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Q&A with Matthias Schlemmer, Partner, PwC Strategy& Austria
Matthias SchlemmerPartner, PwC Strategy& Austria
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Matthias Schlemmer on leveraging data mixing to move from traditional industries to collaborative ecosystems.
How would you encourage optimism around AI for business leaders?It’s natural for clients to feel cautious and history shows it’s always like this with new technologies. But, at PwC, we believe AI doesn’t replace humans – it enhances them. Our recent Annual Global CEO Survey revealed similar optimism: many see AI as a career booster, offering exciting opportunities. So we tell leaders to show the way – to guide people on how to do more with AI and unlock their full potential. Like the internet and cloud, AI is revolutionary, opening vast possibilities. We’re lucky to witness this transformation.
Why is the agriculture sector particularly ripe for innovation?No industry is more vital to humanity than agriculture. With the world population surging and arable land is diminishing, it sits at the cross-section of necessity and complexity. So this is what makes AI so exciting for us. Because we’re showing that the right AI, with the right expertise and collaborations, can bring its full power – seeing deeper and smarter to solve crop yields and water usage.
A 1% water saving, when scaled, can be transformational. How does AI help?Sure, 1% might not be a huge saving for one farmer. But let us think about the 300 or three million farmers – and this huge impact on the planet. Because AI is so accessible, it’s possible to scale solutions, nationally or even globally. This is what we look for at PwC – the potential for this vast ecosystem of impact, all enabled by AI.
Why is AI’s scalability such a gamechanger?It's scalable in the best sense: it's cost efficient, so the impact can be scaled, too – and the effect is exponentially increased. Ultimately, that's the prerequisite to solve these huge world problems. And that’s why we’re so optimistic – because we know there's a lot more to come. It’s not a utopian hope – it’s real. With the right partnerships, AI will deliver results we’re not even imagining yet.
How can AI foster better outcomes through collaboration across industries?AI can do something that’s never been possible before. It serves almost as a connective tissue – linking businesses, individuals, policymakers and others within ecosystems. Then it has the power to combine and analyse all this data together – finding innovative connections that lead to unprecedented solutions and opportunities. That’s what PwC is helping clients harness: AI that analyses what others can’t – and sees what others don’t.
With the right partnerships, AI will deliver results we’re not even imagining yet.
Why is AI collaboration so crucial for solving big global issues?For the challenges we’re facing as humanity, it's all about partnerships – because no single entity can solve such huge problems. At PwC, we tell clients – and prospective clients – that it's no longer about funding individual solutions. It's about building powerful ecosystems. With bigger data and better insights, everyone can drive solutions that were never possible before.
What recent innovations are making AI more accessible, affordable and impactful?Generative AI has shown that it can be very accessible, driving innovation through low-code and no-code solutions. Businesses and individuals can now scale AI adoption effortlessly, further boosted by cloud integration, eliminating hardware concerns and streamlining development. This accessibility fuels AI-driven innovation, transforming workflows and enabling rapid advancements in tools, services and processes.
How does AI improve global sustainability, as well as productivity?We’ve already talked about how AI can enable drastic productivity improvements, automating tasks and enhancing data-driven decision making. Take supply chains for example, AI's predictive power also greatly improves efficiency – whether in time, costs or waste. It also drives greater resilience by leveraging datasets like weather patterns. Similarly, in agriculture, AI can enhance sustainability by boosting crop yields and optimising water usage. This is huge for the planet – as well as our clients – in creating efficient, sustainable solutions.
How can organisations help workers to trust and adopt AI?At PwC, we look at two main aspects. Firstly, leaders can show the opportunity – showing that AI will automate routine tasks, allowing people to focus on more meaningful work. The second aspect is change management. We advise that you can’t impose it from top down – you have to take people on the journey and address their fears. Yes, things will be done differently in the future and jobs will be different, too. But adapting to this opens new possibilities for people as well as businesses.
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AI can do something that’s never been possible before. It serves almost as a connective tissue – linking businesses, individuals, policymakers and others within ecosystems.
