Most innovation does not die at the patent office. It dies long before that, in the way an organization makes decisions, executes, and turns ideas into outcomes.
I was invited onto The Hard Things About IP, hosted by Dimitris Giannoccaro and produced by IamIP, for Episode 7. We stepped beyond patents and legal frameworks to the question that sits before every filing: how do organizations actually turn ideas into real results? We talked about AI transformation, organizational design, why so many AI initiatives get stuck in pilot mode, how feedback loops drive decision-making, and why accountability needs to live where the work happens.
Summary # First the online travel provider Lastminute, then the online pharmacy DocMorris: within a single month, two listed companies in Switzerland justified larger job cuts with AI. At Lastminute, a reorganization is expected to eliminate about a quarter of its roughly 1,600 positions; at DocMorris, around 100 full-time roles group-wide. Michael Siegenthaler, head of the Swiss Labor Market research division at the KOF Institute, has observed a trend since 2024: especially in certain IT jobs and heavily language-based roles, the job market has weakened because of AI, and fewer entry-level positions are being advertised. At the same time, it remains unclear whether the hoped-for productivity gains actually materialize in day-to-day work.
Summary # Handelsblatt examines how the shift by major model providers to usage-based billing turns tokens into a resource that companies must actively manage, much like labor, energy, and capital. The trigger, among others, is GitHub Copilot moving to token-based billing. The article shows how companies are responding to the cost pressure through budgets, model selection, and new platforms.
Artificial Intelligence has moved from research labs into boardrooms, but too often it is surrounded by hype, inflated promises, and misguided investments. Many organizations rush to “do something with AI” without considering trust, data confidentiality, or the actual problems they are trying to solve.
Summary # At the 10th edition of the FRANKFURT FUTURE TALKS, a partner event by Wirtschaftsinitiative, F.A.Z. and Momentum held at Massif Central, Dr. Sarah Jourdan (Genow.ai), Romano Roth (Zühlke) and Prof. Dr. Peter Buxmann (TU Darmstadt) discussed Agentic AI. Moderated by Daniel Schleidt (F.A.Z.), the panel asked: Where does the hype begin, what is reality, and how is value created?
This interview was published on June 2, 2026 in IT-Markt, conducted by Coen Kaat. Translated from German.
Digital sovereignty is forcing IT leaders to rethink. With AI too, companies want to reduce their dependence on large foreign corporations. Romano Roth, Chief of Cybernetic Transformation at Zühlke, explains when a local AI infrastructure pays off and what to consider.
Where ChatGPT cowboys ride the hype, we need a clear look at AI:
It is a pattern recognition machine. It has no brain. We still need to use our own. It does not replace humans, it complements them. Why we should start thinking in feedback loops.
Artificial Intelligence does not decide Europe’s future. Human decisions do. In this talk, I show what you can do differently starting tomorrow: which skills to build, how to choose AI tools, and how to reduce dependencies. No moral finger-wagging, just straight talk.
Imagine it is 2046. And your most important conversation is not with a human. What remains of autonomy, responsibility, and purpose? A look into the AI future, in three scenarios.
AI portfolios rarely fail because leaders lack ideas. They fail because too many initiatives are funded before anyone proves they can move a business metric, fit into a real workflow, or survive enterprise constraints.
I joined Emily Erker on her show Lady Sunshine Live for a German-language conversation about building future-ready organisations through what I call a cybernetic enterprise: the integration of people, processes, technology, and AI in continuous feedback loops. The full video is embedded below; what follows is my English summary of the key ideas we covered.
Header photo: Romano Roth (left) and Raphael Reischuk. Source: Zühlke (zVg), via inside-it.ch.
Effective 1 May 2026, the Zühlke Group has introduced two new roles at group level: a Group Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and a Group Chief AI Officer (CAIO). I have taken on the Group CAIO role; my long-time colleague Raphael Reischuk has been appointed Group CTO. Both of us were already partners in the group.
