How a loyalty app motivates 1 million people to live more healthy
It might be the great chemistry among the Creative Dock team developing the Muj Albert app that contributed to its success. How to achieve over a million downloads and the perfect balance of work and play?
Every tenth person in the Czech Republic has downloaded the Muj Albert (My Albert) app, created for Ahold Delhaize. That’s more than 1M downloads in the 6 months since its launch. Seeing in real time how your work and constant improvements reach hundreds of thousands of people is every creator’s joy. We asked the team members for insights into their IT magic and more.
Pavel Suchanek (Project Lead): We’re friends, that’s it
You have founded several startups, including Restu.cz. How do your previous projects differ from Muj Albert?
The difference was that Restu had developers in small towns in Northern Bohemia. Here, I have the opportunity to work with developers on daily basis, and it does mean something. It really shows in the relationships.
Your team is among the best in Creative Dock at the moment. How did you manage that?
Don’t tell this to Marek Krejza, the Group CTO. (laughs) But I think it’s because we like spending time together outside of office hours, which makes working on the team enjoyable and motivating. We might go for a beer or hike together. We’re friends, that’s it.
Is this your doing, or does it have to do with the client?
It’s definitely not just me. I’m probably contributing to it, but people were happy here before I came. Historically, a lot of things have been done right. You also need a bit of luck to choose people who’ll get along well. Plus, it’s crucial to convince the client that you really care, that you want the app to work and will do your very best to fix any bugs right away. And that’s how we earned the client’s trust, which makes our work much easier.
Jan Bertl (Project Manager): We innovate on our own and we have the tools to do it
What did the project look like in the beginning?
In the initial stages, we discussed with the client what exactly needs to be built. We were taking into account customers’ real needs, not just the functionalities of similar apps already made by the competitors. This was done by our innovation team maybe a year before I even joined the project. Creative Dock has its own methodology: figure out the proposition, design it, test it. Our primary concern was to answer the real needs of real people. But then there are always the needs of the client… Because the client often has different interests than the end user. (laughs) Since the very beginning, Creative Dock’s role was to make sure that the end users were always accounted for.
And do you still prioritize customer needs today?
We still believe our role is that of an innovation consultant. Together with the product specialists on the client side, we put together ideas on how to move things forward. So, we’re not just a “code factory”, but often a driver of where the product is headed. What the new features are going to be, what it’s going to look like, how the integrations with other apps within the Albert ecosystem are going to work.
So it’s not just your ordinary app?
It’s really interesting. We aren’t talking about just a standalone app. You need to link it to key Albert systems and various data sources. For example, we’re now working on integrating Albert Scan, which is a standalone app for now. But we’re going to integrate it into ours and thus make it available to a huge number of users. The synergy is amazing. It will help Albert offer that functionality to hundreds of thousands of active users.
If I join your team and have some ideas, will you hear me out?
Yes, we are really open-minded. We have regular reviews and meetings where we workshop future functionalities. These are our internal activities, but we then present the results to the client and together, we try to figure out how to push things forward.
Adam Hanka (Data Scientist): The current trend is merging information
How much does personalization pay off today? After all, big data is extremely demanding in terms of know-how and maybe even technology.
Technologically, it’s not that complicated. What’s more difficult is to understand the use case — what exactly you want to personalize for your client. And personalization varies greatly depending on what products the client is selling.
Are you building it as a non-personalized app first?
We begin with developing the product in a basic form. Initially, it’s the same for all users, and then we gradually add the personalization. You develop the app first and start collecting data on how your users behave. And then, based on who uses the app and how they use it, you’re able to develop the personalization secondarily.
But online personalized ads are annoying.
Only if done wrong. The dumbest thing that can happen with personalized ads on the web is that you buy something and then keep seeing ads for it for another six months. That’s completely useless. You want to predict what customers are going to want to buy. Not just show them ads because they visited a website.
What’s the hottest thing in customization right now?
The trend is to link products to some other information that creates extra customer value. If I know that a customer is buying tomatoes and basil, I can try offering them spaghetti and parmesan cheese. And on top of that give them a recipe for a fantastic pasta they can make at home. The current trend is merging information.
Annika Skalicka (Marketing Director): I don’t think Albert has any competition on the digital market at this point
What’s it like working with a client who has never had the digital at its core?
There are two pitfalls. As such, Albert is a big company, a corporation with specific processes. And it needs time to make decisions.
That’s the reason why Albert hired Creative Dock — to speed things up, right?
It sure is. (laughs)
Did the client originally just want to replace paper cards with the app? Or was it a more complex transformation right from the start?
