From tool to system - with the AI readiness check

At the heart of the discussion is the "AI Readiness Check" developed by Lean FS, a practical maturity model that helps companies to realistically assess their current status in terms of digitalization and AI. Walliser has observed this time and again in practice: Many companies are already using tools such as ChatGPT - but usually in an unstructured way, without clear goals, without trained staff and without the necessary data strategy in the background.

Strategy starts at the top

For Walliser, one thing is clear: the introduction of AI starts with management. Only when managers themselves understand how AI works and what concrete benefits it brings can the topic be strategically anchored in the company. This is precisely why Lean FS relies on targeted management workshops and practice-oriented training formats that quickly lead to application - and help to overcome fears of contact.

Safe paths to the future of AI

Another focus is on the topic of data security and trust. Many companies are hesitant to use AI because they have concerns about handling sensitive information. Local AI models - i.e. solutions that run directly on site without a cloud connection - offer new, secure prospects here. They make it possible to work with AI without compromising on data security.

Initial results from an accompanying study with over 250 companies show that the "AI Readiness Check" not only provides orientation, but also sharpens the focus on potential. Many participants were surprised at how much room for improvement there still is in their own digitalization - and how concrete the next steps can be.

Santiago Walliser is convinced that AI is not an end in itself and is not hype. It is a tool - and as with any tool, it depends on how you use it. Anyone who actively engages with AI today, plans strategically and focuses on people in the process will gain a real competitive advantage.

Santiago Walliser is an expert in quantitative finance and artificial intelligence based in Zurich. He is co-founder of Lean FS and Lean Financial Solutions, advises companies on AI-supported strategies and develops quantitative investment strategies using alternative data sources. He is also a PhD student at the University of Zurich and has extensive experience from previous positions at UBS, ETH Zurich and in fund management.

The video podcast "AI and Society - Paths into the New World" is produced by the Swiss Text Academy, which also offers courses on artificial intelligence in its Prompt Engineering program. Two episodes are released monthly, on Spotify ( https://open.spotify.com/show/4mSsEJuaShBuanBfBjoAeM?si=01b4363426db4d28) , Youtube https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4InE9vz-QptAjyy0QXyk6lWFKXreWEh2&feature=shared and other podcast platforms

In conversation with podcast host Christoph Soltmannowski, the topics include data protection, deepfakes and discrimination. Digital violence through deepfake technologies is particularly drastic, affecting up to 98 % women, according to Diethelm. "This is about real violations of personal rights," says the expert.

Competence instead of alarmism

Instead of bans, Diethelm advocates greater digital literacy among the population. AI is a tool - the decisive factor is who uses it and how. Companies should take responsibility, politicians should define clear principles and users should understand what AI can - and cannot - do.

Cornelia Diethelm sees the EU as an important driving force with the planned AI Act. In Switzerland, on the other hand, the focus is on principles-based approaches and voluntary standards - a pragmatic approach that is only effective if companies actively participate.

Humanity as a guiding principle

Technology should support, but not replace. "Empathy, care, closeness - these are human qualities that machines cannot provide." This difference must remain clear, especially in care, education and consulting.

Conclusion: Conscious design

Cornelia Diethelm is convinced that AI brings opportunities - but also responsibility. Only if we take ethical principles seriously and promote broad education will we be able to achieve socially sustainable digitalization.

The video podcast "AI and Society - Paths into the New World" is produced by the Swiss Text Academy, which also offers courses on artificial intelligence in its Prompt Engineering program. Two episodes are published monthly, on Spotify  Youtube  and other podcast platforms.

In the podcast, Gustavo Salami describes how the autonomous working time of such AI agents is currently doubling every seven months - a development that not only promises efficiency gains, but also fundamentally changes the understanding of work. Professions with repetitive tasks are particularly affected, while so-called "elastic" jobs that require creativity or social intelligence could remain or gain in importance.

But it's about more than just economic processes. Salami, for example, says that he sometimes prefers to interact with AI rather than humans because it is more patient and less judgmental. Such statements raise profound questions about the relationship between humans and machines - for example, whether AI can be perceived as more empathetic than humans.

The video podcast "AI and Society - Paths into the New World" is produced by the Swiss Text Academy, which also offers courses on artificial intelligence. Two episodes are published monthly, on Spotify, Youtube and other podcast platforms.

The latest Textakademie AI podcast welcomed two guests this time. Yariv Adan co-developed Google Assistant, Google Cloud and Google Lens, and Murièle Solange Bolay is co-organizer of the "Future of Humanity Experience" - a parallel event to Art Basel. She is also an investor and founder of MSB & Partners, where she has worked as a transformation expert and executive coach for 18 years. The discussion was once again moderated by journalist Christoph Soltmannowski.

Yariv Adan, now General Partner at venture capital firm Ellipsis in Zug, draws a comparison with the beginnings of humanity when it comes to artificial intelligence: "At the moment, we are like cavemen who have just discovered fire and are trying to imagine what they can do with it. The potential goes far beyond our current understanding and imagination".

