Decoder Podcast Summary: "Siemens CEO's Mission to Automate Everything"

Host: Nilay Patel (Editor-in-Chief, The Verge)
Guest: Roland Busch (President and CEO, Siemens)
Date: February 9, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, Nilay Patel sits down with Roland Busch, CEO of Siemens, to explore the inner workings and grand ambitions of one of the world’s most consequential – yet opaque – industrial technology companies. The conversation delves deeply into Siemens’ evolving structure, its relentless drive to automate the physical and digital worlds, and the challenges of globalization and rising geopolitical tensions. Patel presses Busch on the utopian and dystopian potentials of full-spectrum automation, the company’s navigation of global trade barriers, and the future of industrial AI.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What is Siemens?

[05:11]–[07:18]

• Busch on Siemens’ Core Mission:

  • Siemens is not a consumer-facing company but is ubiquitous in the infrastructure underpinning modern life—cars, buildings, power grids, and healthcare.
  • The company continually reinvents itself; what’s constant is transformation through technology.
  • Quote:

    “Every third manufacturing line in that world is run by Siemens controls... We are controlling, I mean, something like a little bit less than 50% of electrons are touched by Siemens technologies.” (Busch, 06:16)

• Organizing Principle:

  • Siemens enables other companies’ operations via hardware and software platforms, reflected in everything from car manufacturing to CT scanners.

2. Siemens’ Corporate Structure and Transformation

[07:57]–[20:12]

• Matrix Organization:

  • Businesses are organized around verticals like Digital Industries (software and automation), Smart Infrastructure, Mobility, and Healthineers.
  • Regional divisions exist (e.g., US, China, India, Germany), but business units have primary profit/loss responsibility.
  • Siemens is moving from deeply divisional “boxed” structures toward more horizontal “fabrics” (data, technology, sales).

• One Tech Company Program:

  • A major ongoing transformation aims to standardize systems and data across the company—breaking silos to enable faster, more collaborative innovation.
  • Quote:

    “AI in particular doesn’t respect silos. AI doesn’t respect data silos. They don’t respect any kind of boundaries. The world is squeezing out the small. You see that this is adding more and more. And the more data you have, the more capabilities you have, the stronger you are.” (Busch, 18:37)

• Culture & Change:

  • Movement toward horizontal integration is challenging, especially in a centuries-old firm. Core to progress: clear vision (“North Star”), staff engagement, transparent communication, and targeted external hiring for transformation.

3. Empowerment and Decision-Making

[29:35]–[31:46]

• Framework:
  • Decisions should be made at the lowest reasonable level for agility, but within strategic boundaries and with accountability.
  • Large decisions (such as M&A) follow structured board-level processes, incorporating input from various stakeholders.

4. Bridging Vision and Day-to-Day Work

[31:46]–[35:20]

• Challenge:
  • How do you connect grand corporate strategies (“fabric,” AI, digital twins) to front-line employees working on “traditional” products?
• Answer:
  • Value every contribution—legacy hardware is critical for operations and customer satisfaction. Showcase pride in enabling massive projects (e.g., Egypt’s 2,000 km railway).
  • Quote:

    “You have to distribute your love not only to the new stuff, but also to those which is basically super important in carrying also our P and L forward.” (Busch, 33:31)

5. Siemens and the Return of Protectionism

[35:20]–[39:22]

• Globalization vs. Barriers:

  • Siemens has always been “local for local,” with 85–87% content localized in key markets. The direct impact of trade barriers is manageable for Siemens, but harming some customers.
  • Resilience strategies: increase local production, diversify sourcing, and maintain footholds in all major regions.

• On US Manufacturing:

  • Real manufacturing investment is uneven; most new plants succeed when highly automated and digitalized due to labor shortages.
  • Quote:

    “If you build a new manufacturing line in the United States, make it as automated and as digital as possible for obvious reasons, because you cannot get enough labor, let alone trained labor and technology is there.” (Busch, 40:34)

6. Automation, Jobs, and the Economy

[43:54]–[46:33]

• Automation’s Net Effect:
  • Automation increases output with fewer people due to aging societies and shrinking workforces—labor will shift to sectors like healthcare and human services.
  • However, fully automated factories (like data centers) mean fewer jobs per dollar invested, raising concerns about who benefits.
  • Quote:

    “An AI factory, fully automated, I mean, this creates, uses a lot of space, uses a lot of energy and it creates limited amount of jobs. I mean that's what an AI factory is.” (Busch, 44:51)

7. From Atoms to Bits: The New Frontier of Automation

[50:23]–[56:37]

• Engineering the Whole Factory:

  • Siemens now automates not just physical processes (“atoms”) but also design, simulation, and operations (“bits”), using digital twins and AI agents.
  • Vision: AI agents analyze and optimize in real time, suggesting or implementing fixes, based on live production data.

