In Redmond, I was privileged to spend a week at Microsoft, particularly in the Cloud & AI division, gaining valuable insights, meeting impressive personalities and, above all, learning so much – both professionally and culturally.

I have experienced and come to appreciate Microsoft as a “truly engineering driven software company” and extraordinarily cooperative. The high degree of freedom and empowerment practiced as well as the relaxed collegiality of the top leaders in personal discussions inspire me. At the same time, the positive, creative and agile culture goes hand in hand with a certain complexity of the countless initiatives, pilots, products, services and projects.

Without sharing confidential content, it is clear that this is where our technological future is being developed, by courageous leaders, passionate thinkers and talented software architects. It is therefore painful to see how comparatively lagging behind German SMEs appear.

What’s more, modern technology is not a sure-fire success, but needs to be adequately incorporated into the business model and integrated into the organization. In this respect, the C-level is required to set future-oriented framework conditions and to empower and train its employees in the use of new technology and AI.

With this in mind, I and my team have made it my mission to realize digital excellence in German SMEs. With the C-level, we strategically address the business model, develop a scalable digital target picture and enable the company to sustainably implement the necessary transformation from within. As a change process that engages and inspires people.