With the launch of the Muj Albert app, the client wanted to completely transform their business and take it to the next level. They are simultaneously working on going packaging-free, a circular approach, and digitizing everything in a way that will be enjoyable for customers. Of course, in doing so, they are also losing some of the analogue users who don’t own smartphones. Albert never even had your old-school physical loyalty cards. With the app’s kick-off, they went straight to the digital card.
How digital can a company get when it’s built on brick-and-mortar stores?
Being a supermarket chain, they need to get rid of all the unnecessary paper and printing. All grocery stores use leaflets, it’s all paper everywhere. Albert only does digital leaflets now and even its magazine should become digital only in the future. The whole leaflet is already embedded in the app, product by product. The whole thing actually works like one big leaflet, just more intelligently marketed. So to get rid of all the nonsense like receipts, plastic cards, or flyers, they threw it all into one app. Same as now awaits Albert Scan, which is another tool that makes shopping easier.
Do you feel that Albert has changed over the years?
I used to think of Albert as a rather unattractive and unfashionable store, just not for me. But from the moment they began putting more thought into what kind of food is in their stores while staying affordable, I feel like they’ve really shifted. Not to mention that they’re going the extra mile now in going package-free.
And it seems to me that the app is becoming the center of their business. Of course, they’ll always retain some brand depth with TV, social media, in-store campaigns, and the like, but Albert is just pretty far along, it has been pushing things forward and will continue to do so. And I don’t think the company has any competition on the digital market among similar apps right now.
Petr Soulek (DevOps): I try something new every day
How much influence do you have on the choice of technologies you use to run the app?
There has been some outline from the beginning, we were always supposed to build the app in Azure. However, the choice of Kubernetes, their orchestrator, and the whole infrastructure stack was up to me. But actually it’s hard to say — and that’s what I like about our work, too — because sometimes other folks come in and they want to try out a new tool, so we do that. Sometimes I’m the one who wants to try something new. I’m not even going to try and count the man-days we’ve spent on dead ends. (laughs)
With such a rapid increase in downloads, what does this mean for the app and/or for you?
After the first 100K, I realized what I’m actually working on and that it’s one of those “peaks” for a DevOps person or a System Engineer or whatever you want to call me. Until then, it was just “that Albert app” for me. Now that just a few milliseconds of downtime can impact hundreds of thousands of users, well, that’s pretty cool right?
How was the migration from Creative Dock to Albert?
Smooth. (laughs)
Is it common for projects like this to migrate to the client?
I think it’s relatively common here at Creative Dock, probably less so elsewhere. Originally, we were the only ones supposed to host the project. However, based on the client’s request, it was eventually going to be hosted in Azure. So we kind of knew that at some point there was going to be a migration and that the client would take over using their Microsoft cloud.
And the transition was smooth, then?
It’s all in the preparation. The migration itself was this fun office all-nighter, drinking beer and eating heaps of food. Adam, our frontend developer, even played us a live set, and he wasn’t even needed there! But, mind you, the preparation took almost a year and we hit a lot of obstacles, quite naturally. Things that would normally take us 10 minutes often took five people and two mandays in the new cloud. Plus: approvals, design, and some pretty pictures. (laughs) So the prep for the migration itself actually meant building it all over again, in a slightly different way, in their cloud. And then there was some kind of black magic taking place. Some stuff that worked for us just did not work for them. (laughs) So the whole thing basically took us 9 months.
David Novak (Frontend & Backend Developer): Ten milliseconds can make a huge difference
From a developer’s perspective, what trends are you seeing in Albert?
In terms of backend — when the project started, we decided to build it in Kotlin. At that time (minus two years), things like that were commonly programmed in Java. So doing it in Kotlin was a bit of a risk technologically. It would have been much easier to write it in Java, with the caveat that the language was more complicated. Now, in retrospect, I’d say we did the right thing by choosing Kotlin.
Can you describe what you use in more detail?
The classics. Postgres, Redis, Kafka, and so on. We have all the services in Spring Boot, we work with the database using Hibernate. It would be great to have everything 100% reactive, but at the time we began writing the project, Hibernate wasn’t reactive yet. It would be absolutely ideal to have everything in coroutines, and I think we’ll get there one day. We’re slowly improving it. It’s actually cool that there’s a lot of room for improvement in the app. Say you speed up an important request by just 10 milliseconds — that alone is going to make a huge difference.
And as for the frontend?
This is of course React Native in TypeScript. That was pretty much a broken-in technology even back in those days. So we have Redux for state management, Saga for side effects, and we code the design system ourselves. We don’t have any design library like MaterialUI or Ant Design.
Are there any specific technologies here at Creative Dock?
Projects that use similar technologies to ours are common here. Backend is mostly written in Kotlin — there’s one in Node and I think for some simpler apps that’s a better choice — and the frontend is written in React Native. But I think we have a project in Flutter as well.