• On AI Models:

  • General-purpose LLMs (e.g., from OpenAI) aren’t accurate enough for industrial reliability; Siemens builds on top with domain-specific training.
  • Quote:

    “LLMs will get better and better. But I don't believe that these LLMs, if you do not train them really on specific industrial data... you can train them as well as you want. They will not get to the level which we can use on the shop, shop floor.” (Busch, 57:21)

• Data Aggregation and Trust:

  • Industrial partners are beginning to pool data with Siemens to enable more robust and useful AI models, relying on Siemens’ trustworthiness, but guard their most sensitive data.

8. Navigating Geopolitics and the Future of a Global Company

[62:39]–[65:25]

• Scenario Planning for a Fragmented World:

  • Siemens increases resilience through “local for local” approaches, developing regional versions of software and training industrial AI on local models (e.g., Chinese LLMs in China).
  • However, fully fragmenting software globally is cost-prohibitive; Siemens must balance scale with localization.

• Optimism in International Collaboration:

  • Despite rising walls, Busch maintains optimism that collaboration and scale ultimately benefit the world—especially in facing challenges like climate change and aging demographics.
  • Quote:

    “There might be times where this is not appreciated so much for whatever reason, but in the long run, I believe that a world which is using technologies in order to solve the real problems in the world... we cannot solve it if you box ourselves too small.” (Busch, 65:33)

9. The Road Ahead for Siemens

[66:40]–end

• Siemens aims to deliver on its promised industrial AI operating system—bridging digital and physical worlds for customers in everything from supply chains to beverage manufacturing.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “We reinvented ourselves over and over again... This is the fastest and the most fundamental [transformation] we ever had because of technology.”
  (Busch, 05:17)

• “AI in particular doesn’t respect silos. The world is squeezing out the small. The more data you have, the stronger you are.”
  (Busch, 18:37)

• “Empowerment is not anarchy. You have a clear strategy with boundaries. Within that frame... you are empowered. Empowered is a two way street... it also requires accountability.”
  (Busch, 29:45)

• “An AI factory... creates, uses a lot of space, uses a lot of energy and it creates limited amount of jobs. I mean that's what an AI factory is.”
  (Busch, 44:51)

• “I don't believe that these LLMs, if you do not train them really on specific industrial data... will get to the level which we can use on the shop floor.”
  (Busch, 57:21)

• “In the long run, I believe that a world which is using technologies in order to solve the real problems... we cannot solve it if you box ourselves too small. So scale it.”
  (Busch, 65:28)

Important Timestamps for Segments

| Topic | Approx. Time | |----------------------------------------------------|---------------| | Siemens' identity & mission | 05:11–07:18 | | How Siemens is structured and why | 07:57–20:12 | | New “One Tech Company” initiative | 16:07–20:12 | | Leadership, culture, transformation | 20:12–24:29 | | Decision-making & empowerment | 29:35–31:46 | | The link between vision and day-to-day work | 31:46–35:20 | | Globalization, localization, and US manufacturing | 35:20–41:58 | | Automation’s impact on jobs | 43:54–46:33 | | Automating “bits”: AI, digital twins, and agents | 50:23–56:37 | | LLMs and industrial AI | 54:08–57:21 | | Data, trust, and AI alliances | 60:53–62:39 | | Planning for geopolitical fragmentation | 62:39–65:25 | | Siemens’ vision for the future | 66:40–67:30 |

Tone and Style

• The conversation is candid, technical, occasionally philosophical, and infused with witty asides from Nilay Patel.
• Busch answers deeply and earnestly, acknowledging organizational challenges and uncertainties while maintaining optimism for technology-driven transformation.

Memorable Moments

• When Nilay presses on the dissonance between a fully automated world’s utopian efficiency and the potential for mass job loss, Busch responds with a realistic but hopeful answer rooted in demographic trends.
• The pride with which Busch describes Siemens’ role in building Egypt’s railway, connecting 90 million people, is palpable (“...which company in the world can do that?” [34:37]).
• Both host and guest frequently return to the necessity—and difficulty—of connecting high-level strategy and vision to the practical realities of a massive organization.
• The complexity of Siemens’ organization is openly acknowledged, with Patel joking:

  “If you tell me how the company is structured, I can tell you 80% of your problems. But in the case of Siemens, it seems like I'm still trying to figure it all out...” (Patel, 15:15)

In Summary

This episode provides a uniquely transparent look into Siemens, a pillar of global industry, as it seeks to become the “central nervous system” of automation in the 21st century. Roland Busch shares not only Siemens’ ambitious technological vision but also the hard realities of managing legacy, culture, global politics, and economic uncertainty. Listeners will come away with a clearer understanding of industrial transformation at planetary scale—and the hard questions automation poses for workers, economies, and society.