Ep 22: AI Doesn’t Understand Customers. Could Cost You Millions. | Professor Dr. Dr. Hermann Simon

Professor Dr. Dr. Hermann Simon has spent decades studying what makes companies successful, long before artificial intelligence became the center of every business conversation.As the founder of Simon-Kucher, one of the world’s leading strategy and pricing consultancies, the author of more than 40 books, and the mind behind the concept of Hidden Champions, Simon has shaped how executives think about pricing, customer value, strategy, and competitive advantage. His work has reached some of the world’s most influential business schools and companies.Now, as a heavy user of AI himself, he brings a perspective that cuts through much of the current excitement: AI can improve analysis, but it cannot replace judgment, leadership, or the ability to understand people.In this episode, Hermann Simon discusses:● Why AI’s reliability and credibility are often overestimated ● How AI is changing business faster than previous technological waves ● Why better data does not automatically lead to better decisions ● What leaders must still decide themselves, even in an AI-driven organization ● Why leadership, trust, and understanding human behavior cannot be delegated to algorithms ● How AI can reveal patterns while still failing to explain causality ● Why customer-perceived value matters more than simply optimizing price and volume ● What Hidden Champions teach us about focus, specialization, and deep customer knowledge ● Why creativity beyond AI and speed of implementation may define future competitive advantage ● What management principles will remain relevant even after AI maturesThe conversation brings the discussion back to a fundamental business truth:AI can improve the information available to leaders. It cannot take responsibility for the decisions they make.—-----------------------🎧 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲🔗 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfnAHf6MIls&list=PLIUBbSI0VTk1JbL_8U7AciTe-6nCLKaKT 🔗 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a8ccad06-05d4-45e9-9f69-a4b6eacd77c7/the-digital-storm-weekly-podcast 🔗 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-digital-storm-weekly-podcast/id1867227116 🔗 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/779CC9Nn8coXth0tNjlt2d 🔗 RSS: https://rss.com/podcasts/the-digital-storm-weekly-podcast/