The software and consulting company IBM moved into its new tech campus around a year ago in the small town of Ehningen in Baden-Württemberg. One of the US company's largest research teams works there. With the new building, the company has made a long-term commitment to its location in Germany - despite the tense economic situation in the country. "We are one of the largest economies in the world, we have innovative customers, fantastic talent and we are strong in research," emphasizes the managing director of IBM Germany, Christine Rupp.
Research as a location strength
This is also why the Ehningen site invested in the first quantum computer on European soil in 2020. Its complex computing power is used primarily for research, also in conjunction with AI applications. And they play a central role for IBM. The company wants to position itself in the market with AI solutions for major customers.
This business is about optimizing customers' business processes using artificial intelligence to save costs and time. One example was a pilot project in the administration of the youth welfare office in Augsburg. Here, AI helped to calculate maintenance payments and thus relieve the burden on skilled workers.
With a focus on AI, companies like IBM are better equipped to face the current economic challenges, says business economist Jannis Bischof from the University of Mannheim: "These companies can better meet the current cost pressure. They benefit from the high investments in artificial intelligence." Customers are therefore prepared to accept higher prices. Companies could therefore pass on the current cost increases more easily.
Which clouds the mood in the economy
And yet: In July, IBM missed its own expectations and suffered a drastic fall in shares. And the company is also struggling with structural disadvantages in Germany, confirms Christine Rupp.
As a location, Germany suffers from cumbersome approval procedures and access to venture capital in particular is more difficult than in other countries. There is also a problem with the attitude: “The tackling, the momentum is something that we can perhaps take a look at together.”
In other sectors of the economy, especially industry, the mood is clouded, even though the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently raised its forecast for this year's growth in the German economy to 1.3 percent. According to business economist Bischof, surveys by the University of Mannheim also show that cost pressure from energy prices, high labor costs and geopolitical uncertainties are putting pressure on companies. They expect politicians to eliminate locational disadvantages.
“Our corporate taxes are comparatively high,” said the expert. Here, politicians can relieve the burden on companies and focus on positive investment development. There is also a growing demand among companies to reduce energy costs in order to remain competitive in the future.
AI: Danger or opportunity for the labor market?
For IBM, competitiveness in the future will be linked to artificial intelligence. When asked to what extent it can also be competition for employees, the managing director answers: "AI is one of the biggest elements of change in decades, perhaps even since the Industrial Revolution." It is understandable that some people are worried, but it is crucial to evaluate AI as an opportunity. "With it we can increase our productivity levels and get competitiveness in a high-wage country like Germany back to an appropriate level."
According to the expert, the introduction of AI will be successful where it is accompanied by specialists. Further training and further education are important. The use of AI does not just mean a reduction in jobs in the labor market. “More skilled workers are needed,” says Bischof.
Employees do not have to be afraid of AI in this context. "On the contrary, those who work in companies that do not deal with artificial intelligence and do not invest should be concerned." Because in the end, competition is always about productivity advantages.
A chatbot handles personnel concerns
The IBM Group, which employs around 300,000 people worldwide, also wants to use its own AI in its own company - for example in all administrative positions. “We are not our own customers,” says Rupp.
This becomes clear in the area of the human resources department. If they have any concerns, all employees interact with a chatbot that responds to inquiries and then takes care of them. According to Rupp, the introduction of the chatbot initially caused unrest among the workforce, but satisfaction has now spread: "Our throughput times have accelerated by 75 percent." Today, all managers at IBM used the bot for their teams.
