Recognize suitable processes
Participants identified office and administrative workflows where AI could provide meaningful support.
AI Værk ×
Retrospective · August 2026
Two hands-on labs. One clear starting point.
A retrospective on 13 and 27 August 2026 in Süderbrarup.
Together with DiZwei, we helped participants from eight companies find orientation for using AI meaningfully in their own businesses. The focus was on real processes, clear requirements and a first practical test step.
Explore our workshop formats
13.
27.
DiZwei, innovation and meeting space
team Allee 16–22, 24392 Süderbrarup
What the eight companies worked on.
Each company brought its own perspective and used a practical framework to assess AI opportunities in its day-to-day work.
Assess value and effort
They distinguished promising use cases from ideas whose requirements or expected value did not yet fit.
Clarify requirements
They clarified the right questions about tools, models, data, privacy, quality and internal responsibilities.
Prepare a first test
They selected one process and defined a realistic starting point for testing it with an internal AI champion.
How we worked in the hands-on labs.
Each session lasted two hours. Participants brought a business process they knew well and wanted to improve.
01
60 minutes · Get oriented
Justus and Elias explained relevant AI approaches for office and administrative work, selection criteria for tools and models, privacy fundamentals and real project experience.
02
30 minutes · Work it through
Participants examined the processes they brought and completed an AI starter card with a possible AI lever, requirements and a first test step.
03
30 minutes · Discuss
The group compared experiences and discussed business questions, uncertainties and next steps directly with two technical experts.
Practical example
How open questions became working AI applications.
Kirsch & Drechsler started with the same questions many companies face: where is AI worthwhile, what is viable from a privacy perspective and where should the company begin? A potential analysis and workshops led to a clear roadmap.
Read the Kirsch & Drechsler case studyOrientation
Potential analysis and workshops created a shared understanding and clear priorities.
Applications
An internal knowledge system, improved AI environments and a website chatbot were put into operation.
Everyday use
AI is used more frequently, results draw on the company’s own knowledge and recurring tasks run through controlled automations.
The outcome: the AI starter card.
Each participating company used the starter card to examine one process from a management perspective. It connected operational knowledge with the technical criteria needed for a sensible AI test.
For the next step, the companies took away the recommendation to appoint a technically minded employee as an AI champion who could own the selected test, gather experience and support colleagues.
Who took part?
The two sessions brought together decision-makers and operational leaders from eight small and medium-sized companies.
Owners and managing directors
Small and medium-sized companies
Executives with operational responsibility
IT managers as technical partners
Companies at the start or after first experiments
What participants brought.
Technical knowledge was not required. Experience with ChatGPT or another AI tool was helpful, but optional.
- One specific office or administrative process they knew well
- Their operational and industry knowledge
- A business question they wanted to investigate
- Curiosity and openness toward technology
- No laptop and no AI account
The team on site
Elias Arndt, Justus August and Sofi Malmqvist guided both hands-on workshops. Elias and Justus are the founders of AI Værk. They lead the Artificial Intelligence working group at the Council of the Baltic Sea States and advise politicians, political institutions and small and medium-sized companies across Northern Europe on AI.
Elias Arndt
B.Sc. Business Informatics, University of Hamburg
Justus August
B.Sc. cand. Information Technology, KTH Stockholm
Sofi Malmqvist
M.Sc. Business Administration and IT, CBS Copenhagen
Two partners for the region.
AI Værk contributes technical expertise and practical project experience. DiZwei provides regional proximity, space and an active business network.
AI Værk
AI Værk combines AI strategy and software development. Experience from potential analyses, workshops, knowledge systems, chatbots and automations informs the workshop.
DiZwei contributes regional proximity, spaces and an active network in Süderbrarup and the surrounding area.
