Koenig & Bauer Honours Innovative Spirit of Workforce with Inaugural ‘AI Innovation Award’: Koenig & Bauer

Over 30 per cent of the workforce already use AI tools like Gemini regularly
Internal innovation prize for AI applications awarded for the first time
460 AI Champions and 120 training sessions led to 88 submitted use cases from all company divisions
Projects regarding production digitalisation and automated instructions were recognised

The Koenig & Bauer Industrial project team developed ‘Industrial Nexus’ – a licence-free platform for digitising daily work routines in production: (from left to right) Stefan Eibel and Felix Schmitt, both Manufacturing Process Design; Bastian Ballmann, Head of Machine Maintenance; Jochen Eitel, Foreman, Machine Maintenance; Oliver Rützel, Head of Manufacturing Process Design; and Samuel Deener, Plant Manager (AI-generated photomontage)
© Koenig & Bauer

Koenig & Bauer is taking stock of an impressive initial result for its ‘AI Empower 25’ programme, which launched in July. Less than five months after the kick-off, the press manufacturer has substantially expanded the internal use of artificial intelligence (AI) and – for the first time in the company’s history of over 200 years – honoured innovative employee projects with the newly established ‘Innovation Award’. With an active usage rate of over 30 per cent among the workforce, the company clearly exceeds common industry benchmarks.

From introduction to widespread application

In July 2025, Koenig & Bauer launched the strategic initiative ‘AI Empower 25’ under the motto ‘The Power Is You!’, aiming to secure competitiveness through the integration of AI technologies from Google. The goal was not merely to provide tools, but to empower employees through targeted training. This strategy is now bearing fruit: “AI has arrived across the board at Koenig & Bauer,” confirms the current evaluation.

Honouring pioneering work: The Innovation Awards

To honour the commitment of the workforce, the first ‘Innovation Award’ was presented by CFO Dr Alexander Blum on 3 December 2025. This award marks a milestone in the corporate culture and is intended to recognise outstanding innovative spirit at regular intervals in the future – starting with a focus on Artificial Intelligence. The selection of the winners took place in a multi-stage process involving internal committees, external partners, and the AI Gemini itself, to ensure fairness.

Dr Alexander Blum (left), CFO Koenig & Bauer, presents the Award for Strategic Relevance to Samuel Deener, Plant Manager at Koenig & Bauer Industrial, who accepts the prize on behalf of the entire development team
© Koenig & Bauer

The prize for strategic relevance, awarded by the Executive Board, went to the ‘Industrial Nexus’ project – a licence-free platform for the digitalisation of everyday work in production. The programme code was created largely with the help of Gemini – specifically by employees who had never written software code before. This impressively demonstrates how AI breaks down technical barriers and empowers specialist departments to help themselves.

Dr Alexander Blum (right), CFO Koenig & Bauer, and Pascal Kranich (left), Senior Manager Business IT Strategies at Koenig & Bauer, congratulate Florian Stappenbeck (centre), COO of Koenig & Bauer Sheetfed, who accepted the ‘Innovation Award’ in the Employees’ Choice category on behalf of the team
© Koenig & Bauer

The ‘Innovation Award’ in the Employees’ Choice category, based on a vote by the workforce, went to a project designed to make the time-consuming creation of documentation significantly more efficient and smarter through the use of AI. The tool transforms filmed processes and handwritten notes into finished instructions within minutes.

The project by Vasco A. Sahlbach and Stephan Förster received the most votes from the workforce
© Koenig & Bauer

Cultural change through ‘AI Empower 25’

The 88 submitted use cases bear witness to a profound change in corporate culture. Over 460 ‘AI Champions’ act as multipliers worldwide, which led to over 120 training sessions being held. Surpassing the 30 per cent mark in regular usage is particularly significant here: it means the critical threshold of 20 per cent, which typically marks the transition from a pilot project to being firmly established within the organisation, has been significantly exceeded. This indicates that AI integration is not merely a top-down initiative but is being supported by the workforce.

This internal success flanks the company's external efforts. While ‘AI Empower 25’ increases internal efficiency, Koenig & Bauer Kyana continues to focus on the development of AI-based solutions for the market.

For the coming year, Koenig & Bauer plans to collate successful use cases in a central repository in order to sustainably solidify the digital transformation. The aim is to embed this knowledge across the wider organisation: the entire workforce is encouraged to learn from these internal examples so that they can build on them to realise their own AI ideas in their respective specialist departments. This knowledge transfer is being actively supported by accompanying formats for exchange and continuous learning.

Dagmar Ringel

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