Pascal Steck

AI, developed responsibly, can improve lives. I shared this belief in Fokus’ “Future of Technology” feature—and it reflects what’s unfolding across Switzerland today. In over three decades, I’ve never experienced a technology adopted as quickly as AI. And Swiss companies are among the leaders in practical implementation: According to our 2025 Work Trend Index, 52% of Swiss companies already automate entire business processes, above the global average.   The impact is tangible. Think about the Spring ACT – Action. Compassion. Technology.'s Sophia chatbot, developed in Bern, that supports victims of domestic violence worldwide. Or think about Virtuosis AI in Lausanne: Their solution can detect burnout with 90% accuracy through voice analysis. Zurich Insurance, in turn, leverages AI for more accurate risk assessments, while EKZ applies it to optimize energy distribution.  And now we’re entering the next chapter: Agentic AI—systems that understand context, plan, and execute, always with humans maintaining control. IDC forecasts 1.3 billion agents globally by 2028, and Swiss organizations are actively shaping this transformation. We already see Frontier firms emerging in Switzerland—companies that look markedly different from those we know today. Structured around on-demand intelligence and powered by hybrid teams of humans and AI agents, these organizations scale rapidly, operate with agility, and generate value faster. Our commitment matches this momentum: four Swiss data centers, partnerships with ETH Zürich and EPFL among many others, and a goal to skill one million people in AI by 2027.  AI is most powerful when it works hand in hand with people—amplifying insight, creativity, and impact. 👉 Read the full interview (in German only) here:  https://lnkd.in/ex-Yauxp

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This is the best example of sustainable urban living in the world! 🌍 Share this video if you wish more urban areas could learn from this neighbourhood 🙌 Video made by Ben Brown and Ciara Doyle from Going Green Media. 10 lessons every city should learn from the Vauban District in Freiburg 🇩🇪 1. It’s one of the largest solar districts in Europe and the residents can sell excess energy back to the city. ☀️ 2. Tram stops are within walking distance for all and the greenery reduces the heat island effect of concrete. 🚃 3. Children’s play areas use natural materials and are surrounded by nature. 🛝 4. All buildings are unique, with the community being involved throughout the design process. 🏡 5. The graffiti art is beautiful. 🎨😉 6. There is a natural supermarket in the centre of the community where fruit and vegetables are available without plastic. 🍏 7. 70% of inhabitants don’t own a car in Vauban, but have access to car-sharing when needed. 🚙 8. The community garden is available for anyone who lends a helping hand. 🪴 9. The area was a former French military base and many materials were repurposed from the old buildings. 🪵 10. There is a green hotel which allows visitors to stay close by in an eco-friendly stay. 🏨 Communities like this prove it is possible to create more sustainable, functional neighbourhoods even in the middle of cities. #gogreen #ecodesign #goinggreen #nature #sustainability #eco #sustainable #earth #sustainabledesign #design #city

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Spoke with Brevo's Chairman of the Advisory Board. Steffen Schebesta led Brevo's M&A for 3+ years. Here's their acquisition playbook: Steffen founded Newsletter2Go back in 2011. And he kept building it for over 7 years until it became: One of the top email marketing platforms in the German-speaking market. In late 2018, Sendinblue (now Brevo) acquired them. (but it was almost like a merger) At that time, they were both figuring out how to merge the companies. And that's how Steffen became in charge of Brevo's M&A strategy: Phase 1: Geographic Consolidation (2018-2019) → Started by acquiring Newsletter2Go to crack the German market → But Europe isn't one market - each country needs localization → So they bought local players over organic expansion Phase 2: Product Extensions (2020+) After raising €140M, they shifted the strategy: → E-commerce focus: Chatra (chat), Push Owl (notifications), Metrio (analytics) → CRM expansion: Yodel (telephony), Meet Fox (scheduling), Captain Wallet (mobile) → Infrastructure: Mail Clark (email parsing) TLDR: Early on, they focused on geographic expansion through local acquisitions. When scaling, they shifted to product capability expansion. Now, they're into platform consolidation plays. And their next M&A activity? Likely after their next fundraising round. If you were leading Brevo's next acquisition strategy, what would you focus on? #acquisitions #saas #strategy