If I joined your team but didn’t know a certain technology, how would you deal with that?
We have people who know the technologies, who will sit down with you and show you how they work. So if a person only knows, say, Kotlin (or Java, JavaScript, Python, …) but wants to learn, they can successfully take part in any of our projects. Even a skilled junior has a chance with us.
What’s the most fascinating part of your job?
The fact that you can work on improving an app that’s already used by a million people. It has a lot of potential. Like I said, even small upgrades can have a huge impact.
And what’s the relationship between the client and you, the tech specialists?
Albert’s certainly not the kind of client that has to have their way at all costs. Even if they’re businesspeople. (laughs) All you need is to come up with good arguments and be able to communicate them well. That’s mainly the CTO’s challenge. And I think from a business point of view, Honza (Product Lead) and Pavel (Project Manager) are real pros. They’re people you can lean on. If the CTO comes up with, say, a technical proposal, they’re the people who know what it’s about, and explain everything to the client.
The Future of Business 2025: Insights from Airbnb, Asahi, and BBDO
2025 isn’t just another year. It’s a turning point for industries redefining resilience, sustainability, and consumer connection. It’s especially highlighted when we have the unique opportunity to hear from senior executives from Airbnb, Asahi, and BBDO, but most importantly, how they weigh in on what’s next. What do they have in common? They’re focusing on agility, long-term value, and meeting shifting consumer demands head-on.
Pioneering the Future of AI Implementation with ETH AI Center
Creative Dock announced a strategic collaboration with the ETH AI Center in a groundbreaking move. This aligns the expertise of corporate venture building and efficiency enhancement through AI on Creative Dock’s side with the research prowess of one of the world's most prestigious academic institutions at ETH. This partnership signifies the fusion of visionary research with real-world implementation, marking an essential step in the evolution of artificial intelligence from research collaboration to real-world business propositions.
GRIX: Engage AI Search Magic and Find Anything in Your Knowledge Base Instantly
Every company possesses a rich internal knowledge repository and other invaluable data scattered and buried in folders, files, and formats. Thanks to GenAI, researchers in Creative Dock discovered a way to structure and analyse this knowledge and make it easily accessible to anyone – no need for any tech background. The answers you need are just a few clicks away with GRIX.
AI Transformation: The Best Path to Unique Efficiency Gains Thanks to AI
"We had no choice but to disrupt ourselves," says Martin Pejsa, Founder & Chairman of Creative Dock. “We had to integrate AI into the company's core, seize the significant business opportunity it presents, or face the risk of becoming obsolete within 2 to 3 years.” As a result, Creative Dock is one of the leading companies in Europe and MENA to implement Gen AI across various industries.
The Growth Paradox: 5 Reasons Why Large Enterprises Struggle
You would think that the world’s largest corporations, armed with vast resources, capital, and market dominance, would have an easy time launching new business lines. Yet, the opposite is often true. Despite their size, many multinational enterprises find themselves stuck when it comes to diversification.
Davos 2025 Highlights: The Resilient Enterprise
The Exclusive Executive Dinner in Davos, hosted by Creative Dock and Roland Berger, brought together global leaders to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing businesses today. With the backdrop of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025, discussions ranged from leading through crisis, “geopolitical recession,” and the rise of sustainability.
Creative Dock and nFrontier Unite to Advance Hardware Development
Creative Dock Group (CDG), a leader in driving business growth across Europe and MENA, has acquired nFrontier, an award-winning German company specializing in industrial design, agile prototyping, and advanced hardware development. This strategic move firmly positions Creative Dock to bring a faster, more agile approach to building, scaling and launching advanced hardware.
Venture Studio vs. Venture Building: Decoding the Models That Shape Business
Corporates are constantly looking for ways to drive growth, stay relevant in the market, and find impactful ways to leverage their resources. Enter venture building - a systematic approach to designing, building, and operating new startups, also known as ventures. Venture building is a rapid, methodical process that allows a variety of ideas to be developed, validated, and iterated into a single venture.
Unlocking the Future of Venture Design with AI: An Interview with Ross VanSlambrouck
In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, AI is no longer a distant possibility—it's a driving force behind innovation. As companies look for ways to stay ahead, the integration of AI into the venture design process has emerged as a game-changer. To explore this transformation, we sat down with Ross VanSlambrouck, an expert in AI-enhanced venture design at Creative Dock.
Fintech for Everyone: How We’re Helping Telco Leader Ooredoo Break New Ground
Fintech is no longer limited to the finance industry. On the contrary, companies in other industries can leverage their “unfair advantage” to hop on the fintech train. Case in point: our exciting cooperation with Ooredoo Fintech, a scale-up operating in the MENA region as part of telecom giant Ooredoo. We asked Creative Dock’s CEO Gabi Teissing and Ooredoo Fintech’s CEO Mirko Giacco about their biggest challenges––and learnings––so far.
