THE AI INTERVIEW
“ AI IS NOTHING NEW, BUT NOBODY WAS REALLY ENGAGING BECAUSE IT SEEMED SO FAR AWAY”
Lutz Beck Chief Information Officer Daimler Truck North America
“ This cultural element is still something we are working on,” Lutz goes on.“ Of course, we want everybody using AI as much as possible to have a more efficient workday, but on the other side, what are the use cases?
“ The big bets are where you remodel your business model and processes, using AI to create new business models or build on existing ones. That is where the highest value lies. But achieving this requires more than training – it requires discussions with people because it is a cultural shift, and many are still scared.”
The importance of data quality For Lutz, successful AI adoption rests entirely on the quality of the underlying data feeding these systems – something he regards as non-negotiable.
Without a solid data foundation, he argues, organisations cannot expect reliable results from AI tools, regardless of how sophisticated those tools appear.
“ It’ s the foundation of everything we do in AI,” asserts Lutz.“ If your foundation is not good, you cannot start.”
Lutz acknowledges that AI itself can be used to improve data quality, but insists this does not remove the need for a solid starting point. Flawed datasets inevitably produce flawed outputs – no matter how advanced the AI model processing it might be.
“ AI will deliver you a result irrespective of whether it ' s good or bad,” Lutz continues.“ When you have bad data, the result is founded on that bad data, meaning it cannot be the right result.”
26 September 2026