Artificial Intelligence: The revolution for medium-sized businesses begins now!

Artificial Intelligence: The revolution for medium-sized businesses begins now!

On Wednesday, March 19, 2025, a groundbreaking event will take place at the Innovation Center SME AI Experience Center in Hallstadt. Under the title “Artificial Intelligence for medium-sized businesses – practice, potential, perspectives”, experts offer insights into the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in small and medium-sized companies (SMEs). The event starts at 3 p.m. and is aimed at interested people and representatives of SMEs. [Uni-Bamberg] reports that participation is free, but prior registration is required.

The event is held in cooperation with the SME AI Experience Center at the University of Bamberg, the Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Franken and the Cleantech Cluster. The aim is to give companies practical tips on using AI and to present realistic application examples. According to [Zukunftszentrum KI NRW], the number of companies using AI has increased since 2017, which underlines the growing interest in this technology. In a survey, SMEs often showed great uncertainty about integrating AI into their everyday work.

Challenges and potential in the use of AI

A comprehensive study published by Mittelstand-Digital in December 2023 highlights the challenges that SMEs face when using AI. The survey showed that obstacles such as a lack of employee qualifications and concerns about financial resources and IT security often occur. These obstacles prevent many companies from recognizing and using the potential of AI.

According to the Deloitte study, 65% of decision-makers surveyed are concerned about the lack of skills in their companies. In addition, 52% of respondents stated that implementation hurdles and data issues also represent serious challenges. Although 59% of participants expect AI to become increasingly important in the future, 58% see AI as strategically insignificant or very insignificant.

Nevertheless, there are also many opportunities through the use of AI. Companies can benefit from more efficient business processes, cheaper and faster production and optimized use of resources. There are particularly promising areas of application for AI in areas such as production, logistics, marketing and sales. The ability to relieve employees of routine tasks and improve customer service is also cited as an advantage.

Call for awareness

The KI NRW Future Center offers support for SMEs by providing free advice and training to raise awareness and further training of employees. This is intended to help companies create a solid data basis for the use of AI and thus make it easier to integrate this technology.

The upcoming event in Hallstadt not only represents an information platform, but is also intended to help advance the dialogue about the challenges and opportunities of AI in medium-sized companies. If you require additional information, you can contact Sebastian Feulner from the Chair of Cognitive Systems on 0951/863-2865 or Nora Stecklum from the university's press office on 0951/863-1182.

For further details about the event, those interested can visit the [Uni-Bamberg] website.