Sebastian Hirtz

From Research Lab to Industrial Sales: How ZopaAI, Rohde & Schwarz and DFKI Built the Future of Industrial Selling

The session’s core message was that Germany can still produce strong, commercially relevant AI when research capability is tied directly to a specific industrial business need. The moderator framed the panel around two challenges: moving cutting-edge research faster from the lab into real business applications, and reversing the decline in startup-corporate collaboration from 70% to 50%. Against that backdrop, Alexander from ZopaAI and Sebastian Hirtz from Rohde & Schwarz described a concrete collaboration focused on reliable AI for enterprise B2B sales, rather than another general-purpose AI tool or frontier-model race story from the U.S. or China. Alexander explained that ZopaAI connects internal company data such as controlling, procurement, CRM and ERP with external sources including market data, news and tenders. On top of that combined data layer, the system provides recommendations for pricing, sales arguments, negotiation strategy, negotiation power, forecasting and lead generation. A key differentiator, according to Alexander, is the verification of data and sources and the validation of recommendations. He also emphasized that ZopaAI did not begin by trying to commercialize a pre-existing research asset. Instead, the team first identified what a chief sales officer would pay for, then worked with the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence and CISPA, the Helmholtz Institute for Cybersecurity, to build the needed technology over roughly two years. Sebastian described how Rohde & Schwarz became involved through a cold email from ZopaAI’s CIO during his vacation. The timing worked because Rohde & Schwarz had already been thinking for two months about the problem ZopaAI addressed. For a company active in test and measurement as well as defense and security, the decisive entry point was not simply AI functionality, but trust: ZopaAI and DFKI could offer sovereign data handling in a German data center with a German cloud provider and the certifications Rohde & Schwarz required. That credibility allowed the partnership to move from an initial conversation into practical experimentation with real business relevance. The discussion then focused on why this collaboration progressed further than many pilots. Sebastian said ZopaAI translated large volumes of information into “actionable information” for a global sales force of around 1,800 engineers, who are not classical salespeople but need technically strong support. Both speakers stressed customization, cooperation and patience. Alexander noted that in B2B settings the technology foundation may be stable, but each organization has different processes, products and requirements. Sebastian highlighted reliability, continuous contact without excessive pressure, and willingness to adapt to Rohde & Schwarz’s requirements. Alexander concluded that business value and technology are only hygiene factors; startups also have to win attention and build a relationship strong enough that corporate stakeholders want the solution to succeed.