Autor: Ralf Klinkenberg

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the next stage in the digitalization of the economy. The technology also offers great potential for small and mediusized enterprises (SMEs). However, many SMEs are still reluctant to introduce AI and are only at the beginning of digitization: only around one fifth of all SMEs in Germany have thoroughly digitized their own processes and departments. What does this mean for the use of AI in companies? What steps should businesses take now to take advantage of the opportunities AI offers? And what stumbling blocks should be avoided? This article presents practical implementation concepts for companies with different levels of digital maturity and AI deployment capabilities and shows the range of potential benefits of AI applications in different industries and with different value creation architectures in medium-sized companies.

The advancing digitization leads to new possibilities for the design and digital support of business processes. In particular, non-R&D-intensive, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises, face great challenges in realizing these potentials. In the context of this article, various application scenarios are outlined. A detailed example of a non-R&D-intensive company shows how the procurement can be supported by the analysis and forecasting of relevant data, e.g. process data or the availability and costs of components, as well as the creation of the offer.