ICV network meeting for managers from large companies at Kärcher

This year’s ICV network meeting for managers from large companies took place on July 24 in Winnenden on the topic of “AI in the finance and controlling function” at Alfred Kärcher SE & Co KG.

Stefan Patzke (CFO), Dr. Elmar Dworski (Executive Vice President Finance & Controlling) and Ellen Hohenfeld (Director Finance & Controlling) from Kärcher provided practical input in keynote speeches and roundtable discussions. They provided insights into the bold transformation with impressive progress.

It became clear that a clear allocation of roles and responsibilities within the CFO function forms the basis for cross-functional cooperation and enables a consistent separation of governance and business partnering in controlling.

The consistent pursuit of the Google Workspace strategy, which promotes a more standardized, collaborative and automated way of working and the use of AI in all areas of work, was also particularly impressive: NotebookLM, for example, is firmly integrated into the way of working and “virtual CFOs” are created by Controlling, for example, as agents in Gemini who “challenge” the Controlling team in the preparation of Management Board meetings.

At the network meeting, Chris Hauck, Manager at Vindelici Advisors AG, also presented an approach in the field of AI for strategy development and management models in a volatile world. Various data sources were used in the respective stages to enable a holistic approach on the one hand and to set up an efficient process on the other.

The meeting was rounded off by an impressive factory tour with a short historical excursion into the company history of Kärcher.

The organizing team Helmut Willmann, Leonis Petschmann and Pia Burkarth would like to thank the hosts of the meeting for the exciting practical insights. The meeting proved to be another strong example of how the ICV is actively supporting change in controlling.