When nothing is certain, anything is possible – industrial marketers are in a spirit of optimism

Marketing as an operating system – not as a campaigns department

Business futurist Sven Göth presented some figures: decision-making circles in B2B are growing to between six and ten decision-makers. Buyers now spend only around 17 per cent of their decision-making time in direct contact with suppliers – the rest is spent conducting independent research in channels inundated with content. Anyone who still wants to make an impact in the age of AI-powered search needs strategy, data and a radical focus on the customer. And he encouraged the audience: “When nothing is certain, anything is possible.”

Marketing is evolving from a communications function into the company’s operating system. It must translate strategy for staff and the market, involve sales and product management, make data usable and, at the same time, integrate AI sensibly. Differentiation does not come from louder messages, but from greater relevance: underpinned by genuine customer insight, clear objectives and evidence-based course correction.

Investment in AI is rising – but tools are not the answer

The figures show that the industry is taking this shift seriously: according to the initial analysis of the bvik study “B2B Marketing Budgets 2026”, more than four in five companies plan to invest specifically in AI and generative AI for marketing processes. Just under 70 per cent want to introduce AI agents and automated workflows. But Kai Halter, CEO of bvik and Vice President of Marketing at ebm-papst, sums it up: “Relevance, mindset, knowledge, collaboration – these are the real levers.” AI cannot compensate for a lack of positioning, unclear processes, a lack of expertise or a weak brand.

Alignment as the outcome – not the starting point

Kerstin Löffler, Head of Global Marketing BU Pharma at Testo Saveris, used a five-stage go-to-market model to demonstrate how marketing, sales and product management can move from working side by side to genuine collaboration. Her key argument: CRM, transparency and shared goals are not options, but prerequisites. According to Löffler, only around eight per cent of companies today have a coordinated marketing-sales alignment structure, even though coordinated teams have been shown to achieve significantly higher conversion rates.

Those who stand still will be phased out

But organisational structures alone are not enough. Sabine Gromer, transformation architect and founder of MagnoliaTree, called for a more fundamental look at the issue of ‘future readiness’ among people and organisations. “Future readiness is also the ability to change one’s mind faster than the market changes its reality. That is why we must learn to think in terms of scenarios and imagine new futures. Otherwise, we will become obsolete in the foreseeable future.” Adaptation, she said, can only succeed if companies expand their scope for action and shift their mindset from ‘yes, but’ to ‘yes, and’. Change requires a mission, skills and genuine participation. Not efficiency alone, but sustainable growth and significance. Dignity, according to Gromer, is not a ‘soft’ concept, but a prerequisite for people to support change.

TIK 2026: Technical depth as a deliberate concept

The Industrial Communication Day deliberately emphasised technical depth with a focus on industry: a joint stage programme, silent listening sessions for in-depth discussions, time for networking, and a programme structure that views inspiration and exchange as inseparable.