{"id":21934,"date":"2025-09-25T12:57:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T10:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/?p=21934"},"modified":"2025-09-25T16:05:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T14:05:21","slug":"interview-ceo-klaus-geissdoerfer-future-strategy-courage-pays-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/interview\/interview-ceo-klaus-geissdoerfer-future-strategy-courage-pays-off_21934\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cCourage pays off\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mr. Gei\u00dfd\u00f6rfer, we are currently in the midst of multiple crises at once, from war in Ukraine to a slug\u00adgish economy and turbu\u00adlent transat\u00adlantic rela\u00adtions. How do you deal with all this?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In times like this, it\u2019s impor\u00adtant to stay calm. I delib\u00ader\u00adately only check the news once a day and give myself two or three days to sort the topics in my head. In my role I can\u2019t act abruptly; I have to keep a cool head and make long-term deci\u00adsions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How is ebm-papst currently doing from a finan\u00adcial perspec\u00adtive?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Our busi\u00adness is once again on a posi\u00adtive trajec\u00adtory, which tells me that we set the right strategic course early on. The trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion is now bearing fruit. Our \u201clocal-for-local\u201d strategy, which we launched some years ago, is a big help here as our focus on local\u00adiza\u00adtion has made us more resilient today. That\u2019s a good feeling, but we cannot rest on our laurels \u2013 we have to keep moving forward. Shifts in the geopo\u00adlit\u00adical land\u00adscape mean we are facing new chal\u00adlenges \u2013 for example, because end markets are shifting from Europe to Asia and the USA. This directly impacts our capacity utiliza\u00adtion in Europe, and we\u2019re working out how best to use this avail\u00adable volume strate\u00adgi\u00adcally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You mentioned the trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion \u2013 how well does your strategy still suit the current situ\u00ada\u00adtion?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Very well. We made the right deci\u00adsions three years ago; our move away from the auto\u00admo\u00adtive segment has proven to be the correct course of action. We\u2019ve now halved our volume of busi\u00adness here and are currently working on fulfilling our remaining oblig\u00ada\u00adtions to our customers. The sale of the Drive Tech\u00adnology divi\u00adsion is a \u201cwin-win-win\u201d situ\u00ada\u00adtion for everyone involved. The divi\u00adsion can grow much better under Siemens. Our focus on our core compe\u00adten\u00adcies in venti\u00adlation and heating tech\u00adnology will really drive us forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull mgznkr-cta-whitepaper-digital-services\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<style>\n.mgznkr-cta-whitepaper-digital-services .alignwide.banner-width {\n  max-width: 100%;\n  width: 1240px;\n  margin: 0 auto;\n--mark-bgcolor: #00a633;\n--mark-color: white;\n}\n@media (max-width: 781px) {\n.mgznkr-cta-whitepaper-digital-services .wp-block-cover .wp-block-cover__image-background {\nobject-position: 17% 50%!important;\n}\n.mgznkr-column-spacer p {display: none; }\n}\n@media (min-width: 782px) {\n.mgznkr-column-spacer p a {\n  min-height: 290px;\n  min-width: 100%;\n  display: block;\n  border-radius: 50px;\nfont-size: 0;\n}\n}\n<\/style>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:32px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover\" style=\"min-height:350px;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background wp-image-36224\" alt src=\"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/de\/files\/2024\/11\/Banner-Digital-Services.jpg\" data-object-fit=\"cover\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-0 has-background-dim\" style=\"background-color:#e0e6e6\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-cover-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide banner-width is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:560px\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading mgznkr-click has-white-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2186fc9a9df73db88e84ea7c02be7ab5\" id=\"whitepaper-digital-services-head\" style=\"font-size:1.6em;text-transform:uppercase\"><mark><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebmpapst.com\/de\/en\/campaigns\/industry-campaigns\/digital-services.html#download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Free INFO PACKAGE<\/a><\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading no-margin-top\" style=\"font-size:1em\">The new age of air tech\u00adnology is here!