Riding the AI Wave: How Industrial Companies Can Harness It Purposefully

Why AI Alone Doesn’t Replace Strategy

It's not AI alone that determines the future of a company – it’s people who intelligently orchestrate technology, processes, and organization.

Artificial Intelligence is the central topic in the industrial sector, too. But to gain real competitive advantages through and with AI, companies must not blindly follow the hype. An “AI-First” label guarantees neither innovation nor future viability. Only those who combine people, technology, and organization in a learning system – the Cybernetic Enterprise – will be successful in the long run.

Artificial Intelligence is undoubtedly one of the most significant technological developments of our time. Yet many companies are approaching it more with panic than strategy: AI is hailed as a cure-all, “AI-First” initiatives are launched, prototypes are rolled out at high speed – yet the return on investment (ROI) often fails to materialize. Romano Roth, Global Chief of Cybernetic Transformation at Zühlke, has a clear stance:“Don’t be fooled. From ‘ChatGPT cowboys’ to politically driven quick fixes to decisions based more on buzzwords than substance – the AI hype is everywhere.”

Experience from Zühlke client projects shows: AI alone won’t fix broken processes. It won’t heal dysfunctional organizations or solve cultural challenges. Believing that a language model can reinvent a business model without human direction misses the point entirely.

The truth is this: The future doesn’t belong to AI – it belongs to the companies that create environments where people can work effectively with AI. Not occasionally, but systematically. Welcome to the age of the Cybernetic Enterprise.

Long-Term Adaptability and Sustainable Value

A Cybernetic Enterprise is a learning, continuously self-regulating system. It combines technology, organization, processes, and governance through intelligent feedback loops. The goal isn’t short-term efficiency, but long-term adaptability and sustainable value. Decisions are data-driven, teams act in a decentralized manner but follow shared principles, and the technological infrastructure enables continuous evolution.

Rather than treating AI as an external tool that is applied when needed, in a Cybernetic Enterprise, AI is an integral part of a modern platform strategy. The foundation for this is the principle of platform engineering: An internal, standards-based platform provides developers, architects, and product teams with self-service capabilities, automation, and AI components “as a service.” This reduces friction, accelerates time-to-market, and creates the space for true innovation.

Humans Remain at the Center of Industrial Transformation

But even the best platform is useless if the organization doesn’t keep up. That’s why the Cybernetic Enterprise focuses on empowerment: Teams take responsibility for their products, work iteratively, and collaborate closely with users. Decisions are made where knowledge resides – not in distant hierarchies.

And perhaps most importantly: At the heart of the Cybernetic Enterprise are people. It’s not about replacing human capabilities with AI, but augmenting them. AI becomes a catalyst, not the conductor. True transformation arises only through the interplay of people, technology, organization, and processes.

History teaches us: Hypes come and go. What endures are those who build substance. Those who want to not just survive but deliberately leverage the current AI wave must do more than launch a few pilot projects. They must rethink their organization – to be cybernetic, adaptive, and human-centered.Because the future is not AI-First. It is Human-Led and AI-Enabled.

At the upcoming event, the Zühlke Group will host a topic table titled:“AI Between Hype and Reality – How Companies Can Survive the Era of AI Idiocy.” Speak with Romano Roth, Chief of Cybernetic Transformation at Zühlke. Because in a time when AI is transforming nearly every industry, one thing is clear: Those who implement AI without understanding it are buying their next crisis. And without cultural change and a solid data strategy, every AI initiative remains nothing more than a paper tiger.

Original Post in German: https://www.industr.com/de/die-ki-welle-meistern-wie-industrieunternehmen-sie-gezielt-nutzen-2860664

This is what happens when ‘AI-First’ becomes an excuse for skipping the hard work.