Generative AI in the German economy in 2026

In 2026, artificial intelligence will be an integral part of the strategic reality of German companies.The focus is no longer on its use, but on the question of how consistently AI is managed, integrated and scaled. This is shown by our current study „Generative AI in the German economy 2026“.

Compared to the previous year, the development has accelerated noticeably: The relevance of AI is now recognised almost across the board, the first applications are delivering measurable added value and AI is increasingly making inroads into core operational processes.

For companies, this means that the competitive advantage no longer comes from individual applications, but from the ability to systematically integrate AI into their own value creation.

Study: AI is a strategic standard – implementation is becoming a bottleneck

At the same time, a clear picture emerges: many companies are already making progress – however, full integration remains the exception. The gap between ambitious strategy and consistent implementation is therefore becoming a decisive differentiating factor.

The study is based on information from 480 decision-makers from the German economy and continues our analysis from 2025.

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Why now is the time that will determine who can turn AI into real business value.

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Generative AI in the German economy in 2026

AI is strategically anchored. Now the quality of implementation is crucial. What companies should do now.

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The most important results

98 % of companies

rate AI as relevant for their business model and value creation
78 % already see a major impact

influence of AI on their industry – a faster development than expected last year
Less than 1 % of companies

have fully and systematically integrated AI into their core processes

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Trusted AI as a prerequisite for scaling

33 % of companies

control the trustworthy use of AI strategically and company-wide
82 % of the companies

see regulatory requirements (e.g. EU AI Act)

as a strong influencing factor on how they deal with AI

Enablement of employees is becoming crucial

84 % of companies

rate their employees as fundamentally well prepared. At the same time, the challenge no longer lies primarily in knowledge,but in the integration of AI into everyday working life.

Our experts provide all the results of the survey as well as corresponding analyses and recommendations for action:Our experts provide all the results of the survey and corresponding analyses and recommendations for action in our study „Generative AI in the German Economy 2026“, which you can download now.

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Even more insights:
16 sectors, 16 exclusive reports

Specific reports with compact analyses, key figures and evaluations on the use of generative AI will soon be available for 16 key sectors of the economy. They show which developments are relevant – and where opportunities and challenges lie.

Pre-order now