During his four-year BDI Presidency Ulrich Grillo campaigned for business to play an active role in socio-political debates. He believed that for business activities to be successful it was crucial to be both accepted and trusted by people. He saw an imaginative and creative business community as part of an open society.

1949, the year the BDI was founded, was not a "zero hour". As regards the organisation’s essential features, the umbrella organisation’s structure and responsibilities, the founders of the BDI drew on the Weimar Republic model, the Reichsverband der Deutschen Industrie / Reich Association of German Industry (RDI).

The historical archive is the BDI’s long-term memory. At present the archive contains almost a thousand metres of shelving dedicated to documents relating to the history of German industry’s umbrella association. From industry's perspective they primarily document the economic and political-historical context at national and international level.