Naturalness is at the heart of the Krombacher brand. How do you reconcile this with AI-generated content on social media? In this interview, Felix Jahnen, Chief Digital Officer at Krombacher, explains the benefits of artificial intelligence for his company and the risks he sees when using AI in customer communication.
Handelsblatt Research Institute
Mr Jahnen, what are the biggest digitalization trends in the food & beverage sector up to 2030?
Felix Jahnen
Currently, I see a certain saturation and normalization in digitalization. The times of great leaps in development are over. People no longer celebrate everything just because it's digital. Instead of blindly following hypes, it's time for realness again.
By the year 2030, digital will have firmly established itself as the leading medium. However, the amount of time people spend on digital platforms will stagnate. Consequently, it will become more challenging for companies to find ways to get through to their customers at all, and the major platforms (Meta, TikTok, Google, Amazon, etc.) will remain the primary gatekeepers, which will increasingly have to be paid for.
Handelsblatt Research Institute
What are the other trends?
Felix Jahnen
Even if it remains a niche for the masses, gaming is becoming increasingly important. In future, people will want to engage more intensively with digital content and be less and less simply entertained.
A third point is e-commerce. In the coronavirus era, exponential growth was observed here. There was then a small dip in the course of consolidation. However, this positive trend will now continue until 2030. Consumption of purely digital products in particular will increase.
Handelsblatt Research Institute
What is the main driver of these trends? Is it technological development or is it changing customer needs?
Felix Jahnen
My impression is that development is now being driven less by technology. Rather, the starting point is a change in customer interests.
Handelsblatt Research Institute
Are the trends mentioned also of great importance for the Krombacher Group?
Felix Jahnen
Yes, definitely. We are particularly focused on the digital media mix and data-driven marketing. It's about the question of how we get through to our customers on the various digital platforms. Artificial intelligence (AI) also poses a challenge in this regard. This is because AI-generated content can potentially undermine the credibility of digital content as a whole. It is becoming increasingly difficult to recognize whether the content was generated by an AI or by a human.
Handelsblatt Research Institute
Are these outlined trends and developments primarily a topic for the B2C sector or is it also relevant for B2B?
Felix Jahnen
I don't see much difference there. Both areas face similar challenges. The only difference is that trends in the B2B sector always take a little longer to really catch on. However, the relevance is the same for both areas.
Handelsblatt Research Institute
Which technology is currently very exciting for you and promises great potential?
Felix Jahnen
I see great potential in quantum computing. However, for me personally, as for many others, the technology is not yet within reach. Many of these are currently research projects and the road to commercial application is still a long one. But I expect that products and applications will eventually emerge that will drive the industry forward.
Handelsblatt Research Institute
And which technologies are traded too high or where were your expectations not met?
Felix Jahnen
For me, this definitely includes the metaverse and spatial computing. That was a real hype that really disappointed me personally. With the metaverse, however, you can also see - keyword Second Life - that many things are coming back. Some technologies need three attempts. Despite some impressive "individual fireworks", there are still no convincing applications that are considered relevant by customers.
Handelsblatt Research Institute
So could the metaverse prevail at some point after all?
Felix Jahnen
That is definitely possible. Basically, I believe that technology trends are becoming more fragmented and short-lived. The amplitudes of hype cycles are becoming smaller.
Handelsblatt Research Institute
One technology that is associated with great potential is AI. What opportunities do you associate with AI for companies in particular?
Felix Jahnen
For me, the most important aspect of AI is increasing efficiency. To a certain extent, there is also the chance of higher productivity, so that a company can achieve more with the same number of employees. On the other hand, I don't believe that the use of AI will enable companies to reduce their workforce to any great extent.
AI can also be used to optimize content and media use, particularly in the marketing and communications sector. However, if all companies rely on it, the advantage will be lost again. And for manufacturing companies, AI also offers the opportunity of predictive maintenance, for example, so that machines report that maintenance is necessary to prevent failure. This ensures an uninterrupted value chain.
Handelsblatt Research Institute
Which use cases for AI are currently particularly relevant in your company?
Felix Jahnen
In the area of content creation, we have already tested intelligent applications and created social media posts using generative AI. This also worked very well and the posts performed well. When it comes to video content, which is becoming increasingly important in social media, we are honestly still a little hesitant due to authenticity. After all, naturalness is at the heart of our most important brand.
I'm currently seeing platforms like YouTube being literally flooded with AI content, which is often of poor quality. This also means you don't reach people. There are also pilot projects in production - for example in the area of predictive maintenance - that are still in the early stages.
Handelsblatt Research Institute
How did you determine that the use of AI in content creation worked very well?
Felix Jahnen
With a shorter production time and lower costs, we ended up with social media posts of the same quality and performance in terms of reach and engagement. However, less production time does not mean that the content is perfect in four seconds at the touch of a button. That is of course a fallacy.
Handelsblatt Research Institute
What experiences have you had with previous AI applications? What success factors are important?
Felix Jahnen
When it comes to AI success factors, the most important thing for me is defining responsibility and objectives - in other words, ownership. We are not introducing AI in order to introduce AI, but to achieve something with it - such as increased efficiency. Before implementation, it is therefore necessary to clarify in which area and with which AI application these goals can be achieved. What are the criteria for the decision? And in large companies in particular, there is also the question of who will take care of it.
Handelsblatt Research Institute
How is this success factor implemented at the Krombacher Group?
Felix Jahnen
There is a steering committee in the company that decides on possible areas of use for AI applications. We consider which tools can be used economically in which departments. Demand reports from the departments and feedback from pilot projects play a role here.
Handelsblatt Research Institute
Thank you very much for the interview, Mr. Jahnen!
Felix Jahnen is Chief Digital Officer at Krombacher. The brewery is based in Kreuztal (NRW) and employs more than 1,000 people.
Felix Jahnen provides insights into his experiences with AI projects and expectations for the most important digitalization trends of the coming years.
In AI projects, the definition of responsibility and objectives is the most important success factor - in other words, ownership. We are not introducing AI just because we want to introduce AI, but in order to achieve something with it.
Felix Jahnen, Chief Digital Officer, Krombacher Group
The valantic Digital 2030 Study
Find out which digital trends and technologies will shape the future. The valantic study “Digital 2030” highlights current developments and provides insights into how companies can use them for their success.
