Bosch Connected World 2022: For Bosch, digitalization presents major opportunities in all areas of business

Dr. Stefan Hartung,

chairman of the board of management, Robert Bosch GmbH,

at the media roundtable at Bosch Connected World in Berlin on November 9, 2022.

Check against delivery.

Ladies and gentlemen,

From mobility to the factory to the home: In all business sectors, Bosch is focusing on connectivity and on artificial intelligence. In concrete terms, this means that connected products provide data about their use. Artificial intelligence can draw conclusions from these data volumes in seconds, enabling us to develop and offer completely new services. The objective is to make work easier, roads safer, buildings more energy efficient, and our home appliances even more useful – true to our “Invented for life” ethos.

To achieve this, Bosch plans to spend ten billion euros on digitalization and connectivity by 2025. Two-thirds of this will go toward developing and expanding promising new technologies, with a focus on sustainability, mobility, and Industry 4.0. We are investing in the digitalization and connectivity of our business and in our associates – who are the key to digital innovation. Today, a strong team of 40,000 software developers worldwide is working to actively shape the connected world. And we are investing in their training and development, as well as in successful careers in the Bosch world. We are also working to remain an attractive employer for high potentials in many areas of future importance and to expand our position.

I firmly believe that for Bosch, digitalization presents major opportunities in all areas of business. We are doing everything we can to leverage those opportunities. We are also using digitalization and connectivity in the fight against climate change – one of the greatest challenges of our age. This fight is too much for one company to accomplish on its own. It will require that we pull out all the stops and exploit all the possibilities technology has to offer. Most recently, the importance of taking action has been brought home to us by the UN Climate Change Conference, which is taking place as we speak. Climate action needs determination and digital technologies – and we have both. On this subject, I would like to present two new Bosch approaches to you.

The first is a cloud-based software solution our startup Decarbonize Industries is developing together with the energy provider EWE AG. The objective is to help industrial enterprises decarbonize faster by providing a roadmap at the click of a mouse with the actions that need to be taken. The solution is a platform that, in the future, will draw on current data from the energy market, legislation, and other sources to show companies the best possible route to greater sustainability.

How many charge spots does a company need to install to use up surplus solar power? How much hydrogen electrolysis do we need to run stationary fuel-cell plants? These are the questions that will be addressed by the software solution. But see for yourselves: our team is presenting the solution here at BCW in hall 7 (booth 45). Another contribution to fight climate change.

Our second approach is to supercharge research in the field of quantum technology. That is why we are partnering with IBM on quantum computing. Our aim for the next ten years is to use quantum-based simulation of new materials for example to reduce the amount of precious metals and rare earths in carbon-neutral powertrains – in both the electric motor and the fuel cell. In areas where even the most powerful of today’s computers reach their computational limits, quantum computers hold out the promise of much vaster, unprecedented possibilities.

What does this partnership cover? How can quantum technology help prevent global warming? How are we digitalizing our business? How do connectivity and artificial intelligence help us develop even better products? We will go into these subjects in more detail in just a moment in the discussion round.