Zoi is a cloud-native technology partner that helps manufacturing and retail companies modernize legacy systems, connect fragmented data environments, and move artificial intelligence from experimentation into production. The company combines engineering expertise across AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft, and SAP with industry-specific knowledge. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Zoi North America Managing Director Danilo Kirschner to learn more.
Kirschner’s Background
When asked about his background and his approach to enterprise technology, Kirschner shared:
I’m Danilo Kirschner, Managing Director of Zoi North America. Guided by the Bauhaus principle “form follows function,” I’m convinced that state-of-the-art digital solutions must meet business demands where they are.
At Zoi, I act as the strategic voice of the customer, translating enterprise goals into tangible, AI-enabled cloud solutions. My focus is on driving sustainable growth that aligns with Zoi’s mission: delivering digital transformation that makes a real impact. (LinkedIn profile)
Zoi’s Origins And Kirschner’s Role
When discussing how Zoi came together and his primary responsibilities in North America, Kirschner explained:
Zoi was born cloud-native nearly a decade ago to reset the way enterprises approach digital transformation. We saw a need for a partner that could combine deep enterprise IT know-how with startup agility.
We wanted to move beyond pure advisory and create a hands-on technology partner, a place where projects are not only designed but delivered, scaled, and embedded into the client’s organization for lasting success.
In North America, I focus on executing this mission with high velocity. We use our global delivery hubs to establish “Digital Factories,” repeatable models that modernize infrastructure and scale AI solutions in months instead of years.
I ensure that our clients stay secure and compliant while moving at the speed the U.S. market requires.
Cross-Border Collaboration
When asked about his favorite memory from working at Zoi, Kirschner recalled:
It’s hard to pick just one, but a definite highlight was a recent synergy created by our new North American headquarters. Hosting our colleagues from Germany here wasn’t just about internal meetings. It was about joining forces to go out and visit customers together.
That “boots on the ground” collaboration across borders perfectly captures the Zoi spirit, moving as one global team to solve local challenges.
I also deeply value the freedom to lead our go-to-market activities, backed by the full support of the Zoi team. It’s a collective effort where my colleagues’ expertise helps turn strategic visions into reality.
Seeing this teamwork and creative spirit translate into more serious business opportunities is incredibly rewarding and proves that we win as one team.
AI And Cloud Transformation
When describing Zoi’s core products and services, Kirschner detailed:
We empower manufacturing and retail leaders to transform technical complexity into tangible business value: faster decision-making, operational resilience, and global scalability.
We untangle fragmented data landscapes and modernize legacy cores to move AI from experimentation into high-impact production. By combining deep vertical expertise with hands-on engineering across AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft, and SAP, we deliver solutions that actually work.
A standout example is our work with Kärcher. We delivered a fully cloud-native production facility in just 11 months. This project drastically reduced maintenance overhead and created a digital blueprint for its global operations.
Our core offering stands on three pillars:
- The Agentic Enterprise And AI At Scale: We bridge the gap between AI pilots and industrial-grade production. Using custom agents and retrieval-augmented generation, we establish secure, auditable governance that focuses on return on investment, whether optimizing customer service in retail or production planning in manufacturing.
- Connected Ecosystems, Including Smart Manufacturing And Composable Retail: Speed disappears when digital channels and physical operations are out of sync. We build the “connective tissue” using cloud-native factory and composable retail patterns to ensure teams act on real-time signals instead of delayed reports.
- Modernizing The Core Through Cloud And SAP Excellence: The core infrastructure determines a company’s pace of change. We modernize SAP and cloud foundations toward a “Clean Core” setup, hardening security with Zero Trust principles and establishing MLOps-ready environments for global compliance and scalability.
Enterprise Technology Challenges
When asked about challenges facing the enterprise technology sector and how Zoi helps clients address them, Kirschner noted:
We currently see three critical friction points where we help our clients break through.
First is the AI hype hangover. The biggest challenge right now isn’t launching AI. It’s proving it. Boards and shareholders are losing patience with expensive, broad experiments that lack a tangible return on investment.
We overcome this by shifting the focus toward smaller language models and purpose-built AI agents that automate specific workflows. By building on clean, accessible data, we ensure every project stays cost-contained and results-driven.
Second is the cloud adoption gap. Many enterprises still hesitate on their cloud journeys, leading to operational inefficiencies and missed opportunities.
