough to use new technologies will fail.