Before the summer vacations, we stopped off at another member company on our AI journey: on 8 July 2025, we visited OBO Bettermann in Menden and addressed the question of how AI can be anchored in the company’s organization.
Around 20 people responsible for AI topics from our member companies and guests accepted the invitation from Tobias Wierike, Head of IT at OBO.
After a brief welcome from Ingrid Lange, Tobias Wierike, Jannek Höbener and Julian Pries from the IT team presented their company and gave us an insight into how the IT team at OBO implements the use of AI in the company both strategically and organizationally.
Basically, all AI inquiries and requests for the use of AI tools, including international ones, are collected at the site in Menden and the implementation is checked.
There is a central AI hub for this purpose, although the individual sales companies in other countries must of course take the respective national laws into account. The IT team at OBO is responsible for this and represents an important interface. The first steps are always decided at the headquarters in Menden.
The basis for dealing with AI applications and the general use of digital technology in everyday working life is clearly regulated for all employees at OBO.
Compliance and usage guidelines play an important role in the company. A usage guideline on cloud topics, an additional works agreement for German companies and specific usage guidelines provide orientation. A traffic light system is used to classify which information may be stored and passed on and in what form.
Comprehensive communication on digital and AI topics is a prerequisite for transparency and understanding of this procedure in order to inform and sensitize the entire workforce. The IT team at OBO implements various specific measures in this area. Managers are regularly informed about AI topics. There are regular training courses for all employees, including on security and data protection. New colleagues are informed in detail about the existing agreements on usage and what sense they make. In Germany in particular, the regulatory framework is very demanding and the new EU AI Act is creating new requirements.
The information and training measures play a key role in highlighting the risks associated with the increasing use of technology.
OBO has already planned the first AI projects or is in the process of implementing them. In some cases, external partners are supporting the implementation.
The first use cases are intended to provide support to many employees in their day-to-day office work, e.g. in the form of an internal chatbot, but also to support strategic issues, such as identifying anomalies in the systems and data or making predictions.
After this intensive insight, the participants broke into small groups to discuss four key topics on a rotating basis.
At one table, the focus was on governance and responsibility: What form can sensible management and responsibility for AI topics take in a company?
The second topic focused on the area of data and infrastructure and what conditions need to be created in order to use AI in a meaningful way.
At the third table, possible use cases and their added value were discussed. What use cases are there and how are they prioritized?
The last topic is a concern for all companies when it comes to acceptance and culture. What conditions need to be created so that employees accept AI in their day-to-day work, use it sensibly and, ideally, develop it further?
At the end of the plenary session, all participants shared what they took away from the workshop. Overall, there was great appreciation for the path that the IT team at OBO has clearly taken on the topic of AI and which is well signposted for all employees.
We were able to get to know the very exciting perspective of IT managers who have drawn up a well thought-out plan in a very critical and cross-company manner in order to implement initial AI projects independently, sensibly and in a focused manner.
For many companies, the question of rules and company agreements in the area of AI use is very topical and the exchange was very valuable for some of the group.
Individual questions were discussed in more detail over a snack afterwards.
We would like to thank the IT team from OBO for the invitation and the interesting workshop morning.
We are taking many new ideas and suggestions with us into the summer vacations and are already looking forward to continuing our AI journey. The next stop is planned at ABP Induction Systems GmbH.
You will soon find the invitation in our NIRO app.
