The elevator is an important element of the skyscraper. But unlike the traditional up-and-down elevator trajectory, Thyssenkrupp Elevator and Microsoft are working on high-tech smart elevators--with pretty cool specs--that go horizontally and diagonally. (Unfortunately, we can't try them out yet.)

The company's latest installation is in New York's World Trade Center, but it also works with tech companies like Apple, which CEO Andreas Schierenbeck calls "demanding," but also "fascinating."

Schierenbeck says the elevators are sourced locally, reporting organic 5% revenue growth. North America, Germany and China are the biggest markets, he says, although China--two-third of the world's total elevator market--is cooling down.

"Nevertheless there are so many people moving to cities so they have to construct, they have to build," he says. "So to cool down a little bit, well, that's not too bad."