Image generated with AI
Europe is at a decisive point. AI is not only changing individual processes or business models, but the rules of the game for entire industries. Cloud is becoming the foundation of digital value creation, data the strategic raw material. This raises a central question for companies: Who determines our digital future? My answer is clear: We do!
On 8 September, Telekom brings together people who want to shape digitalization at DIGITAL X in Cologne's Rheinauhafen. The motto "Navigate What's Next" hits the mark: what matters is not only the ideas we have, but the course we set – and whether we retain control over data, infrastructure, and technological development. And for me, two Topics belong right at the top of the agenda: a secure and sovereign cloud for Europe and a powerful AI infrastructure for our industry.
For a long time, European companies seemingly had to choose between two worlds: on one side, speed of innovation, scalability, and great technological performance. On the other side, sovereignty, data protection, and control.
I consider this "either-or" to be outdated. With our T Cloud, we demonstrate that European sovereignty and technological excellence go hand in hand. Our ambition: companies should be able to use modern cloud technologies while always knowing where their data resides, who can access it, and according to which rules their infrastructure is operated.
Those who are dependent on central digital infrastructure also become dependent when it comes to innovation, AI, and data. This is why we are consistently expanding our T Cloud. At the same time, we are creating access to a topic that is indispensable for Europe's competitiveness: industrial AI.
Together with strong partners such as NVIDIA, SAP, and Siemens, we have created an AI factory on German soil with our Industrial AI Cloud. It provides companies, research institutions, and industry with the necessary infrastructure to develop and deploy AI in Europe. The demand demonstrates how great the need is: our AI factory is already operating at more than 60 percent capacity. German and European companies want to use AI productively—on a high-performance, secure, and sovereign foundation.
Why is this so important? Because Europe has a particular strength in the AI age: our industry. Mechanical engineering, automotive, manufacturing, logistics, robotics, engineering – this is where we have enormous knowledge, valuable data, and decades of experience. We must now combine this strength with AI. This requires computing power, cloud infrastructure, software, and models – but above all, trust.
We don't need to spend years debating whether Europe can keep up in the global technology race. We need to act.
Our Industrial AI Cloud connects precisely these building blocks with a sovereign technology stack. At the same time, it demonstrates that Europe can move at speed. From idea to implementation, we built the AI factory together with our partners in less than six months. It increases Germany's existing AI computing power by 50 percent in one fell swoop. For me, this is an important signal: We do not need to spend years debating whether Europe can keep pace in the global technology race. We need to act.
How does an automotive manufacturer use AI to develop vehicles faster? How do factories make their robots more efficient? How do digital twins optimize production processes? How do companies automate their workflows with AI agents? And how do we bring AI to mid-sized companies without every firm having to build its own infrastructure?
It is precisely at this point that technology becomes economic value. That is why I am looking forward to DIGITAL X. Because digitalization does not happen in PowerPoint presentations, but where technology meets concrete challenges: when companies share experiences, partners develop Solutions, and ideas become scalable business models.
Our guests can look forward to exciting insights and impulses from more than 90 partner stands, over 100 masterclasses and talks from business, politics and society. In addition to former Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and Minister-Presidents Hendrik Wüst and Markus Söder, bestselling author Yuval Noah Harari, Siemens CEO Roland Busch and ServiceNow Vice Chairman Nick Tzitzon are among the speakers. I myself will also be giving a keynote. For the full programme, click here.
My hope is that we will not only talk about the next technological trends there. I want to talk about how we can shape the next technological wave together: How does cloud infrastructure make companies more capable and more independent—in concrete terms? How do we bring industrial AI into application in Germany and Europe more quickly? What partnerships do we need for this? How do we connect innovation with security? And how do we ensure that more digital value creation takes place here with us in the future?
Europe has excellent prerequisites for this: strong companies, outstanding research, industrial expertise, and a huge market. What we need now is speed, investment, and the courage to implement.
On 8 September, I would like to discuss this with you at DIGITAL X in Cologne. Come to the Rheinauhafen. Take a look at our Solutions for your business. Bring your use cases and your questions. Then we can work together to take our digital future into our own hands and determine "What's next" ourselves.
