How Germany is lagging behind in the race for Artificial Intelligence, AI

By Frank Johannsen, dpa I Sunday, December 01,2024

 

BERLIN – Companies in Germany are inadequately prepared for the use of artificial intelligence (AI), according to a study by US network equipment provider Cisco seen by dpa ahead of its release.

The study, due to be published on Monday, indicates that Germany is falling behind compared to other countries in Europe.

Just 6% of the companies surveyed are optimally positioned, one percentage point less than a year ago. Meanwhile, 29% are well prepared, the study found.

This means that in Europe, Germany is only mediocre, according to Christian Korff, a member of Cisco Germany’s management board.

“The rest of the world is overtaking us. This is alarming,” Korff said.

Germany is now in sixth place in Europe behind Britain, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands, he said. A year ago, Germany came third in the ranking. “We can’t be satisfied with this,” the senior executive warned.

For the annual study, launched last year, Cisco surveyed almost 8,000 IT managers from companies with more than 500 employees worldwide in August and September, including around 300 from Germany.

Good strategy, poor implementation
Korff highlighted a clear gap between aspiration and reality, stating, “Many have great AI strategies but simply do not implement them.”

While 77% of the surveyed companies said they had an AI strategy, only 36% had the technical infrastructure to use AI. Furthermore, just 40% had the necessary specialists on board.

“We get top marks for strategy but lag behind in implementation,” Korff added.

Time is pressing
At the same time, companies have recognized the urgency, with 98% of respondents saying that the use of AI has become more pressing in the past six months.

“Almost all companies have realized that without the use of AI, there significant disadvantages will arise for their business model,” said Korff. “And everyone knows that this has to happen quickly.”

He warned that Germany must be careful not to fall behind.

“If others are getting faster, then it’s simply not enough to just get a bit better.” Despite companies increasing their AI investments, “we are still not where we really need to be.”

Technical infrastructure investments are especially pressing, he said.

“If you don’t set the course for a rapid expansion of IT infrastructure, then you lag behind by a decade or a decade and a half,” said Korff. “We cannot afford that in this sector.”