Developing AI-based applications, products and business models together with companies in the region: This is the goal of the TTZ Günzburg, newly founded in 2020. In order to obtain an initial status quo on the current use of AI by companies in the region and to be able to identify needs, researchers from the centre surveyed 72 companies in the Swabia region in December 2020 and February 2021 by telephone and mail interview. A specially developed questionnaire was used that addressed both the current assessment and use of AI tools as well as the medium-term plans of the companies.
The relevance of artificial intelligence is recognised, but its potential is not yet fully exploited
The companies surveyed in the region are aware that artificial intelligence is a key technology of great benefit: four out of five SMEs assume that the relevance of AI will continue to increase in the medium term. Those responsible for sales and marketing in particular rate the benefits highly or very highly. Nevertheless, AI is not yet or hardly used in over 95 percent of companies.
The survey showed that those who are already working with artificial intelligence tend to be willing to expand its use - and the larger the company, the greater this willingness. Although companies with fewer than 50 employees are also currently using AI, the willingness to expand this in the future increases with the size of the company. In contrast, 80 percent of those companies that have largely done without AI tools so far do not plan to use them in the future.
Support from the TTZ Günzburg: Fit for the digital future
The striking discrepancy between the recognition of the benefits and the willingness to introduce or expand AI themselves has several reasons, explain Prof. Dr. Wilke Hammerschmidt and Prof. Andrea Kimpflinger from TTZ Günzburg. On the one hand, many companies use ready-made solutions from third-party providers, for example in the form of add-ons, and therefore do not see themselves in an active role. In addition, companies often shy away from the introduction of artificial intelligence because they lack the necessary knowledge about its potential and possible applications.
Here, it is important to both transfer knowledge and lower possible inhibition thresholds in order to support SMEs in recognising and utilising the diverse application possibilities of artificial intelligence. "We see many exciting areas of opportunity that we at the TTZ can offer, explore and use for and together with SMEs in the Swabia region."
The detailed results of the company study are available on the TTZ Günzburg website or directly under this link.
Contact
Scientific management at the TTZ Günzburg:
Prof. Dr. Wilke Hammerschmidt
Prof. Andrea Kimpflinger
About the TTZ Günzburg
The Technology Transfer Centre Big Data-based Marketing, supported by the Free State of Bavaria, was founded in 2020 as an in-stitute of the University of Applied Sciences Neu-Ulm (HNU) in the Swabian town of Günzburg and conducts applied research and development in the field of data-driven marketing. In the real laboratory, the scientists of the TTZ develop Big Data-based procedures for the intelligent analysis and evaluation of mass data from the marketing sector - and prepare these concepts and methods of data analysis in a comprehensible and manageable way. The interdisciplinary team advises medium-sized companies strategically and operationally on the implementation of prototypes and concepts for Big Data-based marketing.
