We all agree that artificial intelligence offers enormous opportunities. It’s transforming how information is created, processed and used. Hardly any other topic is currently occupying newsrooms, media companies, and communications departments more – and, of course, that also goes for us here at dpa. Because when the way that people search for and consume information changes, then so does the role of those who provide it.

The idea behind dpa-iq is obvious – and yet it’s far from easy to implement: We want to make the dpa’s collected, verified knowledge usable for the world of AI. That is, the world knowledge that our editors build up day after day – carefully verified, structured in terms of content and journalistically sound. In the future, this knowledge will be made available to AI agents and automated systems so that they can access reliable, verified information. The goal is to improve the quality of AI results while helping our customers meaningfully integrate these new tech­nologies into their own workflows.

What does this look like in practice? It’s quite simple: dpa-iq is integrated into our customers’ digital offerings. Their users can submit targeted queries via dpa-iq – on current topics, events, background information, or relevant images. The platform processes these queries, searches through dpa content, and returns structured, actionable results in seconds. These results can be directly integrated into editorial systems, newsroom processes, or communication workflows. This creates an intelligent everyday companion that delivers facts, reveals connections and simplifies routine work – without ever losing sight of journalistic standards.

www.dpa-news.com was, about 15 years ago, proof of a fundamental transformation at dpa. Not only was virtually the entire range of dpa news now available digitally, the new comment function under each article said: “Talk to us – we’re open to sug­gestions, criticism and, above all, dialogue in our day-to-day operations.” The strategy for a dpa focused on close collaboration in day-to-day journalism was now cast in software. The decade that has passed since then feels like an eternity in light of the current transformation. Time to bring dpa-News from the old world into the new. In 2025, the dpa-News Hub was launched.

From the start of development, it was clear that news and dialogue would also be the cornerstones of the new platform.

Radical changes under the hood

• The features available today in the dpa-News Hub are based on major system developments that have taken place at dpa in recent years. Key components include the new data architecture built on content value units, a new content delivery system and the RUBIX editorial system, which has been in widespread use since 2025.

• RUBIX enables multimedia production. This means that text, images, videos, graphics and audio are linked to form multimedia stories. To do this, the systems must know which elements belong together. This was not possible on the old dpa-News platform. On the dpa-News Hub, multimedia stories can be displayed automatically. Our customer newsrooms now receive an immediate – and thus time-saving – overview of how dpa reports can be presented in a multimedia format on their own platforms.

• At the same time, the “Digital Wires” delivery interface, developed over several years, offers significantly greater flexibility in presentation.

• With the integration of the relevant systems, videos and audio files are now also available on the platform.

Dialogue and customisation

• The successful comment feature has been prominently expanded into a “Messenger” within the new dpa-News Hub. Here, a lively daily dialogue takes place regarding dpa’s news offerings. Based on this, we also adapt our news offerings throughout the day to meet our customers’ needs at short notice.

• The tried-and-trusted Editor’s Pick remains – serving as a sort of “campfire” for the day’s most prominent stories.

• However, according to statistics from the first few months, the most-used feature is “MyDesk”: Every user can create a customised news page.

dpa-Recherche – Artificial intelligence in daily operations

The dpa-News Hub is the first widely deployed dpa product in which artificial intelligence plays a prominent role. As early as spring 2025, we were able to present AI features on the platform under dpa-Recherche, which give our users access to dpa’s comprehensive range of information in a way never seen before. Natural-language queries generate AI-generated summaries that draw on the entire range of dpa’s news content. Each partial response transparently references the source documents, allowing the reasoning behind it to be verified at any time.

With dpa-Recherche, we have succeeded in gaining early experience with the use of AI while simultaneously making a statement: dpa is hands-on and highly capable. Particularly in the field of AI. To get to market quickly, we utilised the technology and processes of the US company you.com, which was founded by German AI pioneer Richard Socher. However, the current status is, at best, a snapshot. Our AI teams are already working on the next stage to improve the research experience.

Transformation often involves making proven elements of success feel completely new through the application of innovative technologies and processes. The dpa-News Hub is an excellent example of this.

A company’s success results from its ability to adapt to changes in its environment. For dpa, these kinds of influencing factors are not limited to the changes in technology and user behaviour mentioned above. Our philosophy sees dpa as a supporter of our customers in their own transformation. Therefore, our custom­ers’ needs have a primary influence on our strategy. These vary significantly depending on the customer segment. Efficiency gains and cost reduc­tions were key drivers that also remained dominant in 2025. At the same time, we detect a high demand for formats that enable our customers to succeed beyond the traditional legacy media formats. There is also intense demand for dialogue formats and training. It won’t stop there. Needs and priorities will continue to evolve – and with them, the demands placed on dpa. To achieve all of this and deliver first-class customer value in every situation, dpa must become an adap­tive organisation. Adaptive means managing resources and processes in such a way that they can adapt to the prevailing needs – as quickly as possible and using the fewest possible resources.

So, how do we become an adaptive organisation? First and foremost, by aligning our mindset with this goal. To put the principle of adaptive organisation into practice, we have to strengthen our ability to implement projects with the fewest possible resour­ces in the shortest possible time. Whether it’s a customer’s project, product development, the intro­duction of a new process, or a structural change.

In 2025, we developed three principles plus a meta-rule to become a truly adaptive organisation. To ensure the entire team internalises them quickly and effectively, we have limited ourselves to three rules:

• Principle 1 – the shortest time: We align our actions to achieve results in the shortest possible time. Instead of thinking through issues comprehensively in theory, we launch activities promptly and, when in doubt, gather experience quickly. Maximum acceleration is achieved through the targeted use of timeboxing (setting a fixed timeframe within which specific results are to be achieved).

• Principle 2 – the simplest effective solution: In all our endeavours, we strive to find the simplest solution that works. In the first step, we check whether things (products, processes, solutions) work; then we focus on making them efficient.

• Principle 3 – the most effective team: We deliber­ately only select team members who can make a significant contribution to the results of the respective project.

In addition, there is the meta-principle “learning organisation”: In everything we do, we continuously learn and question what we can do different and better.

At first glance, this approach to the adaptive organisation may seem overly simplistic. But aside from the fact that each principle is backed by well-thought-out and clearly defined implementation rules, this approach draws its strength from a shared under­standing across the entire company.

2026 will be marked by the rollout of these principles across the entire dpa group. Training and the development of Key Performance Indicators will

play central roles in this process.

Developing the capacity for transformation is similar to training in elite sports. Simple goals, a clear training program, numerous repetitions and con­stantly measuring whether the performance is improving. The dpa’s goal is clear: Champions League status in the discipline of customer benefit.