25.6.2024
5 min read

“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.

Words by Michal Schindler, Photos by Radomir Zelenka

Why did you consider AI so crucial for Creative Dock from the start of your role as CEO? You began with intensive integration almost immediately after GenAI became publicly available.

AI is essential for us and for several reasons. Firstly, as a venture builder, all the ventures we create for corporations and other large international clients are rooted in technology and some form of digital solution. Anyone who has followed the AI landscape could see that it heralds a new technological revolution, and tech-focused companies cannot afford to stand by and watch from the sidelines. As we say at Creative Dock, if you don't want AI to dominate you, you have to rule over it. Secondly, keeping up with the times – or rather, staying ahead – is in Creative Dock's DNA. As soon as AI emerged, we embraced it not as a threat but as an opportunity.

Is it the same for Creative Dock, that not adopting AI would threaten the business?

In my view, absolutely. Or rather, it's not just my view. When you look at the facts without rose-tinted glasses, it should be clear to anyone. To bring ventures to market with the best chance of surviving, we must design them timeless. They need to be competitive not just today but a year or two from now and beyond. If we don't incorporate solutions for tomorrow into them today, their lifespan will be minimal. Another critical factor for a venture builder is the speed at which we can launch new ventures for clients – time to market. AI significantly accelerates this process. While traditional venture design, from idea to launch, typically takes 9 to 12 months, our goal for next year is around six months.

Isn't that a bit of an ambitious goal?

It is, but it's achievable. We're realistic and understand that, for example, such acceleration may not be possible for fintech in the near future. Ventures for banks will always be more demanding and will require very specific solutions.

"Utilising AI has three main implications for us in the future: further increasing our internal efficiency, launching ventures that are fully equipped for the future and providing the best possible user experience, and finally, accelerating our time to market."

Gabriela Teissing, Creative Dock Group CEO

Creative Dock has already undergone an AI transformation. Has the implementation of AI affected your internal processes? According to a recent global study, only about 15% of companies that have attempted AI implementation have managed to turn it into tangible benefits.

Well, we definitely belong to that 15% of companies where AI integration has made a difference. In fact, I’d say we’re among those where it has had a significant impact. Our initial pilot implementation of AI in selected processes immediately boosted our efficiency in those areas, in some cases by tens of per cent. This was the final reason we decided to undergo the transformation almost immediately. Furthermore, we aim to be another 30% more efficient next year. And that's a significant goal. It’s not just an aim; it’s a plan with a set budget.

What does this AI transformation actually mean?

From a financial perspective, it primarily involves significantly increasing the company's operational efficiency. However, the transformation impacts various areas. It leads to new positions, new skills, and increased capacity as routine; AI takes over automatable tasks. Our AI Transformation Case Study, available for download on our website, describes the entire process in detail. So, here’s a brief overview. We developed, or rather lived through, a strategy based on three essential pillars for AI implementation: AI enablers, AI mindset, and AI business model. We started creating entire "building blocks" made up of existing or our own AI tools. This enabled us to bring new AI products to the market, allowing us to offer comprehensive AI transformation and targeted AI optimisation services to our clients.

You can download the description and results of the AI transformation at Creative Dock in our special case study.

You recently held a hackathon at Creative Dock. It was your third and focused solely on AI. Is it worth it for the company to have dozens of expensive specialists dedicate over 24 hours to an internal competition?

An AI hackathon is not just "some internal competition." It's a fantastic event with enormous benefits for the company, without exaggeration. It’s a crucial part of fostering an AI mindset across the firm. It also serves as excellent team building, bringing together people and professions who might never otherwise meet in a company with hundreds of employees. Moreover, from our first hackathon a year ago, we gained a functional PoC—an idea for AI utilisation, specifically in proposition design. Today, it’s our product, VenturIA, which offers the use of synthetic personas for market insight.

The CEO of Creative Dock (second from the left) at the awards ceremony following the internal AI hackathon.

So, even within a company hackathon, is it necessary to come up with a functional AI solution?

Ideally, yes. Most teams consist of people from various departments. They are purposefully complemented by someone with a technical background and possibly a prompt engineer. Thanks to this mix, almost every team can come up with an advanced and well-developed idea that addresses the specific daily needs of the team members. They can program, prompt a pilot model—everything. At least, that was the case at the last hackathon. The hackathon yields many results. AI tools are developed there that we actually use or even offer as part of our AI solutions to clients. So, don't underestimate the value of hackathons. :-)

Recently, you even joined one of the hackathon teams. Your team finished second with an AI solution proposal for automating contract review based on about 20 parameters, saving hundreds of hours of tedious work in the legal department annually and, of course, a lot of money. Doesn't this undermine your authority? Shouldn't a CEO be on the jury?

No, not at Creative Dock. Besides, I have been on the jury before and wanted to experience it from a participant's perspective this time. Plus, I wanted to come up with something! I wanted to understand what team members go through, what they tackle, and what we as a company need to do to achieve even better results. Honestly, the CEO should lead by example. We constantly tell our people we must change our mindset, so I can't just sit in an office and watch. The CEO should be the first to engage in daily thinking about work and the broader possibilities of AI usage, not the last. At least, that's how I see it. For me, it's crucial to participate personally.

Follow Creative Dock Group CEO Gabriela Teissing on LinkedIn.

Are you inspired by Creative Dock's example and interested in integrating AI into your company? Or would you like assistance in organising an AI hackathon, which is crucial for shifting the company mindset towards AI and generating key PoCs for AI use in your business? Get in touch with us. 

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“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.

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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.

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