DIHK Digitalisation Survey 2026: What the Results Mean for Customer Service at Chambers of Commerce

Exam registrations, apprenticeship contracts, membership fee notices: anyone running customer service at a chamber of commerce knows the waves of recurring enquiries all too well.

The DIHK Digitalisation Survey 2026, published in 2026, puts numbers behind that daily reality: among the almost 5,000 companies surveyed, 43% of those already using AI deploy it for customer communication and support, while the business community as a whole gives public administration a poor grade of 4 minus.

Between those two figures lies the real message for chambers: their member businesses increasingly experience AI in customer service as the norm, and they expect the same service level from their chamber.

This article puts the results in context and shows how chambers can close the gap.

The DIHK Digitalisation Survey 2026 at a glance

For the DIHK Digitalisation Survey 2026, the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce surveyed almost 5,000 companies across all industries. The overall picture: the economy is staying on course with digitalisation. Businesses rate their own digitalisation maturity at an average of 2.8 on the German school scale, and they digitalise primarily to make processes more efficient and improve quality. More than a third of companies even develop new products, services or business models on a digital basis!

At the same time, the survey names clear construction sites: legal uncertainty as the biggest obstacle to data use, a persistently high cyber threat level, and a public administration that cannot keep pace with the economy. DIHK provides all charts as a PDF download.

The key figures for customer service

For anyone responsible for a service organisation, three results stand out:

DIHK finding 2026	What it means for customer service
78% of AI-using companies deploy generative AI for texts, images or code	Generative AI is an everyday tool, including in customer communication
43% of AI-using companies deploy AI for personalised customer communication and support	AI in customer service is no longer a pilot project but established practice
41% of active AI users rate the productivity effect as high	Those who automate work measurably more productively, and that applies to chambers as much as to companies

The industry view is just as telling: in hospitality, 62% of AI-using businesses focus on personalised customer communication, in retail it is 53%. Exactly these companies, from hotels to retailers, are chamber members. They experience every day that enquiries can be answered in seconds, and they carry that expectation into every interaction with their chamber.

A poor grade for administration: wake-up call and opportunity for chambers

The survey’s most striking result concerns the public sector: businesses give public administration a grade of 4 minus on the German school scale, a performance with clear deficiencies, as DIHK itself puts it. The progress of administrative digitalisation has barely reached companies so far; what they demand are consistently digital, uncomplicated procedures. From more than 400 free-text answers, DIHK distils the appeal: “Just get on with it!”

Important for context: this grade applies to public administration as a whole, not to chambers specifically. But chambers, as public-law bodies, sit exactly at the interface this frustration targets, and as self-governing organisations of the business community they are best placed to do better. A chamber that leads on digital customer service proves to its members that “digital and uncomplicated” works in the public sector too.

What the results mean for chamber service in practice

The expectation gap grows from both sides

Member businesses digitalise their own service, with 43% of AI users deploying AI in customer support, while rating administration at 4 minus. The more normal instant, automated answers become in members’ daily lives, the more every waiting period at the chamber stands out. This gap will not close by itself.

Recurring enquiries are the lever

Exam dates, registration deadlines, apprenticeship contracts, membership fee notices, certification exams, official confirmations: a large share of chamber enquiries follows the same patterns, often with pronounced peaks around exam periods and the start of the apprenticeship year. Exactly this profile, high volume on recurring topics, is the ideal case for FAQ automation: the AI answers standard cases instantly and around the clock, while the team focuses on consultation and complex matters.

Legal certainty is non-negotiable for chambers

The survey names legal uncertainty as the biggest obstacle to data use, and for public-law bodies that weighs twice as heavily. A chamber cannot afford invented information. That is why architecture matters: an AI that answers exclusively from the approved knowledge base structurally excludes hallucinations and remains GDPR-compliant and in line with the EU AI Act.

Scarce resources argue for automation, not against it

No major IT project, no development team: modern solutions start as a no-code chatbot, and existing information sheets and web pages move into the knowledge base via URL synchronisation and document import. The productivity effect that 41% of AI users rate as high is therefore within reach for chambers with limited resources as well.

AI in chamber customer service: how to get started

OMQ automates customer service across all the channels that matter in chamber operations: the OMQ Chatbot answers enquiries on the website in real time, OMQ Help makes the help section searchable, OMQ Contact answers questions directly in the contact form before a case is created, and OMQ Reply automates the email flood, connected to the existing ticket system through the OMQ integrations. All channels draw on the same central knowledge base: if an exam deadline changes, it is updated once and live everywhere.

That this approach works in the chamber and education environment is reflected in the reference list: alongside companies such as Deutsche Bahn and Tchibo, OMQ’s customers include several German chambers of commerce (IHKs) and ETH Zurich. And how strong the relief can be is shown in our myphotobook case study: 83% of service emails there are resolved automatically. According to OMQ, setup takes around ten minutes; the packages are listed on the pricing page.

Conclusion

The DIHK Digitalisation Survey 2026 describes a widening divide that becomes a strategic question for chambers: on one side, member businesses for whom AI in customer service is everyday practice (43% of AI users) and who experience measurable productivity gains. On the other, a public administration those same businesses grade at 4 minus. Chambers can close this divide faster than many expect: recurring enquiries about exams, apprenticeships and membership fees are the ideal starting point for automated customer communication, legally sound on the basis of a controlled knowledge base and without a major IT project. After all, the survey’s appeal from the business community applies here too: just get on with it.

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