On November 3, 2026, we had the pleasure of welcoming Malte Schubbe, AI Product Owner in the Commercial AI Excellence team at Hapag-Lloyd, to our B2B Marketing course. He gave students an inside look at how one of the world’s largest container shipping companies uses AI to stand out in a commodity market.
Mr. Schubbe opened with a simple question: why would a customer choose Hapag-Lloyd over its competitors? When everyone ships the same box, price alone makes no difference. Instead, quality wins, and customers judge the entire experience. Since B2B decisions are made by a whole buying center, this value has to be designed for each role involved. Mr. Schubbe showed how AI can create value along this customer journey, both directly in the service and behind the scenes.
A real highlight was the integrated case study, in which students stepped into the role of Hapag-Lloyd’s commercial AI team. In small groups, they openly debated which of three competing AI ideas deserved funding, before comparing their choices with the decision Hapag-Lloyd actually made.
We sincerely thank Malte Schubbe for this insightful and engaging session and look forward to welcoming him again as part of our guest lecture series.