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2023 Annual Sustainability Report
At Creative Dock, our commitment to sustainability is at the core of our operations, as reflected in our 2023 Annual Sustainability Report.
Corporate Venture Studio: Unlocking Innovation for Corporates
Corporates often face hurdles such as legal compliance, IP management, and financial structuring when making the transition from generating brilliant business ideas to value-creating ventures. Our proven processes excel in these areas, ensuring a smooth transition from concept to market.
Cutting Through the AI Hype: What’s Here to Stay
At the beginning of this year, at the Mobile World Congress in February, we witnessed over 100,000 “AI experts” and the corresponding accompanying euphoria. Comparing that with the “transformation business at the grassroots level” over the past months, one thing is clear: the artificial intelligence landscape is in a state of highly hyped expectations. A year ago, AI was still a marginal topic in the same place, but in 2024, you could hardly find an organisation that did not deal with AI. This is a clear sign of a “bubble” in which some of the inflated expectations are bound to be disappointed. Let's examine the substance of artificial intelligence's short- and medium-term impact on business practice.
Free Strategy Foresight Report: Top 15 Trends in Green Manufacturing
Developing concrete decarbonisation roadmaps is a strategic imperative for any business that aims to stay competitive over the coming years. Today, it is not only for attaining its sustainability commitments but also about building resilience to thrive in (an) unknown future(s). Join us as we delve into the top trends shaping the Future of Green Manufacturing and help the industry prepare for changes ahead.
“If you don't want AI to dominate you, you have to rule over it,” says Gabriela Teissing, Creative Dock Group CEO
When Gabriela Teissing took over as CEO of corporate venture builder Creative Dock a little over a year ago, she emphasised the need to become AI-obsessed, as AI is the most crucial challenge and opportunity, at the same time, that tech companies will face in the coming years. A year and a few months later, Creative Dock transformed into an AI-driven company and became a recognised authority in using GenAI for business and internal processes. A complex AI transformation and a targeted AI optimisation have even become new products. How did we get here? Let's ask the CEO herself.
Creative Dock AI Hackathon: Embracing AI is About Changing Employee Mindset, Not Just Technology
Adopting AI into business and daily life is essentially another industrial revolution. "Tech companies can no longer decide whether to implement AI or not. Adopting and maximising the use of AI is a matter of survival. At the very least, AI optimises business operations significantly," says Martin Pejsa, Executive Chairman of Creative Dock. How does Hackathon #3, recently held at Creative Dock, help with AI adoption in the company, which has already undergone extensive AI transformation?
Free Report: Energy Transition Towards 2030 and Beyond
Explore the transformative journey towards a sustainable energy future with strategic insights and deeper discussions that redefine energy practices for a rapidly evolving world.
Fueling Innovation through Growth: Creative Dock Acquires Venture Builder Mantro Product Studio
The era of continuous growth and innovation continues as Creative Dock Group proudly presents its latest strategic move—the acquisition of Mantro Product Studio from Mantro Group. This takeover marks a significant milestone in the company's journey to expand its presence in the DACH region and strengthen the customer portfolio, with a particular focus on the sector's manufacturing and energy industries.
We have boosted Product Development with GenAI
At CreativeDock, our journey with AI in product development has been transformative. While GenAI can help with small tasks in product development, e.g. crafting epics and tasks for developers or drafting scrum processes, the real game changer comes when we zoom out and look at the big picture of product development optimisation.
A Foresight Journey – A Glimpse into 2030
Foresight is a bit like time travel. This time, it took us to 2030. The good news? Much positive environmental progress has been made—let us tell you about it and how we got there.
Free Report: Decarbonisation Foresight Study
Explore a visionary journey into the future of decarbonisation, revealing strategic insights and transformative scenarios that redefine sustainability in a rapidly changing world.
Don’t Fall for These 5 Anti-Patterns in GenAI Project Delivery
Have you ever wondered what makes a successful GenAI project? Is it the model, the data, the tech stack, or something else? At Creative Dock, we have been working on various GenAI projects internally and helping other companies use GenAI to optimise their businesses or launch innovative solutions. Along this journey, we have discovered that the most crucial factor for GenAI's success is often overlooked – the team crafting the solutions.
AI transformation in reality: Fintech development powered by AI
Pioneering AI tools usage in venture building for years grants an incredible headstart. Creative Dock has been utilising AI, particularly machine learning tools, for solutions developed in ventures for clients across various industries for many years. This included venture building within e-health, the construction industry, retail, fintech, and insurtech.
