How Companies Across Sectors Work with Data and AI: Reflections on Our May Meetup

How do companies across industries actually work with data and AI — and what can they learn from one another?

These were the central questions explored during the May edition of the Voices of Transformation meetup, titled Data in Context, hosted at MSD Czech Republic. Judging by the strong attendance and the lively follow-up discussions, it is clear that cross-sector conversations like these are more needed today than ever before.

The evening opened with short presentations from speakers representing pharma, banking, consulting, and telecommunications. Čeněk Polívka (MSD), Jiří Kacerovský (Komerční banka), Martin Matějka (KPMG), and Adéla Ráčková (T-Mobile) shared practical insights into how their organizations work with data, where AI is already creating real value, and where it still encounters limitations.

The panel discussion was moderated by Ota Novotný, and at one point the panelists even began asking questions to one another. It clearly demonstrated how valuable knowledge sharing across sectors can be. Although the environments and business contexts differ, many of the challenges and dilemmas remain surprisingly similar.

The audience also actively joined the discussion. One particularly thought-provoking question raised during the session was:

“Are we moving from data first to AI first?”

The overall sentiment of the panel was clear — one simply cannot work without the other. As Adéla Ráčková noted during the discussion:

“If you want to work with AI, you need to have good data first.”

We would like to thank both the panelists and the audience for their valuable insights, questions, and open discussion. Special thanks also go to MSD Czech Republic for the collaboration and for providing such a great venue for the event, and to Martin Weinpold for the excellent photo documentation.

All four panelists completed their education at Prague University of Economics and Business, and two of them are graduates of our Data & Analytics for Business Management MBA program.

If you would like to help companies transform their business through data and AI just like they do, learn more about our programs. Registration for the next cohort, starting this September, is now open.