Briefs · Entrepreneurship
Germany's Mittelstand Has Discovered AI — and Doubled Down in a Year
Germany’s Mittelstand has discovered AI — and doubled down in a year.
Bitkom announced on 15 September 2025 that 36% of German companies with 20 or more employees now use artificial intelligence. A year earlier the figure was 20%. Nearly doubled, in twelve months. Bitkom’s president, Dr Ralf Wintergerst, called it a breakthrough — a Durchbruch, in the original German.
Another 47% plan AI use or are already discussing it. Add the two together and more than eight in ten German companies are either using AI or on their way to it.
The survey is representative: 604 companies in Germany with 20 or more employees, commissioned by Bitkom. This is not a poll of Berlin startups. It is the Mittelstand itself, the backbone of the German economy, answering in numbers.
Doubled, not dabbled. The German habit is to test carefully and then commit completely, and the commitment phase appears to have arrived.
Conclusion: AI in German business is not a pilot project, but rather a pattern — one in three in, nearly half more on the way.
Summary in our own words. The original belongs to its publisher.