Software Supremacy: Roland Berger and Creative Dock Lead Pioneering Discussion at WEF AM 2024
“The Davos forum highlighted the transformative power of AI in the business landscape. It's clear that integrating AI into company strategy and daily operations is no longer optional but a necessity for companies to stay competitive and innovative. This transformation goes beyond mere technology adoption; it requires a shift in mindset and culture within organisations,” Martin Pejsa, Founder and Executive Chairman of Creative Dock, stated at an executive dinner, which his company, together with the strategy consulting firm Roland Berger, hosted for 80 top-tier C-suite executives, at the margins of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024. Indeed, the AI transformation of big brands has been a significant topic for Creative Dock in the past year.
Artificial Intelligence as a Servant and a Potential Threat: Setting Boundaries
The European Union's Act on Artificial Intelligence (EU AI Act) has reached the final stretch of the legislative process after a three-day negotiation marathon. Representing the world's first set of rules for regulating artificial intelligence, it evaluates AI based on risk assessment, emphasising security and transparency. While the final compromise version of the regulation has not yet been disclosed, we can still draw some initial insights.
The success story of bold acquisitions continues with a 70% growth
“We needed to accelerate our growth and impact to increase our expertise and service portfolio. Rapidly. Such a thing is only possible with well-selected acquisitions,” said Martin Pejsa, Executive Chairman of Creative Dock, about a year ago. And the strategy worked: At the end of 2023, Creative Dock, the largest independent corporate venture builder in Europe and MENA, reached a year-to-year revenue increase of 70%.
Investing in Artificial Intelligence is a Matter of Our Sovereignty
Large language models (LLMs) have emerged as the foremost technical innovation of the year, and all indicators point to their anticipated growth in the future. For models that engage in natural human language communication, the entities responsible for their creation and control wield pivotal importance. These strategic considerations significantly impact the sovereignty and future of the Czech Republic and even European prosperity.
AI has increased the efficiency of the Creative Dock tech department by a third! Wondering how?
Creative Dock has been leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) technology for several years, utilising machine-learning-based software in banking, insurance, FMCG, travel, and other industries since 2015. However, 2023 marks a turning point, as Creative Dock has undergone an AI adaptation. It has led to increased efficiency, with the company successfully enhancing its IT team's productivity by one third, in addition to other advancements. Use our know-how to achieve similar success.
Navigating Company Acquisitions: When and Why? Merger or Maintain Independence?
When one company acquires another, the leaders face a crucial strategic decision – merge the acquired entity or retain it as a separate unit. Both pathways present pros and cons, and several factors must be considered. Not to mention the situation when a bigger company acquires several smaller companies over the course of months. This is the case with Swiss independent corporate venture builder, Creative Dock, which bought four companies from different countries in just twelve months.
Scenario-Based Strategizing: Robust Strategies for an Uncertain Future
Rapid technological advancements, multiple crises, and continuous market disruption have left organisations facing a highly volatile, complex, and uncertain environment. Under such conditions, traditional strategy formation methods that assume a single future direction are no longer suitable to produce high-quality strategic decisions. More than ever, strategizing needs to embrace uncertainty and must consider multiple plausible futures, translating this into clear strategic actions. Over decades, researchers and practitioners have advocated the scenario-based technique as a key method for strategy development in both complex and uncertain environments.
Advancing Digital Government in Saudi Arabia in 2023: Utilising AI for Enhanced Public Services
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has made remarkable strides in embracing technology and digital transformation across various sectors. The Kingdom's vision for a modern and innovative nation has propelled its government to invest heavily in advanced digital infrastructure. This article explores the significant progress made by Saudi Arabia in establishing an advanced digital government while also exploring the transformative potential of AI in revolutionising public services.
Free Report: Strategic Foresight and Navigating Future Uncertainty - Our Generative AI Case Study
This cross-industry analysis applies strategic foresight methodology to one of the most complex and uncertain topics facing strategy and innovation professionals today: Generative AI.
Michael O’Sullivan: We are on course for a multipolar world
We caught up again with Michael, who spoke at Creative Dock's Executive Dinner at World Economic Forum in Davos, to talk about why he thinks Europe is the best place to live, what he would recommend for companies looking to become future-proof, why and how the impact of AI on the developed and developing countries is different, or what books are on his desk these days. Read on to find out.
Corporate Venture Building: How Entrepreneurs Unlock the Hidden Potential of Corporate Assets
In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, a multi-billion dollar industry is quietly gaining momentum: Corporate Venture Building. This innovative approach allows entrepreneurs to unlock the hidden potential of corporate assets, creating game-changing digital businesses with a real market advantage. With a total addressable worldwide market of over $20 billion annually*, Corporate Venture Building has become a powerful asset class, experiencing exponential growth in recent years.
