Redefining Innovation at Kontron: Where Leadership and AI Converge
22 senior executives. 8 departments. 3 continents. 12 weeks. How Kimolian built AI capability inside a global IoT organisation — and graduated every one of them with a working prototype.
Caption: Vienna Graduation — Sustainable Leadership Academy, May 2025
"Kimolian has demonstrated clearly in the Sustainable Leadership Academy of Kontron what modern leadership development can achieve."
The Situation
Kontron is not only a global leader in IoT — it is also rethinking how it develops its future leaders.
Every year, Kontron runs its Sustainable Leadership Academy, bringing together future leaders from across the organisation. For 2025, Kontron chose to make AI the centrepiece — and partnered with Kimolian to design and deliver the programme.
The challenge was not finding AI tools. Tools existed. The gap was human capability: making better decisions with AI, collaborating across geographies, and embedding responsible adoption into how teams actually work.
What We Did
Programme
Sustainable Leadership Academy — "Accelerate Innovation with AI"
The Journey
Weeks 1–4
Learn
AI literacy and product thinking fundamentals. Teams built foundational skills working with real AI tools, synthesising user data, and forming cross-functional working groups.
Weeks 5–8
Experiment
Hands-on prototyping with AI. Participants worked on real business briefs — rapid prototyping sprints, user testing, and iteration across continents.
Weeks 9–12
Apply
Teams co-created production-ready prototypes. Final executive presentations. Every participant demonstrated a working AI prototype to senior leadership at a graduation ceremony in Vienna.
| Capability built | What participants developed |
|---|---|
| AI literacy | Confident use of AI for real work — beyond basic prompting |
| Data-driven decisions | Using AI tools to analyse and act faster |
| Sustainable product thinking | Responsibility embedded into development and team culture |
| Cross-functional collaboration | Silos broken across departments and time zones |
| Digital fluency | Advanced capabilities across the AI tool ecosystem |
Outcomes
- Three large numbers. Teal.
- executives trained
- departments represented
- continents connected
- ✓ Full 12-week programme delivered
- Every participant demonstrated a working AI prototype at graduation
- Graduation ceremony — Vienna, 28 May 2025
- Participants using AI as a work partner — not a tool to fear
- Cross-continental collaboration measurably strengthened
- ### What This Means for Organisations
- Accelerated Transformation — leaders confidently guide their teams in adopting AI and automation
- Smarter Decisions — champions use data-driven insights to act faster and with more confidence
- Sustainable Innovation — AI adoption aligned with business growth and long-term responsibility
- One Culture — silos broken, collaboration strengthened across functions and regions
In Their Words
"During the class, I realized it was best to work with AI as I would a person, rather than a tool. Tell it what you want, allow it to provide a result, and work further with the AI to refine the result to your desired specifications. Less worry about how to perform a task — focus on the desired end result. It's amplified work. The difference between a manual tool and a power tool."
Garry Shull
Director, Channel & Inside Sales, Kontron AG
"In a world facing such disconnect, it was an unbelievably amazing opportunity to get the chance to gather with like-minded colleagues and leaders. Kimolian allows teams to learn about sustainable product development in a fun and interactive way. Bouncing ideas and experiences off each other was always interesting and allowed me to gain the most from the experience."
Chantal Bergeron
Group Leader, Kontron
"Coordinating this training across multiple business units was a unique and rewarding challenge. What stood out was how quickly our teams embraced the practical use of AI and adapted to asynchronous collaboration."
Hsieh Edwin
SLA Project Coordinator, Kontron
Why It Matters
Innovation isn't just about the next big thing — it's about doing the right thing, better.
The Sustainable Leadership Academy proved that even inside a complex, global organisation, when people are given the tools, trust, and time to collaborate, the future isn't just predicted — it's prototyped.
The most significant shift wasn't a specific skill. It was a change in how people think about AI: from "how do I use this tool?" to "what outcome do I want, and how does AI help me get there?"
That is the mindset that compounds. The one that makes capability last after the programme ends.
Client
Kontron AG · Sector: Technology / IoT · Global
Service
AI Leadership Programme
Programme name
Sustainable Leadership Academy — Accelerate Innovation with AI
Format
6 biweekly sessions · 12 weeks
Cohort
22 executives · 8 departments · 3 continents
Graduation
Vienna, May 2025
Status
Confirmed and published
Want to build this inside your organisation?
AI for Leaders is a 6–12 week programme designed for corporate leadership teams. Participants work on real business briefs and graduate with working AI prototypes. Delivered in-person, virtually, or hybrid.