New IW study commissioned by eco – Association of the Internet Industry shows: Specialisation in AI drives innovation and growth
Germany’s success in AI has a clear focus: industrial applications. A new study by IW Consult, commissioned by eco – Association of the Internet Industry, shows that Germany’s strength as a business location stems from the combination of industry expertise, data and engineering expertise – with a measurable economic impact: AI-powered product innovations and new service offerings are already generating more than €120 billion in revenue.
Industrial AI as a strategic competitive advantage
More than half of all companies using AI (54%) are classed as AI specialists that systematically develop existing models and translate them into specific industrial applications. Rather than developing their own foundation models, they focus on adaptation, embedding and depth of application – an approach that is proving particularly effective. Overall, one in five companies in Germany already actively uses AI for innovation.
The AI start-up sector also confirms this trend:
- 83% of the AI start-ups surveyed build on existing models
- 71% were founded after 2021
- 51% specifically develop Industrial AI solutions
“Germany has a genuine competitive advantage in Industrial AI. Our strength lies where AI creates real added value – in industrial processes, products and value chains”, says eco Chair of the Board Oliver Süme.
AI is becoming a cross-cutting and foundational technology for the economy
The use of AI is rapidly developing into a widely adopted cross-cutting and foundational technology. One in five companies already actively uses AI for innovation. At the same time, demand for AI skills is growing significantly – far beyond traditional IT professions. AI is increasingly permeating all industries and qualification levels.
High intensity of competition – companies choose freely
The study reveals a highly competitive environment – both for AI models and infrastructure providers:
- Companies are familiar with an average of 6.4 AI foundation models and actively use 2.7 of them
- More than 70% use several models in parallel
- There is also considerable diversity among cloud providers: 56% use multiple providers in parallel, rising to 79% among start-ups – multi-cloud is established practice
There is no evidence of access bottlenecks. Companies choose according to performance criteria: performance (58%), adaptability (43%) and data quality (37%). Competition is working.
Call to policymakers: Planning certainty instead of additional regulation
Despite the strong momentum for innovation, companies have clear expectations regarding the political framework. Reliability and investment certainty are crucial for scaling and decisions about where to locate operations.
“The study shows that Germany has a genuine competitive advantage in Industrial AI. Companies have a choice, AI start-ups are driving innovation and technological openness is established practice. What companies now need is planning certainty and an innovation-friendly framework so that they can build on this lead”, says Oliver Süme.
The study can be downloaded here.
About the study
The study was prepared by IW Consult GmbH on behalf of eco – Association of the Internet Industry. It analyses the use, value creation and infrastructure of artificial intelligence in Germany on the basis of a broad survey of companies and AI start-ups, an analysis of online job advertisements and a literature review.