Corporate venture building: create new value for your company by using existing assets
As businesses face continuous disruption and economic challenges, they're seeking new ways to create lasting value. A category that has gained a lot of popularity in the field of corporate growth and brand valuation in recent times is corporate venture building. It offers several advantages over traditional venture capital, corporate venture capital, or mergers and acquisitions. And it is extremely effective. Here we will explore the concept of corporate venture building, compare it to alternative methods of value creation, and discuss why more companies are choosing this approach.
Digitalisation in corporate venture building: How to do it right?
According to a BCG survey, an incredible 70% of digital transformation projects fall short of their goals. Expectations are high, but is it enough to flip your business to digital and keep going as usual? Read on for 5 tips on what to look out for.
The future of work aka is your position on the list of jobs most at risk from AI?
The future of work can only be anticipated. By the year 2030, working habits will have radically evolved due to trends such as artificial intelligence (AI), automation, demographic changes and globalisation. With this in mind, employees face several questions. What will happen to our job? Will our skills be needed in the future or will robots be able to take over our work through automation?
Learning from the best: How to master corporate venture building innovations
An Interview with Stanford Professor Yossi Feinberg by Sven Jungmann.
I recommend being curious, trying to learn, opening our hearts and going for it!
Her professional sports background taught her many lessons. “I always had to be sure that I had done everything in training. That gave me confidence for the tournament,” says Gabriela Teissing. With the same determination, she took on the role of CEO of corporate venture builder Creative Dock, in which she succeeded company founder Martin Pejsa. If you go through her CV, you can definitely tell that she always chooses the more challenging path. But if you ask, Gabi will probably tell you that she doesn't see it that way. And that she definitely believes in dreams. Only she's also convinced that you must work hard to achieve them.
Psychological hacks to kick-start creativity. How to use them for your business?
Human creativity has always fascinated me. And also the mystery that comes with it. Why does it work sometimes—but other times it just doesn't? Is creativity a limited resource? Do people, at one point or another, just get exhausted from thinking and aren’t motivated to think outside the box anymore? Or do we simply need some extra help to kick-start creative thinking? Let's see what psychology would have to say on the topic. What creativity is, how it works, and how you can make it work for you.
“We are in the midst of the biggest masonry innovation in the last 6,000 years,” says Jiri Devat
Creative Dock recently presented corporate venture building at its best in a project for Wienerberger. It is no coincidence that the introduction of the new head of the Manufacturing and Construction industrial vertical, Jiri Devat, accompanied it, as he was one of the main actors behind this innovation. During his long career before that, he headed one of Microsoft’s national offices for several years. During that time, Bill Gates made the nickname G9 popular, which became synonymous with his complex name. And what is this disruptive innovation in construction?
Look into the future! Deploying strategic foresight for your business in 2023
In recent years, the world has seen how the market evolved to be more fragmented, and any existing SME or striving business owner must be able to anticipate the best steps to stay ahead of the game. Using strategic foresight enables a company to strike the right balance between the need for short-term results and long-term competitiveness. They can prepare better for future uncertainties with robust strategies. Let’s see a summary of the experts’ from Rohrbeck Heger by Creative Dock expectations for 2023. Plus recommendations on which areas to pay more attention.
ChatGPT: is it really that big a game changer for our lives and businesses?
AI technologies are being used to improve efficiency, enhance the customer experience, and gain valuable insights. One of the most significant developments in recent years has been the creation of large language models (LLMs). One of the most advanced LLMs currently available is the conversational AI system ChatGPT, based on GPT-3.5 from research and deployment company Open AI. Despite the rather primitive use of machine learning and statistical models (suggesting the most likely continuation or the answer to the question statistically), ChatGPT gained almost divine status among Internet users within a few weeks.
Ron van Oijen: If you really want to innovate, you need to hire fresh minds
Ron van Oijen studied actuarial science at the University of Amsterdam and worked in the insurance and finance industries across the US, Europe, and Asia. He is the former CEO of one of the largest Dutch insurance companies, VIVAT. As a long-time believer in innovations, he always pursued change even in big corporations. That meant close cooperation with startups, resetting the mindset of thousands of employees, and assigning real responsibility from the top down. Ron is now an advisor to Creative Dock.
Going bigger on smaller screens
About the shift of financial services from desktops to mobile applications or how different it is to build an international mobile bank when you have already built a P2P lending platform. This and much more in an interview with Stanislav Filipcik.
Creative Dock’s Muj Albert app rocks the charts
Retail chain apps are on the rise in Czechia. As the longtime charts leader, Lidl has now been replaced by Albert CZ’s mobile app, Muj Albert, made by Creative Dock.
