The client's business model emphasizes decentralization across its 30 production sites worldwide, creating strong customer relationships but also significant organizational complexity. Despite individual digitalisation efforts, inconsistent IT landscapes, fragmented data governance, and isolated AI initiatives limit efficiency, increase operational costs, and slow down innovation. Leadership recognized the urgent need for a holistic overview, aiming to identify areas of improvement and establish clear guidelines to unify digital and AI-driven transformation efforts across all sites

The thesis combined literature analysis of best practices in digital and AI transformation with comprehensive empirical research within the company. Data collection involved detailed interviews with executives and experts across multiple business functions, supplemented by a broad, organization-wide survey to measure digital maturity and AI readiness. Findings were consolidated into a tailored gap analysis, maturity-assessment model and strategic roadmap, to identify and close identified gaps, and climb up the digital and AI maturity ladder.

The detailed analysis revealed robust cybersecurity and basic digital infrastructure, yet identified major gaps for further transformation: unclear data ownership, absence of centralized AI governance, inadequate capabilities, and KPIs misaligned with business objectives. Addressing these, a comprehensive, phased roadmap was developed: 1. Form a global Digital & AI Steering Board for strategic oversight and governance. 2. Establish a standardized and secure platform to promote scalable AI innovation. 3. Implement tailored upskilling programs combined with knowledge-sharing, to accelerate internal capability building. 4. Initiate focused pilot projects, leveraging advanced analytics and AI in selected sites to demonstrate value and facilitate broader adoption. Implementing this recommendations effectively aligns global consistency and local flexibility, reducing redundancies, and fostering an integrated digital and AI innovation culture. Ultimately, it empowers the client to proactively capitalize on emerging AI opportunities, positioning itself strategically ahead of competitors.