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Meet the chal\u00adlenges of your industry with Digital Services. Find out more in our info package about how you can take your venti\u00adlation, air handling and refrig\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion systems to a new level \u2013 thanks to <span class=\"noTypo\">digitalization<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-fill mgznkr-click\" id=\"whitepaper-digital-services\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-background has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ebmpapst.com\/de\/en\/campaigns\/industry-campaigns\/digital-services.html#download\" style=\"background-color:#0072bb;font-size:18px\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Benefit from digital solu\u00adtions now <i class=\"mgznkr-icon fa fa-chevron-right fas\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column mgznkr-column-spacer is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:55%\">\n<p class=\"mgznkr-click\" id=\"whitepaper-digital-services-img\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebmpapst.com\/de\/en\/campaigns\/industry-campaigns\/digital-services.html#download\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Free Whitepaper about Digital Services by ebm-papst<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:36px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Many compa\u00adnies are cutting back in the crisis \u2013 but you\u2019re investing. Why is this?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Because we firmly believe we\u2019re on the right course. We\u2019re focusing on future issues and building up local resilience. We\u2019re making targeted invest\u00adments in promising markets such as data centers, in expanding our inno\u00adva\u00adtions, and in new tech\u00adnolo\u00adgies. Exam\u00adples include the High\u00adSpeed Tech\u00adnical Center and the E-Drive Solu\u00adtion Lab. As a result, we\u2019re currently launching new prod\u00aducts like never before. Our inno\u00adva\u00adtion pipeline is chock-full once again. While I\u2019d prefer us to be even faster in our imple\u00admen\u00adta\u00adtion, we\u2019re on a very good path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are you focusing on with the tech\u00adnolo\u00adgies?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We look at the entire product life cycle. The aim is to speed up devel\u00adop\u00adment, supply more energy-effi\u00adcient prod\u00aducts, further sharpen our compet\u00adi\u00adtive edge in tech\u00adnology, and in doing so lead air tech\u00adnology into a new era. The best proof of this is NEXAIRA, our digital ecosystem. The first concrete customer projects are already underway here, and we\u2019re receiving very good feed\u00adback. But we\u2019re not neglecting our tradi\u00adtional markets and are, of course, also launching new, strong prod\u00aducts here: intel\u00adli\u00adgent high-effi\u00adciency fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns zitat-mit-bild is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:37%\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ebmpapst-7237.kxcdn.com\/de\/files\/2025\/09\/2021_ebm_Papst_CEO_WWW.CHRISTOF-WOLF.COM_0394-Kopie-scaled.webp\" alt class=\"wp-image-38736\"><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:63%\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"with-quotes\">If you want to drive forward inno\u00adva\u00adtion, you have to take the first step \u2013 and we see ourselves as a partner on this journey.<\/p>\n<cite>Klaus Gei\u00dfd\u00f6rfer, CEO ebm-papst Group<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Given the way global trade is at the moment, is your early focus on glocal\u00adiza\u00adtion now paying off?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Defi\u00adnitely. Geopo\u00adlit\u00adical devel\u00adop\u00adments have made our local-for-local strategy even more impor\u00adtant. That\u2019s why we\u2019re building new plants, such as in Oradea in Romania, Xi\u2019an in China, and Chennai in India. We\u2019re gaining market share in Asia and are working at the limits of our capacity in the USA. In Europe, too, we\u2019re working to full capacity in the data center segment and are expanding capacity. Unfor\u00adtu\u00adnately, in the heat pump segment we\u2019re still feeling the reper\u00adcus\u00adsions of the German Building Energy Act (<em>Geb\u00e4udeen\u00adergiege\u00adsetz<\/em>). And in the resi\u00adden\u00adtial venti\u00adlation segment, we\u2019ve not yet been able to compen\u00adsate for the market decline in the construc\u00adtion sector. However, our inno\u00adva\u00adtions mean we\u2019re in a posi\u00adtion to gain market share again here as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What\u2019s next in terms of the regions \u2013 what areas will you focus on in future?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re devel\u00adoping well in Asia, so now the next logical step is the USA, where we\u2019re plan\u00adning to set up addi\u00adtional local produc\u00adtion capacity. For our customers, this means faster deliv\u00aderies, reli\u00adable supply chains, and more effi\u00adcient prod\u00aducts on the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Let\u2019s turn to another hot topic: arti\u00adfi\u00adcial intel\u00adli\u00adgence. How is ebm-papst posi\u00adtioned in this respect?