- Strategy
- Briefing
- Copy + AI
- Design
- Development
- Alignment
- Approval
7 stages. Every page, every channel on its own.
AI-FIRST FOR MID-SIZED COMPANIES
We build AI-first companies.
As if AI had always been there.
E-commerce.Digitalisation.Now AI-first.
Not one more tool in the old process, but a company rebuilt on three levels.
03
OperationYour team steers, reviews and approves.
- Review
- Approve
- Improve
02
ApplicationAI applications do the work.
- Finance
- Marketing
- Sales
- Procurement
01
FoundationA foundation built from your knowledge.
- Strategy
- Data
- Rules
- Experience
Every approval makes the foundation better.
Trusted in practice.
From e-commerce and digitalisation: advisory, delivery and teaching for brands across many sectors.
Retail & Home
Health & Food
Luxury, Drinks & Spirits
Music & Entertainment
Digital Services
Universities & Education
THE DIFFERENCE
AI-first
instead of AI bolted on.
We built e-commerce businesses and digitalised companies. AI is the next step – and the biggest. Along the way we learned: putting new technology into old processes wastes the leverage. So we start again from the outcome – on Foundation, Application and Operation.
Example: The positioning changes. What happens to the website, pitch and social?
- FoundationDefine the positioning once
- ApplicationWebsite, pitch, social and ads are derived from it
- OperationTeam reviews and approves
3 steps. All channels at once.
AI bolted onAI-first
Knowledgein people's heads and files→one shared foundation
AIone tool among many→the basis of the work
Hand-offsmany→one approval
Your teamdoes the work→steers and decides
The example shows marketing. The same principle applies to finance, procurement, HR and operations.
RESULTS
Not faster.
Rebuilt.
Mandates in which we did not speed up a single step but rebuilt the work on Foundation, Application and Operation.
Invoices to cash flow.
One shared process.
2 days → ~2 hrsmonthly bookkeeping after the finance rebuild
- Foundation
- Receipts, account logic and approval rules in one shared context.
- Application
- Invoicing · Receivables & dunning · Cash flow · Payroll · Bookkeeping · Plan vs. actual
- Operation
- The team reviews exceptions and approves.
One foundation.
Every channel.
7 daysfrom first clickable mock-up to live website
- Foundation
- One strategic foundation: positioning, audiences, tone of voice, proof points.
- Application
- Website · Pitch · Outbound · Social · Ads
- Operation
- The team corrects and approves. Feedback flows back into the foundation.
Day-one due diligence.
Value creation plan.
14 daysto a decision-ready assessment
- Foundation
- Data, documents, systems and interviews in one analysis context.
- Application
- AI-assisted analysis across commercial, IT and organisation · 60+ prioritised measures
- Operation
- The team assessed, prioritised and owned the recommendations.
Project management.
One project OS.
370+meetings in one shared foundation
- Foundation
- Project wiki, findings and decisions in one place.
- Application
- Preparation · Minutes · Weekly status · Kanban sync · Repo radar · Prototype videos
- Operation
- Steered, reviewed, approved – every round improved the foundation.
Further experience from e-commerce, digitalisation and operational leadership
Dental distribution · B2BFrom assessment to integrated platform↗
Home & LivingInterim leadership and e-commerce reorganisation↗
Pharma · D2CFrom business case to launch on Amazon↗
Luxury goods · AmazonMarket model and brand protection without selling directly↗
View all cases →
HOW WE WORK
Find. Build. Run.
We start with clarity, rebuild the most important levers AI-first and stay until the new system holds up in day-to-day work.
01 · FIND
Clarity in 14 days.
Data, documents and interviews become a prioritised assessment across commercial, operations and IT – including where AI-first offers the greatest leverage.
- Value creation & due diligence
- AI potential & readiness
- Business and tech assessment
02 · BUILD
Develop the Foundation and Applications.
We lay the foundation of knowledge, data and rules and develop the AI applications on top that take over the work – connected to your systems.
- Foundation: knowledge, data, rules
- Applications for finance, marketing, sales, procurement
- Prototypes & delivery sprints
03 · RUN
Deliver. Enable your team.
We stay with the delivery until everything works day to day: we adjust, refine and enable your people on real tasks. Then we hand over a system your team runs and develops itself.
- Delivery support & adjustment
- Enablement: training on real tasks
- Handover to your team
In every phase, the way it fits
Projectfor a clear result in a defined time
Interimleadership for a period, with operational responsibility
Fractionalpart of your leadership on a regular basis, at an agreed scope
AI RADAR · CHECKED DAILYTHREE PARTNERS · HAMBURG · MUNICH · FRANKFURT AM MAIN
AI delivers speed.
We deliver experience.
Three perspectives on your transformation: commercial, technical and organisational. You work directly with the partners.
STRATEGY & BUSINESS MODELS
Burkhard Gersch
Where does the commercial advantage come from?
The new set-up has to improve cost, speed or the offer. That is why every initiative needs a clear commercial goal.
WHU · Simon-Kucher · avandeo · Steinhoff
LinkedIn ↗
ARCHITECTURE & TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP
Helge Steimann
What does an AI-first company look like?
Knowledge, applications and approvals are connected into an AI OS with shared context. The build is led from the first architecture through to handover to the team.
Nakoa Digital · Steinhoff · SinnerSchrader
LinkedIn ↗
AI METHODOLOGY & KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
Prof. Dr. Holger Schneider
How does the team learn the new way of working?
The team has to be able to use and develop the environment. That is why methodology, training on real tasks and feedback are part of the build.
WHU · Otto Group · FH Wedel · KLU · e-commerce textbook
LinkedIn ↗YOUR NEXT STEP
Where should your company perform better?
We discuss your process and the result you want. Together we agree a first area, a measurable goal and the involvement needed from your team.
Book a conversation ↗