He describes how voice interfaces facilitate access to technology for everyone, regardless of age, background or technical know-how. "Suddenly everyone can use it - someone who is three years old, someone who is 100 years old, someone who is rich, someone who is poor. Regardless of whether they are tech-savvy or not".

The future of human experience: art as a social laboratory

The former Google product manager will take part as an expert in the "Future of Humanity Experience", which is being co-organized by Murièle Solange Bolay. The event sees itself as a platform for interdisciplinary dialog and brings together representatives from the fields of art, business and science as well as futurists and visionaries. The common goal: to integrate creativity into everyday life and decision-making processes and to generate new perspectives for the future of humanity. "We need to liberate and rediscover ourselves. People need to become aware of their new role - and also discover the potential and perspectives that are opening up in the new world," says Bolay.

In the podcast, Clarissa Haller emphasizes the growing importance of stakeholder management, internal communication and personalization in order to involve employees and use them as ambassadors. To this end, AI should not only generate texts or provide translations, but must also be used more strategically.

An example from her time at Siemens illustrates this: There, she developed an AI tool that suggested personalized content from internal communications to employees - an approach that Haller believes is still unused in many companies.

Haller does not see the role of communicators as being threatened by AI, but rather expanded. Creativity and strategic thinking remain indispensable, while AI takes over repetitive tasks. She sees new opportunities in internal communication in particular: in times of working from home and a shortage of skilled workers, it will be crucial to address employees in a targeted manner and make the corporate culture tangible.

The video podcast "AI and Society - Paths into the New World" is produced by the Swiss Text Academy, which also offers courses on artificial intelligence. Two episodes are published monthly, on Spotify , Youtube and other podcast platforms.

AR and VR glasses can fundamentally change the way we interact with the digital world. In the latest edition of the AI podcast, journalist Christoph Soltmannowski talks to "Mr. Vision" René Vogel about the revolutionary possibilities of this technology. Glasses such as Apple's Vision Pro seamlessly connect digital content with the physical environment and are operated by eye, hand and voice control.

The influence of AR and VR on everyday life

René Vogel emphasizes that the Vision Pro is not only suitable for entertainment purposes, but also has serious applications in the business sector. For example, users can design virtual rooms or people with limited mobility can virtually explore their future home. The glasses make it possible to place multiple virtual screens in the room, which can be particularly useful for productivity on the move.

Despite the high price, Vogel considers the value of the glasses to be justified, especially in comparison to high-quality home cinema and computer systems. According to him, the Vision Pro marks a significant step towards the "spatial computing" proclaimed by Apple. This could fundamentally change the way we interact with digital content.

The "computer on your face"

Will "smart glasses" soon replace laptops? Vogel is convinced that the glasses have the potential to function as a fully-fledged computer. He sees many exciting applications coming our way.

The Video podcast "AI and society - paths into the new world" is produced by the Swiss Text Academy, which also offers courses on artificial intelligence. Two episodes are published monthly on Spotify , YouTube and other podcast platforms.

In the latest episode of the Swiss Text Academy's "AI and Society" podcast, journalist Christoph Soltmannowski and visual designer Jason Million discuss the rapid advances in moving image technology and artificial intelligence. They talk about how tools such as Stable Diffusion are revolutionizing the production of images and videos - and what this means for the future of filmmaking.

Million, who founded Deepimages.ai, emphasizes the enormous developments over the past 18 months: "The time when you could distinguish between reality and AI in images is over. We are now at that point with videos."

User-friendly platforms such as Midjourney, Flux or Runway make high-quality media production accessible to laypeople - and at a fraction of the previous cost. "Filmmaking has always been expensive. AI is fundamentally changing that," says Million. "I've been waiting for this all my life."

However, despite all the automation, human creativity remains crucial. Whether it is about telling complex stories or avoiding the "uncanny valley effect" - AI is a powerful tool that requires human control. Legal issues, such as the use of images or content, also lead to new challenges.

So the perfect AI film is getting closer and closer, but the balance between technology and creative vision will be crucial.

The video podcast "AI and society - paths into the new world" is produced by the Swiss Text Academy, which also offers courses on artificial intelligence in its Prompt Engineering program. Two episodes are released monthly on Spotify, YouTube and other podcast platforms.

German communications consultant Thomas Mickeleit, formerly Director of Communication at Microsoft, presented the "CommTech Index Report 2025" in Zurich last week. This study is based on a survey of corporate communications practitioners from companies and agencies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

In a podcast discussion with Christoph Soltmannowski from Text Akademie, Mickeleit explains why the euphoria surrounding digitalization and AI does not automatically lead to real innovation: Investment skews, skills gaps and regulatory risks - keyword EU AI Act - are slowing down progress.

Data competence is becoming a critical factor for budget defense and creative stakeholder journeys. Failed newsroom concepts call for holistic change processes instead of pure technology implementation.

What counts now? Retraining offensives, balanced budgets and experimentation spaces for data-driven dialog communication. Communication professionals must master the marathon of digital transformation in order to be able to use artificial intelligence for stakeholder-centered communication.