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>AI is an issue that is crucial to our future. We\u2019re deploying it selec\u00adtively in our prod\u00aducts to opti\u00admize energy consump\u00adtion and further increase reli\u00ada\u00adbility, and we\u2019re also using it for process control, in Knowl\u00adedge Manage\u00adment, commu\u00adni\u00adca\u00adtions, and beyond. We\u2019re giving our staff compre\u00adhen\u00adsive, prac\u00adtical training on it. AI is not a stand-alone project \u2013 it runs through our entire orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You\u2019re also involved in the Inno\u00adva\u00adtion Park Arti\u00adfi\u00adcial Intel\u00adli\u00adgence (IPAI) in Heil\u00adbronn. What specific bene\u00adfits does it bring?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The IPAI gives us access to experts, talented people, and a strong network. For example, we\u2019re collab\u00ado\u00adrating with Bechtle AG on gener\u00ada\u00adtive AI, and it also helps us with over\u00adar\u00adching issues such as ensuring legally water\u00adtight appli\u00adca\u00adtions or system archi\u00adtec\u00adtures. It\u2019s a real stroke of luck to have this type of AI center right on our doorstep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns zitat-mit-bild is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"with-quotes\">I firmly believe that Europe currently has a historic oppor\u00adtu\u00adnity. With AI and digi\u00adtal\u00adiza\u00adtion, we can regain a leading posi\u00adtion as long as we pool our strengths.<\/p>\n<cite>Klaus Gei\u00dfd\u00f6rfer, CEO ebm-papst Group<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How is it bene\u00adfiting your customers?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Our prod\u00aducts are becoming more intel\u00adli\u00adgent and energy-effi\u00adcient, which signif\u00adi\u00adcantly reduces energy consump\u00adtion at the customer\u2019s premises. Digi\u00adtal\u00adiza\u00adtion means we can speed up the devel\u00adop\u00adment cycle and offer new services, including all-digital ones. As you can see with NEXAIRA, this has long since ceased to be just a vision of the future \u2013 our customers are already bene\u00adfiting from it today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">And if you could request some\u00adthing from your customers, what would that be?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>More courage, partic\u00adu\u00adlarly when it comes to trying out new tech\u00adnolo\u00adgies. Many are still hesi\u00adtant \u2013 they\u2019re worried they\u2019ll tie them\u00adselves to us too much, or they ask them\u00adselves whether the inno\u00adva\u00adtions really work and make the differ\u00adence they claim to. We\u2019re seeing that customers who get on board early on have a compet\u00adi\u00adtive edge and are the most successful ones today. If you want to drive forward inno\u00adva\u00adtion, you have to take the first step \u2013 and we see ourselves as a partner on this journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is there anything that\u2019s partic\u00adu\u00adlarly impor\u00adtant to you beyond all these issues?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes. I firmly believe that Europe currently has a historic oppor\u00adtu\u00adnity. With AI and digi\u00adtal\u00adiza\u00adtion, we can regain a leading posi\u00adtion as long as we pool our strengths: excel\u00adlent research, great talent, strong values. We need to trans\u00adlate our exper\u00adtise into prod\u00aducts and busi\u00adness models. This requires courage, collab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion, and a resolute deter\u00admi\u00adna\u00adtion to posi\u00adtion Europe as the third global force along\u00adside the USA and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Many people have reser\u00adva\u00adtions about AI. What would you say to them?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Fear of new tech\u00adnology is under\u00adstand\u00adable, and it\u2019s nothing new if we look back at history. The impor\u00adtant thing is to use AI respon\u00adsibly. Yes, there\u2019s a risk of misuse, such as from deep\u00adfakes or in consumer manip\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion. But at our company, we\u2019re using AI selec\u00adtively and ethi\u00adcally in prod\u00aducts and processes. We don\u2019t need fear, we need exper\u00adtise, respon\u00adsi\u00adbility, and a will\u00ading\u00adness to actively shape this new tech\u00adnology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mr. Gei\u00dfd\u00f6rfer, we are currently in the midst of multiple crises at once, from war in Ukraine to a slug\u00adgish economy and turbu\u00adlent transat\u00adlantic rela\u00adtions. How do you deal with all this? In times like this, it\u2019s impor\u00adtant to stay calm. I delib\u00ader\u00adately only check the news once a day and give myself two or [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":21935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[121],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21934"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22028,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21934\/revisions\/22028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}