We address this by embedding FinOps practices from day one. By ensuring total cost transparency and continuous optimization, we turn cloud infrastructure into a measurable strategic advantage rather than a financial burden.
Third is the evolution of risk. As AI expands the attack surface, speed only matters if trust holds. Rising cybersecurity risks and new compliance questions require security to be built in, not added later.
We design auditability and resilience directly into the architecture from the start, allowing our clients to innovate at high velocity without creating new exposure or compromising their digital integrity.
Technology Evolution
When discussing how Zoi’s technology and services have evolved since launching, Kirschner described:
In 2017, we started by helping clients adopt hyperscaler cloud infrastructure. But we quickly realized that infrastructure is just the foundation, not the destination.
Today, our focus has shifted from pure infrastructure to intelligent platforms. We’ve evolved to solve much harder problems, including integrating SAP into the cloud, connecting shop-floor Internet of Things systems with enterprise data, and providing the governance and architecture for agentic AI.
We have moved from simply hosting applications to enabling a “Citizen Developer” culture where technology is accessible, secure, and globally scalable.
Major Company Milestones
When asked about Zoi’s most significant milestones, Kirschner said:
Beyond our revenue growth, three specific milestones define who we are today:
- Proving The “Factory Without IT” With Kärcher: Migrating Kärcher’s global IT footprint to the cloud proved that a major manufacturing leader can run entirely on public cloud infrastructure.
- Validation Of The “One Google” Approach: Winning the Google Cloud Partner of the Year and One Google Champion awards recognized that we don’t just sell cloud storage. We integrate the entire ecosystem, connecting infrastructure, Workspace, and AI into one platform.
- Global Scale: We have grown from a team of 20 in 2017 to more than 550 people worldwide, with a target of reaching 1,000 by 2030.
Kärcher’s Cloud-Only Strategy
When invited to share a specific customer success story, Kirschner explained:
One standout example is Kärcher, the global industrial solutions leader known for cleaning everything from factory floors to Mount Rushmore.
We helped the company execute a radical cloud-only strategy. This meant migrating business-critical systems to AWS across the globe, even in highly regulated markets like China.
This wasn’t just a migration. It was the implementation of a Cloud Native Factory. By moving to this setup, we removed the limitations of local hardware and legacy IT.
This foundation enabled faster innovation cycles and turned Kärcher into a leading agentic enterprise. Today, Kärcher is already deploying autonomous AI agents at scale across its global operations, proving that the future of automated manufacturing and service is already a reality.
Zoi’s Differentiators
When asked what differentiates Zoi from its competition, Kirschner emphasized:
Most consultancies stop at the strategy slide. At Zoi, we make AI operational.
What sets us apart is our deep engineering DNA. Many of our consultants come from strong SAP and manufacturing backgrounds. We understand the complex “plumbing” of enterprise systems, which allows us to apply cloud and AI thinking where it actually matters, in the core processes rather than just on the surface.
We bridge the gap between strategy and code. Our U.S. team connects directly to delivery hubs in Mexico, Europe, and Asia, combining enterprise precision with startup speed.
While the market is still discussing the potential of AI, our clients are already deploying active AI agents. Because we fixed their data foundations and governance early, they aren’t just piloting. They are already automating complex workflows and seeing real returns.
Zoi stands out by combining strategy with execution through our methodology, cloud architecture expertise, and cross-functional delivery teams. It’s not just consultancy. It’s execution.
Future Goals
When discussing Zoi’s future goals, Kirschner shared:
We seek to scale our U.S. operations, deepen enterprise partnerships, and continue delivering outcomes with clarity, speed, and quality.
We’re building a foundation to lead AI-enabled cloud transformation globally, grounded in our delivery-first culture.
Our goals include growing from approximately 550 employees today to 1,000 by 2030, expanding our U.S. and European presence as the bridge for manufacturers scaling across the Atlantic, and becoming the go-to partner for AI-enabled cloud transformation while ensuring global enterprises combine speed with compliance.
Aligning Technology With Strategy
When invited to discuss additional topics related to enterprise transformation, Kirschner concluded:
I’m especially passionate about how aligning technology with enterprise strategy and empowering the people behind it can accelerate business value.
In a fast-evolving landscape, having the right methodology isn’t just a technical detail. It’s the critical edge that turns a vision into reality.
