From optional to mandatory: 91% of German companies see AI as business-critical and are significantly increasing their budgets

Results of the second edition of the study "Generative AI in the German economy 2025":

• 91% of companies see generative AI as an important topic for their business model and future value creation - up 36 percentage points on the previous year
• 82 percent want to invest more in the next twelve months, more than half are even planning budget increases of at least 40 percent
• 69 percent have set up a strategy for generative AI, which is 38 percent more than in 2024
• Benefits of AI: more innovation, efficiency, sales and automation as well as product and growth opportunities
• Backlog in governance, ethical guidelines and training remains - trustworthy use of AI remains a key challenge

June 5th, 2025 | Berlin

Generative AI is becoming an integral part of German companies. 91% of companies now see it as crucial to their business model and future value creation - compared to 55% in the previous year. This was revealed by the study "Generative AI in the German economy", for which over 650 decision-makers from 18 sectors were surveyed in March 2025.

Investment intentions are also increasing in line with strategic relevance: 82% of companies are planning to increase their AI budgets in the next twelve months, and more than half (51%) by at least 40%. In 2024, these figures were 53% and 28% respectively. 

Almost seven out of ten companies have now developed a strategy for generative AI (2024: 31%). A further 28 percent are working on this. However, despite this progress, integration into processes often remains fragmented: Only around half of companies are already using generative AI on a broad scale, with many using it selectively so far. Companies in the areas of marketing, sales and product development are particularly active. By contrast, finance, tax and legal departments are still lagging well behind their potential.

This is surprising, as companies are hoping that generative AI will provide a major boost in terms of innovation (72%) and faster data analysis (71%). Increased turnover (49%), greater automation (48%) and new product and market opportunities (47%) are also among the key expectations. Compared to the previous year, these expectations have remained largely stable.

In addition to the potential, however, respondents also continue to see specific challenges. The biggest ones include ethical challenges (68%), security and compliance requirements (52%) and a lack of regulation (43%). Although 95% of companies are already addressing the responsible use of AI, only 26% have established a company-wide strategy. Preparation for existing regulations such as the EU AI Act is also inadequate: two thirds of companies see a clear need to catch up here.

Compared to the previous year, the willingness to train employees has improved significantly: 72% of companies now feel that they are well or very well prepared to train their workforce - an increase of 34 percentage points. Nevertheless, there is a lack of concrete programs in many places. Only one in four companies is planning to invest specifically in training over the next twelve months. The biggest challenge remains the sustainable anchoring of skills development - especially with regard to ethical application and regulatory requirements.