The best insurtech in Czechia, officially
Mutumutu, healthy life insurance, won the Zlata koruna award as the number one fintech project in the Czech Republic. But what exactly makes it the best? We asked the CEO, Jindrich Lenz.
How to innovate in times of Covid-19
Watch an interview with Edward Meegan, Creative Dock’s former Head of Innovation.
The next big thing: tokenize everything
In the near future, both people and things will be tokenized, believes Creative Dock’s Innovation Lead, Petr Vaclavek.
Startups need to hustle. Just like scientists.
Theoretical physicist Rudolf Krejcar now builds companies instead of particle accelerators. What’s so alluring about the startup life?
What have we started doing differently? Restarting the digitization of older apartment blocks
The Domy sobe project for Veolia has discovered a lot of things. Why is it that a carpet marketing blitz sometimes doesn’t work?
How a loyalty app motivates 1 million people to live more healthy
It might be the great chemistry among the Creative Dock team developing the Muj Albert app that contributed to its success. How to achieve over a million downloads and the perfect balance of work and play?
The story behind Hungary’s most successful eHealth project
“Our heatmap shows that people tend to choose doctors based on their pictures.” Interview with Zoltan Kaprinay, co-founder of the Dokio project.
Creative Dock buys Swiss innovation company Spark Works
Where is Creative Dock headed and what does its latest acquisition mean for the clients? The companies’ respective CEOs, Martin Pejsa and Linda Armbruster answered our questions.
Creative Talks: Stories of people who turned a pandemic into an opportunity
What do you do when your business is based on staffing restaurants and other gastro establishments? Would it still seem like a good idea to teach foreign tourists to seek out Prague’s best pubs and bars? And where can you find support if your therapist has barricaded himself at home and refuses to meet face to face for fear of contagion?
Will content still be king in 2022? An update on content marketing strategies
How to generate meaningful brand content and how to approach new trends? We asked Creative Dock’s Head of Content, Michal Schindler.
The ultimate metaverse metastudy. What are the smartest people in the world thinking?
A look into the different concepts, criticism, hope, and despair. Will today’s dreams turn into reality? And are we talking sweet dreams or rather a huge nightmare?
Creative Talks: Plato, Star Wars and Web 3.0. Is it too late for the metaverse?
“We are the gods of AI,” said economist Tomas Sedlacek in our talk show. But is the artificial intelligence going to make our lives truly divine in the near future? Watch the recording to find out what Swiss innovator Linda Armbruster, business foresight expert Tobias Heger, mathematician Karel Janecek, and AI expert Dita Maleckova think as well.
Fairo won the IN2 SABRE Awards 2022 for the best use of gamification
Fairo helps you manage all your financial transactions in one place. Send and personalize invoices, track payments and run tax reports, all in one app. How does gamification of accounting work?
We talked to executives in Davos about managing uncertainty. Here’s what we learned
Slammed with crisis after crisis, executives are tasked with building resilient organizations and sustainable business models. As part of the World Economic Forum 2022, we invited European digital disruption leaders to talk about uncertainty and share their key insights into managing the unmanageable.
It’s not a matter of sustainability anymore, but of survival. We discussed energy independence with European experts
Is energy self-sufficiency a responsibility of states, private investors or simply each and every one of us? At the June edition of Creative Talks, four speakers discussed social responsibility, the potential of green energy production and storage in Europe, and whether a future without nuclear power is even possible.
“I had never even googled Czechia.“ How a French marketing student landed an internship in Prague
Before Juliette Cordillot (19) came to Prague for her internship, she knew almost nothing about the city. However, her three-month internship has placed Prague, and Creative Dock in particular, firmly in her heart. Maybe it’s because no two workdays are the same, the office is directly in one of Prague’s beautiful parks — and, as a bonus, we have packs of dogs running around.
Staking a claim in MENA: What acquiring FoundersLane means for Creative Dock
“Corporate venture building is on the rise and it’s the new gold in times of inflation and uncertainty,” says Felix Staeritz, co-founder & CEO of FoundersLane and Creative Dock Group’s new board member.
“European economy has a certain DNA to reinvent itself.” Talking future strategies with serial innovator Heinrich Arnold
“As an individual, you can probably survive if you decide to avoid digitalization. But not as a society,” claims Heinrich Arnold drawing upon his experiences as a lifelong innovator. He significantly contributed to turning Berlin and Israel into high-tech hot spots, received an honorary professorship at TU Berlin, and helped build over 70 businesses either as director of research and innovation at Deutsche Telekom AG or as a supervisor and investor.
