IBM: Artificial intelligence to drive smarter business growth in Germany and Switzerland by 2030

Despite this uncertainty, investment is increasing: Respondents expect investment in AI to rise sharply between now and 2030 – 156% of Swiss respondents and 148% of German respondents. At the same time, 68% of Swiss respondents and 59% of German executives surveyed fear that their AI efforts will fail due to a lack of integration with core business activities.

“AI will not only support businesses, it will define them,” said Mohamad Ali, senior vice president at IBM Consulting. “By 2030, the companies that prevail will incorporate AI into every decision and workflow. They will have powerful AI resources, move faster than their competitors, bring innovation to market quickly, and use technology and automation to drive real, measurable business results.”

The global study*, based on insights from 2,000 C-level executives, shows that AI will become a key driver of business growth by 2030. The findings suggest that future success will be achieved through bolder strategic decisions, even though many of the executives surveyed face a disconnect between expectations and outcomes. Key findings include:

German and Swiss executives are looking beyond AI efficiency to drive future success

• Currently, 45% of AI spend in Germany and Switzerland is focused on efficiency improvements, but by 2030, German respondents expect 62% of AI spend – and Swiss executives 63% – to be dedicated to innovation.
• 61% of German executives surveyed and 55% of Swiss executives surveyed believe that competitive advantage will be achieved through innovation rather than resource optimization by 2030.
• 77% of German executives, compared to 55% of Swiss executives, plan to reinvest the value of productivity gains achieved through AI into growth initiatives.
• Respondents expect AI to increase productivity by 42% globally by 2030. 65% of the Swiss and 56% of the German managers surveyed expect to realize most of the productivity gains made possible by AI by then.

Competitive advantage depends on the right technology investments

• While many of the executives surveyed (60% in Germany and 50% in Switzerland) stated that their competitive advantage lies in the maturity of AI models, only 23% of German respondents had a clear idea of which AI models they would need by 2030, compared to 35% of Swiss respondents.
• 89% of German and 73% of Swiss respondents expect their AI capabilities to be multi-model capable by 2030, and 72% of German and 60% of Swiss executives expect small language models (SLMs) to outperform large language models (LLMs).
• Global organizations surveyed that scale AI across multiple workflows using smaller, custom and basic AI models expect 24% higher productivity gains and 55% higher operating margins by 2030.
• While a clear majority of 68% of German and 63% of Swiss respondents say quantum-based AI will transform their industry by 2030, only 30% of German and 23% of Swiss executives expect to use quantum computing by then – a discrepancy that underscores the opportunities for organizations that are ready to act today.

AI redefines leadership and key capabilities

• By 2030, 25% of German and 21% of Swiss executives surveyed expect their organization’s leadership to have an AI advisor or co-decision maker. 78% in Germany and 70% in Switzerland state that AI will redefine leadership roles across the organization, with 64% in Germany and 58% in Switzerland believing that AI will create entirely new leadership roles.
• Meanwhile, 62% of German and 70% of Swiss respondents state that the duration of jobs will become shorter and shorter. They also expect most current employee skills to be obsolete by 2030 (61% of Germans and 55% of Swiss) and agree that mindset will be more important than skills (57% of Germans and 65% of Swiss, respectively).
• In addition, executives surveyed expect AI to eliminate the resource and skills bottlenecks that are holding their organizations back today, with similar expectations in Germany (66%) and Switzerland (65%).
• The analyses show that organizations that prioritize AI are 48% more likely to create new jobs and 46% more likely to transform their organizational structure to take greater advantage of AI.

The study provides executives with a guide on how to translate their AI-focused ambitions into measurable results. The full study can be found here: https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/en-us/report/enterprise-2030 

*Study methodology

The IBM Institute for Business Value, in collaboration with Oxford Economics, gathered insights from 2,007 executives, including 100 from Germany and 40 from Switzerland, on how they expect their organizations to evolve between 2025 and 2030. The survey was conducted in the third and fourth quarters of 2025 in 33 countries and 20 industries. The survey examined strategic priorities, including AI-enabled operations, the integration of advanced AI models into products and services, workforce transformation and readiness for new technologies such as quantum computing.

About IBM

IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI solutions, as well as expert consulting. We help clients in more than 175 countries harness insights from their data, optimize business processes, reduce costs and gain a competitive advantage in their industries.Thousands of government and private companies in critical infrastructure sectors such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to deliver their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting provide our clients with open and flexible options. All this against the backdrop of IBM’s long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, accountability, inclusivity and service. 

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Further links

👉 www.ibm.com 

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