Germany’s richest man, Dieter Schwarz, is expanding his business empire beyond retail, positioning his company to challenge global technology giants such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon while transforming the southwestern city of Heilbronn into a major artificial intelligence and digital innovation hub.
Schwarz, whose fortune was built through the Lidl and Kaufland supermarket chains, is investing heavily in Schwarz Digits, the technology arm of the Schwarz Group. The company recently unveiled its new headquarters in Bad Friedrichshall, southern Germany, ahead of its official opening on July 21.
The new campus, designed to accommodate about 3,500 employees, includes office buildings, a daycare centre, restaurant, fitness facilities and green spaces.
According to Schwarz Digits executives, the development is intended to attract top technology talent and demonstrate the company’s ambition to compete with leading global tech firms.
Bernd Wagner, who heads cloud business and sales at Schwarz Digits, said the company aims to strengthen Europe’s technological independence by providing cloud computing and cybersecurity services to businesses and government agencies.
“If you’re not at the table, you end up on the menu,” Wagner said, adding that Europe must reduce its reliance on technology providers from the United States and China.
Originally established to manage the IT infrastructure of the Schwarz Group’s more than 14,000 supermarkets, Schwarz Digits has expanded its operations to offer digital services to external customers.
Its clients now include government institutions in Germany and the Netherlands, as well as the German Football Association. The company is also investing €11 billion in a new data centre in Germany’s Spreewald region, describing it as the largest single investment in the Schwarz Group’s history.
The Schwarz Group generated nearly €185 billion in revenue last year, making it one of Germany’s largest companies. Only Volkswagen recorded higher annual revenue among German firms.
Alongside its commercial expansion, Schwarz is investing heavily in education and research through the Dieter Schwarz Foundation.
The foundation has helped establish the Education Campus in Heilbronn, supports Germany’s largest science centre, Experimenta, and is backing the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (IPAI), which is expected to become one of Europe’s largest AI research centres when its first buildings open in 2027.
Heilbronn Mayor Harry Mergel said the foundation and Schwarz Group have played a central role in transforming the city into a knowledge and innovation centre.
The IPAI project, launched in 2022, already brings together around 140 companies and research partners, with plans for up to 5,000 people to work on AI-related projects at the site.
Despite Schwarz Digits’ rapid growth, it remains significantly smaller than established global cloud providers. While Amazon generated about $135 billion in cloud revenue last year, Schwarz Digits reported total revenue of approximately €2.2 billion across all its operations.
Nevertheless, Wagner expressed confidence that growing demand for European-owned digital infrastructure would create opportunities for the company.
“We are here to stay,” he said, arguing that the future of Europe’s digital economy depends on developing independent cloud and cybersecurity capabilities.
