In September I spoke at the PRONOVEA Future of Commercial Excellence and Digital Strategy Summit in Berlin. I expected a day about technology. It turned into a day about people, change and how we actually work.

My main message was simple: transformation starts with people. It starts with listening to what the business really needs, breaking silos, and building a culture of agility, learning and collaboration. Technology pays off only when that ground work is in place.

BCG describes this well with its 10-20-70 rule for AI: roughly 10% of the value comes from algorithms, 20% from technology and data, and 70% from people and processes. Based on my experience and what I have seen across markets, that ratio is about right.

What we discussed

• Commercial excellence is more than digitalisation. It is about turning strategy into real impact in the field.
• Transformations work best when they start with human enablement, not automation.
• Clean data, cross-functional teams and short feedback loops drive growth that lasts.
• Innovation depends on trust, relevance and local context, not only on speed or scale.

With AI moving so fast, it is tempting to believe that this time the technology will carry the change by itself. I do not think so. The organisations that win will invest as much in how people learn and work as in the tools they buy.

Source: BCG, “To Unlock the Full Value of AI, Invest in Your People”, 2025.