“Make a dashboard, mate!”

Malcolm Werchota opens his keynote with a deliberately pointed thesis: “Over the next 40 minutes, I hope you do three things: fire your Head of AI or IT, understand how my eight-year-old wipes the floor with you in data analysis, and know what you really should be backing.”

It became clear in the very first minutes: Werchota does not just want to explain, but to shake people up. And he targeted the central problem of many industrial companies directly - the discrepancy between AI ambitions and actual implementation.

Between pilot phase and reality: the AI dilemma of industry

Werchota described a situation that must have seemed familiar to many in the audience: “Many companies […] are experimenting, but often it rarely moves from the pilot phase into scaling up.” The reason for this, he said, lies not in a lack of technology, but in incorrect application. Instead of generating real added value, most companies limited themselves to increasing internal efficiency - for example in writing emails or creating simple content.

The benefit thus remains difficult to measure. “When a board member says: I need a million for an AI project - what is the ROI?”, Werchota asked. This is precisely where the core problem lies. While internal projects often deliver no clearly quantifiable results, the benefit is immediately visible, for example, in sales. His diagnosis is drastic: Only around 11 % of companies worldwide actively use AI to increase revenue - in Germany only about 2 %.

The shift in perspective: AI as a revenue driver

The consultant's central demand is therefore: a radical shift of focus. “It cannot be only 2 % going into sales and commercial - it has to be a huge percentage.” Because success can be measured directly here: “Here is 1,000,000 euro, how long do you need? - Half a year. - Have we now earned 1,000,000 more?”

For Werchota, this logic is clear: first generate additional revenue, then finance internal projects from it.

“Make a dashboard, mate” - a new way of working instead of old tools

Werchota demonstrates particularly impressively how AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot can be used in everyday life. His message: the way of working must change fundamentally.

Instead of manually creating complex Excel analyses, he recommends a radically simplified approach:

• upload data

• have it analysed via voice input

• generate several visualisations and recommendations for action

His demonstrative prompt: “Make me […] ten charts, explain to me what is in them […] and give me a 30-60-90-day plan.”

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The result: automatically generated evaluations, dashboards and recommendations for action in just a few minutes. His conclusion: “You should never again let anyone in the company open any Excel without asking Copilot first.”

This is not only about efficiency, but about mindset. According to Werchota, creative ideas do not arise in front of Excel, but rather "in the shower, while jogging or looking out of the window". AI is intended to enable precisely this freedom of thought.

The eight-year-old as a symbol of change

Werchota probably achieves the greatest effect with a surprising example: his eight-year-old daughter Sophia, who prepared a data set in a video clip.

She used AI intuitively, playfully and without inhibition. Her approach: upload images, have dashboards created, improve them iteratively. Her comment on it: "Make it cool, mate!" What initially seemed like a gag had a serious message: "My daughter prompts better than anyone in the room."

The example shows how much AI competence - not specialist knowledge alone - now matters. The application with complex documents is particularly impressive: the AI even transforms difficult-to-read, scanned tax documents into structured analyses including an action plan.

Sales rethought: agentic workflows as a gamechanger

Another focus of the keynote was the sales area already mentioned. Werchota paints a sobering picture of classic sales processes: incomplete CRM entries, forgotten follow-ups, lack of analytical capability.

His counterproposal is based on so-called “agentic workflows” - automated, AI-supported processes:

• Meetings are recorded or recounted afterwards

• Content automatically analysed

• Dashboards and summaries created

• Follow-up emails and offers generated

• Tasks transferred into planning tools

The result: just a few minutes after a visit, a fully prepared report including personalised addressing can be with the customer.

For Werchota, this is where the actual competitive advantage lies - especially compared with international competitors: “American and Chinese companies are putting enormous pressure on their sales people to work like this.”

Product is no longer a differentiating feature

Another central idea ties in with previous presentations: the quality of the physical product is no longer enough for differentiation. “Even if your machines are five times better […] that doesn’t matter nowadays.”

What is decisive instead, he said, is understanding the customer and the speed with which one responds to that. AI thus becomes not just an efficiency tool but the key to market development.

Investments that are really worthwhile

Werchota did not hold back with criticism of entrepreneurial priorities: “30 euros a month for Copilot is too expensive - but a lunch with employees is okay?”

For him, it is clear: AI licences and training are a minimal investment compared with the possible benefit. What is crucial, he said, is to actively enable employees - and give them room to experiment with the technology.

Staffing issue: an end to “AI Neanderthals”

A particularly pointed issue concerns personnel strategy. Werchota criticises classic job advertisements in which experience with MS Office is sought. “My father is 76 years old - he knows MS Office. Do you want to hire him?”

Instead, he consistently calls for:

• AI competence as a hiring criterion

• focus on Copilot, agents, prompting

• building real “AI literacy”

Because: “If we think AI is important, we also have to hire the right people for it.”

Playbook instead of strategy

At the end, Werchota summarises his recommendations in a pragmatic “playbook” - deliberately not as an abstract strategy, but as a concrete guide to action. At its core, it is about:

• defining clear goals (revenue, profitability)

• using AI primarily in sales

• training employees consistently

• implementing agents and automation solutions

• Actively involve managers (“Make a dashboard yourself”)

His approach is deliberately playful and direct: “I hate the word strategy […] just do A, B, C, D.”

Conclusion

Werchota’s keynote was a technology demo and a wake-up call in one. He showed impressively that the biggest challenge lies not in the availability of AI, but in companies’ mindset.

His central credo:

Do not experiment - apply.

Do not optimise - generate revenue.

Do not talk - do.

Or, in his words:

“You have Copilot - then use it. Make a dashboard, mate.”

That was the Packaging Machinery Conference 2026

On 16 and 17 June, the Packaging Machinery Conference (PMC) 2026 took place in Nuremberg. Experts from the German packaging machinery industry spoke about perspectives, strategies and solutions for the future. The live ticker to read.

Peter Hammer