Global Trends and Challenges Shaping Industrial Transformation in the Age of AI - Najat Messaoud

Описание: Najat Messaoud outlines the major global trends influencing the chemical and manufacturing sectors. She highlights the growing importance of sustainability and the circular economy, driven both by EU regulations such as the European Green Deal and by customer expectations for environmentally friendly products.
Another major challenge is the global shortage of skilled workers, especially in Germany, where an aging workforce is retiring and the talent gap cannot be naturally filled. This is compounded by geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions, and high energy prices, all of which impact the competitiveness of European industries.

To address these pressures, companies are increasingly adopting AI, cloud technologies, and digital transformation to boost efficiency, accelerate innovation, and mitigate workforce shortages. Messaoud emphasizes that generative AI and agent-based systems can help capture and preserve expert knowledge, automate repetitive tasks, and support workers on the factory floor. She also notes the emergence of multi-agent systems capable of orchestrating entire end-to-end processes.

Najat Messaoud is Senior Director, Cloud & AI Platforms Lead for Germany at Microsoft, where she helps large enterprise customers drive digital transformation through cloud, data, and AI solutions as part of the Intelligent Cloud organization. With a strong background spanning cloud platforms, data & AI, and digital innovation, she brings extensive experience in leading diverse, cross-functional teams and translating complex business challenges into scalable, outcome-driven Azure strategies.
Prior to and during her tenure at Microsoft, Najat has held senior leadership roles across EMEA, including at Citrix, and is recognized as a transformation and change leader with a strong focus on customer success, partner ecosystems, and talent development. As a speaker, she shares practical insights on cloud adoption, data-driven decision-making, AI-powered business transformation, and leadership in times of change, drawing on real-world enterprise use cases across industries.


Host: Dr. Lukasz Miroslaw, Sr. Industry Advisor at Microsoft

Keywords: industrial transformation, artificial intelligence, generative AI, multi‑agent systems, talent shortage, sustainability, circular economy, EU Green Deal, digitalization, process automation, knowledge preservation, manufacturing sector, chemical industry, energy costs, supply chain challenges