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AI makes sales more efficient – ​​but it often automates precisely the moments of contact where trust is built. Why this poses a strategic risk for companies in the B2B sector, and why personal relationships are more important than ever despite AI.

The pension reform should be fully implemented – but there is still resistance from the federal states. The "retirement at 63" remains a central point of contention in the debate.

Recent waves of layoffs reveal a crisis of renewal in the German economic model. Economists warn that cost reduction alone will not bring innovation. Furthermore, job losses among older workers contradict the debate about longer working lives.

I spent ten years training to become an orthodontist, which, in hindsight, is probably one of the longer routes one can take to go into business. It does, however, make you quite good with your hands, which I’ve channeled into arts, crafts, and sculpting outside of work.

China is far more than just a sales market and production location: as a technological superpower, the country is changing the competitive landscape. For European companies, it will be crucial to determine where they can expand their own strengths and where they can integrate Chinese innovation.

Being an introvert means, above all, recharging your batteries in quiet settings rather than in the hustle and bustle. This has nothing to do with performance, however—even though companies often treat introverts as second-class employees.

The GDR “public housing complexes” on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz, as well as the State Council building, offered him the opportunity for individual design within a collective: On the death of East Berlin’s city architect, Roland Korn.

Based on my more than 15 years of experience coaching executives, there's one thing I can say with certainty about the leaders who come to my sessions: they read books. They can explain emotional intelligence, name their own stress patterns, and cite research on self-awareness. Some can even recite their own personality assessment results from memory.

The more AI writes proposals and handles customer service, the faster the most important element in B2B business disappears: trust. That is precisely what is now becoming a decisive competitive advantage.

AI makes many tasks faster, but those who use it passively often lose touch with their own work. The key is to use AI not as a replacement, but as a partner in thinking. This way, motivation, personal responsibility, and creativity are preserved.

After more than fifteen years of coaching senior executives, I can make a safe bet about the leaders who walk into my sessions: they have read the books. They can explain emotional intelligence, name their stress patterns, and quote the research on self-awareness. Some can quote their own personality assessments by heart.

WirtschaftsWoche reports that the German government plans to hold an international investor summit, hosted at ESMT Berlin, in October and aiming to secure investment commitments worth billions of euros.

In ZDFheute, Jörg Rocholl, president of ESMT Berlin, assesses the government’s planned package to reduce bureaucracy. Drawing on ESMT Berlin’s Bureaucracy Index, he says the measures could mark a turning point by signaling that policymakers no longer want to expand bureaucracy.

In the latest CEO.Pick, Tina Manker, team coach for startups and high-performance teams in the DEEP Pioneers program at DEEP – Institute for Deep Tech Innovation at ESMT Berlin, explains why high-performing teams learn together. She shows how regular reflection and timely, honest feedback strengthen both performance and team relationships.

In California Management Review, Bianca Schmitz, lecturer at ESMT Berlin, and Olaf Plötner, professor at ESMT Berlin, examine how geopolitical fragmentation is reshaping multinational companies. They argue that “confederated communities” can balance global coordination with greater regional decision-making authority.