ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
TREND STUDY 2021

Artificial intelligence (AI for short) has arrived as a strategic topic in German companies. The management level in particular is sensitised - 71% of those surveyed at the lower to upper management level are already dealing with AI in concrete terms. Contrary to what the public discussion suggests, employees also tend to see the use of AI as an opportunity - 75% of respondents have high hopes that AI will make their work more efficient. This study shows just as clearly that there is still a lack of concrete plans to actually implement AI strategically in the company. Only 14% of respondents say they are already using AI. At the same time, companies lack important competencies to comprehensively use AI. This creates an implementation gap that needs to be closed in the future. AI offers enormous opportunities for innovation and new business models. For Germany alone, the potential revenue growth in the current decade is estimated at over 430 billion euros. Here, it is crucial that companies translate the importance of the topic into concrete plans and projects - and, above all, build up the necessary expertise. The study shows which competences are important here and what is necessary to build up the corresponding skills.