With energy rationing imminent, photovoltaics can help Europe overcome energy shortages
Photovoltaics are on the rise — at Creative Dock, we know that firsthand. Learning to save energy and using alternative energy sources independent of the political situation are the main ways to reduce Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels. Are energy shortages a real threat? Experts certainly say so. “If gas imports from Russia are stopped, energy will be rationed,” Jiri Gavor, head of the ANDE (Czech Association of Independent Energy Suppliers), told the media.
Albert Van Veen: I dream of a world without ID cards, keys, multiple different tickets and passes
It might not be surprising that a man who founded FastID, a service to manage your digital identity, would leave very little track online. Therefore, when doing research, you need to challenge your LinkedIn bubble and one of the suggestions you can get is something like “Don’t forget he has four children and he loves talking about them!” So, starting with a question about childhood and the internet seems just appropriate.
Daniel Falque on venture building in Belgium, banking, corporate culture, and the importance of distribution
If you happened to come across Daniel’s resume with his name missing, you might think some parents had sketched a perfect career for their child. You can almost hear them advising: “Start from scratch, little boy, as an insurance salesman and credit analyst, and through tireless hard work, you’ll work your way up to board member and CEO of the strongest bank in the country.” Yet, Daniel’s resume isn’t a sketch; it’s a real career.
Sustainability is an opportunity. Not just for humankind, but also for your business
This should be taken for granted: “Sustainability is no longer a choice — it’s survival.” And far from regarding sustainability as a drain on resources globally recognized companies such as Booking.com, Uber, and Starbucks, have all seen exponential growth through putting sustainability models at the core of their business. And in so doing altering the landscape of their particular industry.
Innovation — it's more than just a buzzword
“If creativity is about inventing new things, then innovation is about making them real,” said the American economist, Theodore Levitt. Is that right and does Creative Dock's statement Creation by Doing correspond to reality? We sat down with Linda Armbruster, Director of Innovation at Creative Dock to get her perspective on innovation and impact.
Corporate venture building is out to save the world. No, really
Combine the vast resources of a corporate and the speedy and disruptive spirit of a startup and what do you get? Powerful, innovative solutions at scale to solve our most pressing problems. It’s really that simple, and it’s what corporate venture builder Creative Dock has set out to do.
Can trading your idea on the market show its future success? You bet.
“Only time will tell. We will see. Let’s hope.” Those are the words running through many a managers' head when deciding what innovations their company will invest in. But imagine having a tool that helps you choose which of your services are worth investing in, or which of your innovations are less likely to gain traction. Now imagine that such a thing exists. It’s called Ideapoly® and it is built and run by the European company IdeaSense, now part of Creative Dock Group.
5 key elements that drive innovation and growth in a business
Since the pandemic, we have observed a steady recovery and steep rise in corporate venture building, especially innovative ideas that are constantly responding to changes in technology, and filling in the market gaps. However, as the reality of growing a business is not a bed of roses, not all companies are successful in executing their plans. In this 3 min read, we explore the core factors that could make or break a company.
Name entity recognition in the insurance industry: a case study
Companies from a wide variety of domains like insurance, real estate, or medical institutions are concerned with the complexity of retrieving specific information from documents. This has become a major problem in recent years with the digitalization of documents and the enormous amount of data exchanged between businesses.
Size does matter. A success story of growth. Kick-started through acquisitions
Organic growth is great. But it’s time-consuming. And if you want to expand, you can’t invest years just to establish your business in each new market. “We needed to accelerate our growth and impact, to increase our expertise and service portfolio. Rapidly. Such a thing is only possible by well-selected acquisitions,” says Martin Pejsa, Creative Dock’s CEO. And it was actually these successful acquisitions that turned his European corporate venture builder into the largest independent player in its category — rivaling the venture-building activities of the “Big Four”.
Navigating the multi-crisis environment and where artificial intelligence fits in
“Societies and businesses around the globe are facing unprecedented challenges and the threat of prolonged difficulties — be they related to war, climate, energy, inflation, etc. But despite these gloomy perspectives, Davos turned into cautious optimism among executives leaders, as the global economic outlook for the year ahead looked better than feared. Large corporations can play a major role in overcoming these hurdles,” Martin Pejsa, founder and executive chairman of corporate venture builder Creative Dock, said at the event hosted by Creative Dock and Roland Berger at the margins of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2023.
Why is the MENA region a leader in digitalisation? Thanks to smartphones
When you say you’re building fintech in the Middle East, Westerners usually think of the strict Sharia banking rules and think it must be terribly complicated. But when you build ventures for banks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), you’re in for exactly the opposite type of culture shock. E-Government there has made such progress during Covid-19 that we can be envious. Even financial applications under the tightest security are simpler, more user-friendly, and faster.