AI has arrived in German companies, but not at the same speed everywhere. Official statistics show a clear gap by company size.
What the statistics show
According to Destatis, 26 % of companiesA with ten or more employees used AI in 2025. Among large companies it was 57 %A, among small ones 23 %A. The EU average shows a similar pattern: according to Eurostat, 55.0 %A of large, 30.4 % of medium and 17.0 % of small enterprises use AI.
When it comes to making full use of it, the size advantage disappears. According to a summary of Bitkom's September 2026 presentation, 87 % of AI usersU do not exploit its potential, almost equally across all size classes. Large companies start earlier, but they do not automatically get further.
Three paths
The corporate: According to n8n, Delivery Hero saved around 200 hours of lock-out time a month with a single IT workflow and then automated further processes on the same pattern. The advantage of size is volume: even small improvements multiply a thousandfold.
The scale-up: Remote, a provider of international employment services, runs more than 580 active ZapsH, according to Zapier. Fast-growing companies automate because they rebuild processes all the time anyway.
The SME: Here we still lack a solid case study with numbers. We are looking for companies willing to share their path. Germany's publicly funded Mittelstand-Digital centres are a good place to find practical examples.
The workflow: the SME path
For smaller companies without a digital team, a step-by-step path that starts with existing tools has proven useful.
- 01StartPick one process with a clear owner
- 02SystemUse existing tools, such as Copilot Chat or Gemini
- 03SystemBuild one no-code workflow
- 04PersonMeasure before and after
- 05DataPresent the result internally
- 06ResultPick the next process
Limits and risks
- Dependency: In SMEs, automation often depends on one person. Plan for cover and documentation from day one.
- Starting too big: One process, one workflow, one measurement. Big programmes fail for lack of time.
- Secondary source: The 87 % figure comes from a summary of the Bitkom presentation and should be checked against the original before use.
How to start
- Ask every team: which task annoys you every week and follows a fixed rule?
- Pick one with a clear owner.
- Build it with tools you already licence.
- Show the result to everyone and look for the next candidate.