Digital. Comprehensive. Bold.
Interview with Dr. Wolfram Jost, CEO of Scheer IDS and Chief Technology Advisor of the Scheer Group
Cheaper, faster, more – the demands in the fast-paced 21st century are high. Digital processes help companies make structures and processes more agile, develop innovative business models and thus strengthen their competitiveness. These are ambitious promises; the implementation is complex. The Scheer Group from Saarbrücken is exactly the reliable professional for this. The company has early recognized that real transformation can only happen through business processes.
Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Dr. Jost, the name Scheer is closely associated with digital transformation. The company addressed the topic very early on and is considered a pioneer in this field. How did that come about?
Dr. Wolfram Jost: Behind the Scheer story is Prof. Dr. August-Wilhelm Scheer, a visionary entrepreneur and university professor, who founded IDS Scheer, the first company in the group, in 1984, introduced the first R/3 systems, and offered process consulting. He was convinced that the introduction of IT systems and the transformation of companies could only be achieved through business processes. Engaging with the process topic eventually led to the development of ‘Aris’, software for modeling and planning as well as optimizing business processes. Aris is regarded as the first IT tool for the analysis, modeling, and optimization of business processes and also formed the basis for the fruitful partnership with SAP.
Wirtschaftsforum: Has the SAP partnership influenced further corporate development?
Dr. Wolfram Jost: Yes. With Aris combined with the introduction of SAP R/3, we have grown to almost 4,000 employees. In 2000, we went public, and in 2009 we were sold to Software AG. Professor Scheer had simultaneously founded a second company, IMC AG, which dealt with e-learning technologies. The Scheer Group was purposefully expanded and restructured in the following years, including Professor Scheer founding the August-Wilhelm-Scheer Institute for Digital Research AWSI with over 100 employees.
Wirtschaftsforum: What does the group's structure look like today?
Dr. Wolfram Jost: In addition to Scheer IDS, which deals with business processes, AI and SAP, and Scheer IMC, there is Scheer PAS, a smaller company with about 100 employees that has developed a platform for process automation and enterprise integration, as well as the research institute. A few months ago, Scheer Business Services was integrated into the group, a service company specializing in the areas of Human Resources, Marketing, Finance, and Controlling. This brings us to around 1,300 employees at 20 locations worldwide, including in Singapore, the United States, and Australia. All of our companies are in growth markets and are developing very dynamically. An example is Scheer PAS, which focuses on AI-related topics, addressing the central question of how to use AI agents to optimize processes.
Wirtschaftsforum: What role do you see yourself playing in this growth course?
Dr. Wolfram Jost: I have been working for the Scheer Group for many years, received my doctorate under Professor Scheer, led the development of Aris, was appointed to the Scheer board in 2000, and was responsible for software development, product management, and product marketing. After the sale, I was appointed CTO to the board of Software AG in 2009, and returned to Scheer in 2018, where as CEO of the group's largest company, I focus primarily on strategic development. At the same time, I am still operationally active since I know the business, the projects, and the employees very well and am still deeply technically involved in the topics, and last but not least, I enjoy working with the great team on SAP, process, or AI topics. We maintain very flat hierarchies because we believe that we can only be successful as a team. As CEO, I see a key task in looking to the future - as difficult as that is. AI is a major theme; we are developing the first AI agents in the learning management system and methods for AI agent discovery and AI agent monitoring.
Wirtschaftsforum: AI is the subject of the future. Can you specify where the path will lead?
Dr. Wolfram Jost: Coding Agents are currently a central theme in software development, another are AI agents that optimize, automate and make business processes more flexible. We will invest heavily here. Only when AI agents are integrated into the end-to-end processes can they realize their true potential. We are also dealing with tools in process modeling and optimization and how these tools can incorporate AI elements in the future. At Scheer PAS, they are currently developing an Agent Designer, a product with which companies can design, develop, and integrate agents into an existing enterprise process landscape. The challenge will not be the introduction of agents, but to harmonize the end-to-end processes across the four different IT stacks: mainframe, client server, cloud, and AI. So, it's about looking at the entire processes, the entire IT landscape.
Wirtschaftsforum: The Scheer Group enjoys an excellent reputation around the topic of digital transformation. What is the driver behind this success?
Dr. Wolfram Jost: Here, Professor Scheer is to be mentioned above all, who early on recognized the importance of tools and methods for process management and transferred them from research to practice, developing them further over decades. A great role is also played by a tremendous team shaped by trust and highly qualified, the right timing, and the courage to experiment with innovations, which by definition cannot always be successful. The Scheer Group will continue to experiment to continue the path of innovation.