Learn how Jungheinrich uses AI-powered simulations to train executives worldwide, delivering measurable results in their day-to-day work.
Jungheinrich boosts executive training success worldwide through scalable AI-powered simulations that have a measurable impact on leadership skills in the workplace.
Leadership development is one of the most important drivers of business success and, at the same time, one of the greatest challenges in learning and development. While markets, technologies, and ways of working are changing rapidly, many training formats still rely on traditional approaches: in-person seminars, workshops, or one-off training sessions.
The problem is that these formats are often difficult to scale, time-consuming, and only have limited effectiveness in everyday work. Leaders have packed schedules, training is hard to integrate into their work routines, and what is learned is rarely applied in the long term. Soft skills such as communication, feedback, or conflict resolution, however, are not developed through theory but through practice.
At the same time, pressure is mounting on companies to provide development for their leaders. Global teams, increasing complexity, and new demands on leadership require modern, flexible, and practical learning approaches. This is precisely where AI-powered training formats come in, making learning not only more efficient but also more sustainable.
Goal
Providing Effective Training for Executives
As a global company, Jungheinrich had to figure out how to efficiently and practically develop its managers worldwide. Previous training approaches were either costly to implement or failed to produce the desired results in everyday work. Soft skills were often taught in in-person sessions, or, in some cases, not at all, due to a lack of time, resources, or scalability.
In addition, several requirements converged:
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Global availability: Training should be rolled out internationally
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Practical applicability: Managers should be able to participate without significant effort
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Practical relevance: Real-life conversation scenarios should be the focus
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Strategic alignment: The training program should support the company’s AI initiatives
The biggest challenge lay in the format. A training approach had to be found that was both scalable and flexible while simultaneously enabling genuine skill development. It was precisely at this point that Jungheinrich began to break new ground in leadership development.
How Jungheinrich Scales AI-Powered Leadership Training Globally
Why Traditional Training Formats Are No Longer Sufficient
Three key weaknesses are particularly evident in leadership development:
Time Constraints in the Daily work Routine
Managers are among the busiest groups in the company. Multi-day training sessions, fixed appointments, or external workshops are difficult to integrate into the daily routine and are therefore often postponed or skipped altogether. As a result, learning becomes the exception rather than the rule.
Limited Scalability
In-person training sessions or individual coaching sessions are costly to organize and difficult to roll out globally. Different locations, languages, and availability schedules complicate the consistent development of leadership skills, particularly in companies with international operations.
Poor Practical Relevance
Traditional training often imparts theoretical knowledge that is difficult to apply to real-world situations. Without regular practice and repetition, learning outcomes remain limited. Soft skills, in particular, are developed through active practice rather than simply listening.
The result is high effort, limited impact, and little sustainable skill development.
A New Training Concept
The Leadership Lab
To address these challenges, Jungheinrich has introduced a training format called the Leadership Lab, which is consistently focused on practical application, scalability, and flexibility.
With this approach, leadership development becomes truly scalable, practical, and integrable into everyday work for the first time.
How Does the Training Work in Real-life?
Jungheinrich designed their Leadership Lab so that leaders can dive right into the training without any barriers to entry. Instead of going through lengthy theory sessions, they immediately begin with realistic conversation simulations that replicate typical challenges from their day-to-day work.
Realistic Conversation Simulations
Managers practice specific situations such as employee reviews, feedback sessions, or critical discussions with AI-powered conversation partners. The scenarios are designed to reflect real-world dynamics and are highly relevant to everyday work.
Open-ended vs. Guided Scenarios
The training combines structured exercises with open-ended simulations. While guided scenarios provide clear learning objectives and parameters, open-ended scenarios allow for flexible exploration of individual issues. This creates a balanced relationship between guidance and autonomy.
Immediate AI Feedback
After each simulation, participants receive immediate, actionable feedback on their behavior. This allows them to work specifically on theircommunication and leadership skills and quickly track their progress.
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Scaling Internationally
Training in 5 Languages for Global Teams
A key factor in the Leadership Lab’s success is its international scalability. From the very beginning, Jungheinrich designed the training program to be deployed worldwide without compromising on relevance or user experience.
Training in Five Languages
The content was rolled out directly in five languages: German, English, Spanish, French, and Italian. This ensures that leaders can train in their respective working languages.
Global Availability
The Leadership Lab is available regardless of location and can be used by managers worldwide. This creates a uniform training standard across national borders without adding organizational complexity.
Scalability Without Additional Effort
Compared to traditional training formats, the digital approach enables virtually unlimited scalability. New content or modules can be developed centrally and rolled out internationally without requiring additional trainer resources or logistics.
In this way, Jungheinrich is laying the foundation for modern, globally oriented leadership development.
Results
Scalable Leadership Development with Measurable Impact
Ein zentraler Vorteil des Leadership Labs liegt in der konsequenten Ausrichtung auf den Arbeitsalltag. Führungskräfte können Trainings jederzeit und ohne Ortsanbindung und Trainer in kurzen 5 – 10 Minuten-Sessions absolvieren. Dadurch wird Lernen erstmals wirklich zugänglich für eine Zielgruppe, die sonst kaum Zeit für Weiterbildung findet.
Auch wenn sich das Programm noch im Rollout befindet, zeigen sich bereits klare strukturelle Effekte, die den Ansatz von Jungheinrich nachhaltig verändern.
In Summe entsteht ein Trainingsansatz, der sowohl Wissen vermittelt als auch echte Fähigkeiten entwickelt und damit einen nachhaltigen Beitrag zur Performance von Führungskräften leistet.
Lessons Learned
What Others can Learn from Jungheinrich
Jungheinrich’s approach clearly demonstrates that successful leadership and team development today is less a matter of content and more a matter of format. Companies looking to modernize their training programs can draw several key lessons from this.
Bottom Line
The Jungheinrich case study demonstrates how leadership development can undergo a fundamental shift, moving away from one-off training sessions toward continuous, integrated learning within the daily work routine.
Their Leadership Lab represents an approach that meets three key requirements of modern companies:
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Scalability for thousands of leaders worldwide
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Hands-on relevance through realistic simulations
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Flexibility for seamless integration into the daily work routine
AI plays a key role in this: It enables personalized learning processes, immediate feedback, and a new form of learning by doing that cannot be achieved with traditional training formats. Instead of merely listening to or reading content, leaders actively practice. They make decisions, conduct conversations, and directly experience the consequences of their actions. This increases relevance and ensures deeper learning experiences.
