How will the embedded software industry change by 2040? Which technological, societal and geopolitical developments will shape the next generation of software solutions across industry and services? These are the questions at the heart of the opening keynote by Carina Stoettner, futurist and managing director of the think tank Themis Foresight, at the ESE Congress 2024.

On 3 December 2024, her talk “Time Travel to the Future: Opportunities and Risks for the Software Industry” will open the largest embedded systems event in the German-speaking world.

Embedded software in 2040: what’s coming?

Carina Stoettner takes the audience into possible futures for software development. The focus isn’t on technical detail alone but on the bigger picture:

• How are global value chains changing?
• What role do resilience, digital sovereignty and energy-efficient systems play?
• And how are customer needs evolving in industry, in mobility and in medical technology?

Five key drivers for the future of the embedded sector

Among the areas of transformation Stoettner examines in her keynote:

1. Systemic complexity: embedded software is becoming the backbone of connected, autonomous systems. Modularity and real-time capability turn into strategic success factors.
2. Energy and resources: energy efficiency and long-lived software architectures become mandatory — regulation included.
3. Regulation and security: geopolitical tension and new cyber risks call for robust governance.
4. New ways of working and the talent shortage: the working world is shifting — teams need to operate remotely, in an agile way and across disciplines.
5. Future markets and customer needs: embedded software has to orient itself more closely around use cases emerging beyond traditional industry — in health, education or climate technology.

On 24 September 2024, the Otto Group launched the second edition of its Corporate Responsibility Experience — #CRX24 — with two high-profile panel discussions on one of the most pressing questions of our time: how can climate transformation succeed when climate fatigue and regulatory pressure are mounting?

Among the participants was Carina Stöttner. Alongside leading figures from business, civil society and the media, she explored how responsibility, motivation and optimism about the future can be brought together.

“Climate transformation has to make economic sense” — Carina Stöttner on the panel

The first panel brought together:

• Alexander Birken, CEO, Otto Group
• Carolin Stüdemann, CEO, Viva con Agua
• Marina Beermann, Cociety foundation network
• Carina Stöttner, Themis Foresight
• Jens Schröder, science journalist

Carina Stöttner made the case for developing new economic frameworks — going beyond regulation and incentive schemes alone.

“We need a shared vision that brings people together rather than driving them apart. Climate transformation can’t be a project built on fear — it has to be one of design and perspective.”

She argued that economic and social sustainability need to be thought through together in order to avoid social tension and build long-term stability. Equally decisive, she said, is the work of building institutional bridges — between business, government and civil society — so that visions of the future can be designed and delivered collectively.

---

The takeaway: the future needs collaboration — and new narratives

#CRX24 made one thing clear: climate transformation is about more than technology and regulation — it’s a cultural and communicative project too. Positive visions of the future, honest dialogue and cross-sector alliances are what it takes to counter climate fatigue and embed sustainable strategy meaningfully inside companies.

---

Carina Stöttner — futurist and keynote speaker on sustainability, transformation and futures literacy

At the Handelsblatt Hydrogen Summit in May 2023, leading figures from industry, government and technology discussed the role of green hydrogen in the climate transition — and how Germany might become a global engine of innovation in the field.
On the panel: Carina Stoettner as a foresight expert, alongside Uwe Kerkmann, managing director of H2UB. The conversation was moderated by Kevin Knitterscheid.

Rethinking innovation: setting standards, shaping the future

Carina Stoettner argued that the transition isn’t only about the energy source itself, but about how we build an industry around it:

“This isn’t just about using hydrogen. It’s about helping define the global standards with every innovation, every component, every valve built to handle it.”

Every component developed and manufactured in Germany, she said, is a lever: for a share of the economic value, for technology exports — and for an active German role in the global hydrogen market.

Hydrogen as part of a wider climate transition

The discussion made clear that hydrogen is not the whole answer but one central building block in a much larger systemic shift.
The climate transition has to be thought about well beyond clean energy supply — toward new models of production, innovation and value creation.

“The decisive question isn’t only how a product becomes green. It’s how it becomes green AND commercially relevant,” Stoettner said.

Industry leading the way: the Salzgitter example

Particular attention went to Salzgitter AG and CEO Gunnar Groebler. Salzgitter is among the first companies in Germany to commit fully to hydrogen-based steel production — a signal to the entire sector.

“When companies like Salzgitter move boldly, they take on a pioneering role — technologically, commercially and socially,” Stoettner said.

The takeaway: shaping the future through innovation

The Hydrogen Summit made one thing clear: if Germany wants to hold its own in global competition, clean energy sources won’t be enough on their own. It will take intelligent industrial policy, companies willing to take risks — and people prepared to think past the obvious solutions.

How can strategic foresight help companies and society prepare for an uncertain future? What role do skills, narratives — and the way we handle technology — actually play? These questions were at the center of a recent interview with futurist Carina Stoettner in Technik in Bayern, the magazine of VDI Bayern Nordostbayern.

Dr. Dina Barbian and Silvia Stettmayer spoke with Carina Stoettner, managing director of the think tank Themis Foresight. The interview offers a layered look at how foresight methods are applied inside companies, and at why futures literacy matters in a period of accelerating change.

Foresight as a strategic lever — beyond fear and techno-optimism

Stoettner makes the case plainly: companies that use foresight deliberately give themselves a head start. It isn’t about predicting the future but about the ability to think in scenarios, recognize risks — and actively shape opportunities.

“Fear is a poor adviser. Shaping the future takes openness, a willingness to learn, and a shared sense of where we’re going.”
— Carina Stoettner

The conversation also examines how societal paradigms get written into technological developments — the airbag as an expression of a promise of safety, for instance. At the same time, Stoettner warns against naive techno-optimism: the future needs more than technical solutions. It needs ethical, social and cultural negotiation.

Futures literacy as the key skill of the coming decades

A central theme of the interview is building futures literacy: the ability to work with uncertainty, understand change and recognize where there’s room to act. In Stoettner’s view, this is one of the decisive success factors for companies and education systems through 2040.

Further contributions and perspectives on the future

Alongside the interview with Carina Stoettner, the issue contains other compelling pieces — including one by Prof. Lothar Abicht — on the technologies of the future, the working world, society and change. Very much in the spirit of the line attributed to Pericles:

“It is not about predicting the future, but about being prepared for it.”

Read the article (in German)