AI transformation for Swiss SMEs
You do not have an AI team, and the vendors calling you all want to sell a platform. What an SME actually needs is one workflow that runs cheaper or faster this quarter, on the systems you already have, owned by your own people.
One workflow, not a platform
The engagement starts by mapping how work actually moves through your company and picking the one workflow where AI pays back first: often intake, document processing, service load or a finance-operations bottleneck. That system ships, proves itself, and earns the right to the next one.
Platform-first programmes do the opposite: eighteen months of infrastructure before the first franc of value. That is the pattern this practice exists to avoid.
Your stack, not a new one
The systems run on what you already operate: your ERP, your Microsoft 365 or Google tenancy, your industry software. No rip-and-replace, no migration project riding along. Where data must stay in Switzerland or on your premises, the architecture follows.
Sized and priced for an SME
A one-day strategy session (CHF 3-5k, creditable) answers one concrete question and tests the fit. The 2-3 week process audit (CHF 15-25k fixed) maps the workflows and ranks the opportunities. A system build runs CHF 40-150k depending on class, quoted firmly after the audit. Every number is on the table before you commit.
Ownership stays in the house
The engagement ends when your team runs the system without me: documentation, runbooks, and the operating knowledge transferred. For SMEs that want continuity without a hire, a fractional AI lead covers governance and vendor decisions at 1-2 days a week.
Common questions
We have no AI or IT staff. Can we still operate this?
Yes. Systems are handed over with documentation, runbooks and training for the people who own the workflow, and the operating burden is a design constraint from day one. Where continuity needs more, the fractional lead covers it without a full-time hire.
Is our data safe?
Data residency is decided per workflow: Swiss-hosted, in-region or fully on-prem where the data demands it. No client data goes to external services without a written approval trail.
What if it turns out AI does not help us?
Then the audit says so, with numbers, and it costs you the audit fee instead of a stalled programme. Eval gates before go-live mean nothing ships that has not demonstrably met the success criteria you agreed.
Do you work in German?
Yes. Mandates run in German or English end to end, including documentation and workshops. Swiss-German meetings are fine; deliverables come in standard German or English.
Map the process before you buy the tool.
One call to agree whether a process audit, a system build or a fractional AI lead fits where you are.