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AI is powering the next wave of innovation made in Germany! 🔧 🇩🇪 And Circus Group is living proof of it! During my visit to their Munich HQ, Christopher Stefan Meister and I had the chance to meet with founder Nikolas Bullwinkel and Director of AI Niklas von Weihe. Diving into the role that local, open source AI can play in solving challenges in the food industry – like the shortage of hospitality workers – Circus Group is harnessing the full potential of open source AI. Based on Meta’s Llama they run specifically trained models fully offline. 💻 No cloud. 🔒 No external servers. ✅ Just local, secure, high-performance AI and robotics – right where they are needed. This setup ensures: 🛡️ Data privacy ⚡ Real-time response 🤝 Trust and autonomy For their clients, this offers fewer staff shortages and smooth daily operations. For the industry, it’s a bold example of what open source innovation can look like in the food and hospitality sector: It isn’t just a concept, it’s a competitive edge in every industry. Let’s build more of it! #OpenSourceAI #MadeInGermany #Llama #HospitalityTech

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Europe has the talent — now it’s time to bet on ourselves. When Sandra Navidi and I met in Davos during World Economic Forum, one question kept coming back: What will it take for Europe to build global tech champions? We continued that conversation on ntvNachrichten’s BIZ & beyond podcast with Ulrich Reitz. From building Europe’s first venture studio, finleap, in Berlin to now leading early-stage investing at Motive Ventures in New York, that vantage point shapes how I see Europe’s path forward. Here’s what I believe: ▪️ Europe has great ideas — but we lack the structures, speed, and capital to scale them. ▪️Especially in later stages, we hesitate to go all in — and when capital finally comes, it’s often not European. ▪️We should learn from the U.S. — but not everything that shines is gold. ▪️Our real strengths, like quality of life and global talent, are already here. ▪️Capital matters. But culture decides. If we want to build global champions, we need belief. Belief that we can build big — and the urgency to work for it. That mindset is one of the few things Europe should take from the U.S. In short: If Europe wants to become a true tech force, the time to act is now. And it starts by betting on ourselves. A big thank you to Sandra and Ulrich for an insightful, thought-provoking discussion. And about that headline calling me “Tech-Wunderkind” — it made me smile. Feels good to be young again 😄 🎧 Listen via the link in the comments (German only). #Capital #Entrepreneurship #Europe #Leadership #Fintech

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Walk into a bookstore’s self-help section , rows of productivity systems : Getting Things Done, Bullet Journal, Zettelkasten. Each promises transformation—if you commit weeks. The market thrives , hundreds of new titles annually. But something new is emerging. We’re discovering we can redesign workflows instantly with AI prompts instead of studying methodologies for weeks. Three recent experiments hint at what’s coming. First, Paper2Agent transforms research papers into working code agents in 30 minutes to 3 hours. Ask it to implement AlphaGenome’s genomic analysis from a published paper & it processes the code, builds the environment, runs the tutorials. Previously: read the paper (2 days), understand the methodology (1 day), code the implementation (3 days). Now: point AI at the repository, get a working agent by lunch. Second, when I discovered Google’s Agent Development Kit research on tool design patterns, I asked AI to redesign my automation tools following those principles. The result : a 41% reduction in AI operation costs, implemented while I was answering emails in another browser tab. Third, over the weekend I read Jesse Vincent’s architect/implementer workflow via Simon Willison’s write-up. The approach splits AI coding into two sessions: one architect to design, one implementer to execute. No weeks of trial & error to understand the nuances. Read, implement, test, done. The pattern emerging : instant implementation. We can now test productivity systems like trying coffee drinks. Monday : architect/implementer (cappuccino—structured , classic). Tuesday : traditional single-session (flat white—simpler , maybe better?). Wednesday : hybrid workflow (chai latte—wait , is this even coffee?). By Thursday , the data shows which saves 3 hours per week. The self-help aisle promised transformation through commitment. AI promises transformation through experimentation.

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