The CommTech Index Report 2024/2025 is available here download.

"By 2026, it is estimated that over 90 percent of content will be of synthetic origin and produced with the help of artificial intelligence," writes Holger Volland in his book "Overload". But how can content still attract attention in this flood of AI-generated media? The media world is changing rapidly as a result of AI.

Volland, who in addition to his position as CEO of the German business magazine Brand one who is also Deputy Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, was a guest on the "AI and Society" podcast. He spoke with presenter Christoph Soltmannowski about the flood of information caused by the increasing amount of content and the role of artificial intelligence in media production.

How will generative AI affect the media industry and the value of creative work? "Mediocre human content will undoubtedly be replaced by AI. But excellent, original content will increase in value," Volland is convinced.

The video podcast "AI and society - paths into the new world" is produced by the Swiss Text Academy and is published twice a month. The training center also offers courses on artificial intelligence.

Is the development of Emotional Artificial Intelligence still in its infancy? Or is research much further along than expected - and is widespread application in everyday working life already a reality?

One thing is certain: machines - regardless of whether they are AI tools such as ChatGPT - do not feel emotions. But simply put, they are able to "read" emotions. Be it through our choice of words, our tone of voice or our facial expressions.

In short, the vision of AI tools that are not only fast and "intelligent", but also empathetic and capable of responding to human needs, is a realistic goal.

Market research with empathy

The panel on "Emotional AI", which will be held as part of the first "Davos AI Bootcamp", will focus on applications that are already being used in everyday life - for example in marketing and advertising.

For example, emotional AI tools are used in market research to analyze consumers' reactions to advertising campaigns. Other tools can capture emotions in real time by analyzing facial expressions and body language. Among other things, this helps advertisers to optimize their campaigns and better tailor them to the target group.

Support in psychiatry

Emotional AI is also being used successfully in the healthcare sector. For example, to monitor emotional states and the mental health of patients in general.

Emotional analyses provide therapists with valuable insights to adapt treatments. For example, the tools use speech analysis to recognize emotional states and monitor changes in patients' mental balance.

The panel discussion on "Emotional AI" will be chaired by university professor Dr. Ivo Hajnal. The detailed program with the panel experts will be published on the Landing page of the Swiss Text Academy Foundation continuously updated. Interested parties can register here for the Davos AI Bootcamp.

This article was written as part of a media partnership between m&k and the "Davos AI Bootcamp"

How has artificial intelligence changed the everyday life of brand designer Daniel Allemann? After training at the Text Academy, writing is now much easier for him: "Every morning I ask myself where I can use AI today," says the qualified Corporate Identity and Design Manager. In the video podcast, the graduate of the AI Writer/Prompter training course provides insights into his wealth of experience.

Knowledge about artificial intelligence at the Davos AI Bootcamp

As part of the "Davos AI Bootcamp" from August 7 to 10/11, 2024, intensive training in "AI Writing", "Strategic AI" and "AI Graphic Design" will take place.

The boot camp at the Davos Design Hotel Grischa offers know-how and skills in writing and copywriting - supported by text robots such as ChatGPT. Copywriters, editors, authors and managers learn the basics for future-proof careers in the marketing, communication and journalism sectors.

In addition to professional writing and prompting, "Strategic AI" is also part of the content of the first "Davos AI Bootcamp". This module deals with questions such as "What do I want to achieve with the company thanks to AI?", "What AI tools are available?" and "How do AI tools help us to stand out from the competition?".

If desired, a comprehensive, written certificate thesis can be completed.

m&k advertisingweek.ch is media partner of the "Davos AI Bootcamp". Further information on the Davos AI Bootcamp can be found at Textakademie.ch.

Will artificial intelligence fundamentally change our working world? And will we one day succeed in cracking the brain code - the secret of how our brains work in detail? AI researchers address these questions in an edition of the video podcast "AI and society - paths into the new world". The podcast on the topic of AI, Artificial Intelligence, is a production of the Text Academy Foundation in cooperation with Lab42.global.

Will Davos become "AI Valley"?

Back in 2004, the Text Academy was the initiator and co-founder of Science City Davos, which represents the research and education hub. Lab42.global has also been part of this research hub since 2022. The Davos AI research institute was founded by brain researcher Pascal Kaufmann.

It is therefore no coincidence that the Text Academy Foundation is holding its AI Bootcamp in Davos in collaboration with the HWZ and the Prompt Engineering Academy: The intensive training in "AI Writing", "Strategic AI" and "AI Graphic Design" will take place from August 7 to 10/11, 2024. It is aimed at experts and decision-makers from marketing, communication and journalism.

The next episodes of the podcast "AI and Society - Paths into the New World" will feature Thomas Benkö from Ringier, Dr. Iris Heilmann from Palmer Hargreaves Cologne and Attila Steinegger from WWF Switzerland.  

m&k advertisingweek.ch is media partner of the "Davos AI Bootcamp". Further information on the Davos AI Bootcamp can be found at Textakademie.ch.