Jens A. Gebauer is the CEO and main Shareholder EDEKA Gebauer´s Group since 2003. He is a high end food retailer in the area around Stuttgart, Germany. Gebauer´s run 7 brick and mortar outlets and online delivery shops, turnover 155 Mio. € per year and employ 750 people. Gebauer´s is member of the EDEKA, a German retail cooperation with 80 Bil. € the No. 1 in the German food market.
He will defend his Executive Doctorate of Business Administration (EDBA) in March 2024, on the theme: “Projective Study of disruptive technologies in the Retail Industry: Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things” under the supervision of Professor Lars Meyer-Waarden, Toulouse School of Management, France.
Thesis Direction
Pr Lars Meyer-Waarden
Thesis Title
The change of the food retail sector under the influence of new disruptive technologies.
Abstract
What impact do artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) have on German food retail? This exploratory, projective study uses a qualitative approach to examine the current usage of disruptive technologies in classic brick-and-mortar food retail in Germany and the digital food retail of worldwide market leaders. The methodology consisted of group discussions, deep interviews, analysis of conference videos, and literature research about new technologies in food retail. Many processes along the food supply chain make use of IoT for data collection and AI for analysis and prediction. The findings of this thesis point toward an increasing rate of use and versatile application options in the imminent future.