Artificial intelligence - technology or strategy?
2026 – and AI is still on everyone's lips. In podcasts, on LinkedIn, in strategy papers. But if you look around companies, you see a different picture: little real implementation, a lot of uncertainty, even more hype. In this episode, we explore why this is the case, which three patterns reliably lead to failure – and why the decisive lever lies neither in technology nor ideology, but in the process.
The central thesis: AI is not a substitute for employees. AI is an amplifier for the best people in the company. Once you understand this, you can start to create real value.
When talking to decision-makers in companies about AI, you always encounter the same three scenarios. At first glance, all three sound plausible. All three lead to a dead end.
The wait-and-see faction observes, reads articles, attends workshops—and does nothing. Meanwhile, employees build an uncontrolled shadow AI in the background and throw confidential data into ChatGPT. No knowledge, no control, no scalability.
The copilot faction licenses Microsoft Copilot for everyone and waits for the magic productivity boost. Six months later, the realization: employees are using it as a better (or worse) search engine. The promised impact fails to materialize.
The center of excellence faction establishes its own department with self-proclaimed or genuine AI experts. The problem: this department is unfamiliar with both the corporate strategy and the actual bottlenecks. It works on happy path use cases that no one needs.
Key Points
- “Artificial intelligence is not a technology. It is a field of research. A whole bundle of technologies. You can't just say, ‘We're implementing AI as if it were a new database.’”
- “The right perspective is not, ‘How do I replace my expensive people?’ The right perspective is, ‘How do I make my best people ten times more productive?’”
- “The desire to use AI is driving some companies to pursue consistent digitalization for the first time. That's the uncomfortable truth.”
- “If you use Gen AI to replace people with mediocre output, it's a waste of time. Regardless of whether it's ethical or not.”
- “Companies don't necessarily need scientists and the latest technology. They need to talk to their best employees. Where is the bottleneck?”
- “It's not the fascination with technology, it's not the visionary future – the shortage of skilled workers is the best reason to use AI.”
Summary
1. AI is not a single tool, but an entire field with dozens of technologies – from generative AI to OCR to computer vision. Treating it like a database will lead to failure.
2. The two extreme positions – “wait and see” and “go all in on AI” – both lead to a dead end. One results in a loss of control, the other in mediocrity.
3. The crucial change in perspective: AI should scale the best employees, not replace the mediocre ones. Quality improvement and throughput scaling are the criteria.
4. Many companies need consistent digitalization before AI. The benefits often do not come from AI itself, but from finally understanding and documenting processes.
5. The shortage of skilled workers is the real strategic driver. AI is not an alternative to hiring, but an alternative to offshoring, closing down, or capping capacity.
6. The practical approach: Identify the top three processes where good people are stuck in routine work. Check whether AI can automate 50% of this. That alone doubles throughput.
