German companies poorly prepared for AI

Only six percent of companies in Germany are optimally prepared for artificial intelligence. This is according to a study by US telecommunications company Cisco. Last year, the figure was seven percent. A total of 29% of German companies are still well prepared for the use of AI. In an international comparison, Germany is falling behind.

In terms of the percentage of companies that are fully prepared for AI, Germany is in sixth place in Europe. The leader with ten percent is the UK, ahead of Italy, Spain and Switzerland with nine percent each. In a cumulative analysis of companies that are optimally and well prepared for AI, the German economy is in third place behind the UK and Spain.

Germany is ahead in AI strategies

84% of German managers fear a negative impact on their companies if they are unable to implement their AI strategies within the next 18 months. Just under half expect noticeable consequences after just one year. German companies are ahead in terms of strategies. 95% already have a plan for dealing with artificial intelligence or are currently developing one. At the same time, only 35% have measurement procedures for the consequences of AI-based solutions. According to this, Germany's problems lie in implementation.

The greatest need to catch up is in the introduction of AI guidelines. Three quarters of companies currently have no regulations for the use of AI. Germany ranks fifth in this respect, and less than a third of German companies are at least well prepared for the data requirements associated with the use of artificial intelligence. In many companies, data is only fragmented or stored in silos.

Skilled workers and infrastructure lagging behind

Only 40% of German companies currently have enough specialist staff to meet the requirements. Last year, the figure was 47 percent. Although Germany is in second place in the European infrastructure comparison, companies also lack the necessary equipment for AI. Only 14 percent have access to the necessary graphics processors. One fifth of German companies have sufficient security measures for the data within the AI models. Managers are aware of these gaps and take them into account when making investments.

Expenditure on AI is split almost evenly between the areas of cyber security, infrastructure and data analysis. Just under a fifth of companies plan to allocate more than 40 percent of their budget to AI over the next five years. Companies expect this expenditure to lead to improvements in efficiency, competitiveness and customer satisfaction. However, previous investments in the optimization and automation of processes are not meeting expectations.

For the study, researchers surveyed 7,985 managers from companies with at least 500 employees in 30 different sectors worldwide. The full AI Readiness Index report is available on the Cisco website.

(sfe)