Industrial leaders see transformation as urgent, yet many still lack the capabilities to deliver it. This report assesses the DACH industrial sector’s readiness to compete in a digital, AI-enabled market.
senior leaders surveyed, with 75% at C-Level or Managing Director level
agree that the window for transformation is closing, yet structural readiness tells a different story
dimensions of readiness across product, metrics, AI, organisational structure and architecture
Software-defined products and cyber-physical systems are reshaping how industrial manufacturers compete. While awareness of their implications is high, few companies have developed the product thinking, engineering, and architectural foundations required to deliver them at scale.
To understand how the industry is navigating this shift, we surveyed 55 C-level and senior decision-makers across the Machinery & Plant Engineering, Automotive, Device Manufacturing, and Measurement & Control sectors.
The study maps where the DACH industrial sector stands today, what distinguishes the players leading the way, where progress is stalling, and which strategic decisions are becoming the strongest drivers of long-term competitiveness.
Fifty-five senior leaders. One data-driven framework for understanding what separates high-performing organisations from the rest.
“The challenge is no longer awareness of the shift towards software-enabled systems. It is the organisational ability to operationalise that awareness.”
The research shows an industry split into three distinct groups. While a small number of companies are pulling ahead, most remain caught between ambition and execution, and the gap between them continues to widen.
The Advanced (10–15% of respondents) Solution-centric product thinking, integrated engineering, and AI-embedded product development.
These organisations are setting the pace.
The Transitioning (50–60% of respondents)Function-oriented product development, emerging AI capabilities, and fragmented systems engineering.
These organisations are at a strategic crossroads.
The Lagging (25–35% of respondents)Hardware-centric product development, functional silos, and limited software engineering maturity.
These organisations are losing competitive ground.
Discover what distinguishes the three groups and what it takes to move from one to the next.
Explore where the DACH industrial sector stands today through data visualisations, cross-analysis, and expert interpretation across every dimension of the study.
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