They got pushed back by the Serbs, Russians, and Italians (all with relatively weak armies), only to get bailed out each time when Germany sent troops and leaders over for support.
I've heard that it had to do with their armies being multi-lingual and unable to fully understand orders. Surely it must be more than this?
Some elements of your question have been considered in earlier answers here. While you're waiting for fresh contributions, you might like to review "Why did Austria Hungary perform so poorly in World War 1?" at https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/8bon8t/why_did_austria_hungary_perform_so_poorly_in/ . /u/k_hopz is flaired for "Austria-Hungary during the First World War" and provided three replies there, one of which addresses multi-lingualism. /u/mikedash also pointed to three previous discussions with k_hopz's replies (and I shamelessly stole the opening of this paragraph from mikedash's reply).
But more can always be asked or written about it. This is not an attempt to discourage discussion. Further questions, data, and debate are welcome.
What German technology do you have in mind exactly?