rpc, The Retail Performance Company (joint venture of BMW Group and h&z)
Guided the AI transformation and enabled teams at an established consulting and transformation firm. Result: teams that use AI in their daily work.
SERVICE · AI STRATEGY & AI LITERACY
AI Strategy, Enablement & AI Literacy: getting AI out of pilot mode and into daily work
I help companies put AI to work: assess where you stand, set the strategy and the governance, and enable teams and leadership to use AI every day. The goal isn't another one-off training or another pilot that never ships. It's AI that becomes part of how people actually work.
At a glance
- What
- AI strategy, enablement, and AI literacy for teams and decision-makers, from a readiness assessment to AI use that sticks.
- Who it's for
- Midsize companies and enterprises, and and the marketing, communications, and leadership teams who want to roll out AI safely.
- Services
- AI readiness check, use case discovery, roadmap, AI governance guidelines (EU AI Act, GDPR), training, and change support.
- Track record
- Advising companies on AI since ChatGPT's first day (November 2022). More than 500 marketers trained. Built and led Germany's first AI content marketing academy. Clients include Deutsche Post, rpc (a joint venture of BMW Group and h&z), and BMW.
- How we work
- Project-based or a monthly retainer, mostly remote.
- Principle
- Get AI out of pilot mode. A single training session is not a rollout.
What is AI literacy?
AI literacy means teams and decision-makers can use AI safely, effectively, and with good judgment. It means knowing what the technology can do, where it breaks down, what the risks are, and how it solves real use cases in your own work. Under the EU AI Act, AI literacy is no longer optional for most companies. Since February 2, 2025, Article 4 has required providers and deployers of AI systems to make sure the people using them have a sufficient level of AI literacy.
Enablement is the next step. It turns that knowledge into everyday use through clear use cases, working routines, and ongoing support, instead of a single workshop that wears off in two weeks.
Why does AI enablement matter right now?
Because your people are already using AI, mostly without coordination and often outside your policies. The 2024 Work Trend Index from Microsoft and LinkedIn found that 78 percent of AI users bring their own AI tools to work. Shadow AI puts data privacy, quality, and compliance at risk. Meanwhile the real upside sits untouched, because nobody has prioritized the use cases or enabled the teams.
A structured rollout fixes both problems at once: it pulls shadow AI into the open and turns AI from a pilot into a tool people rely on. I don't treat the EU AI Act and the GDPR as a brake. They set the guardrails, and guardrails let you move faster.
Why do most AI initiatives stall? Adoption, not technology
The technology almost never fails. Adoption does. A training session on its own changes nobody's Monday morning. I'm good at finding and ranking the use cases that pay off, keep teams and decision-makers enabled over time, and take the fear out of the tools.
I also bring a combination you don't see often: about 10 years of work with data governance and data-driven teams, including three years at Sage, plus 20 years spent explaining hard technology in plain language. I handle the legal and regulatory depth together with your legal and compliance teams. This is not legal advice.
Proof, in numbers
500+
marketers trained
Hands-on training for marketing teams and decision-makers.
No. 1
AI content marketing academy
The first of its kind in Germany, built and led by Stefan (contentbird).
2022
since ChatGPT's first day
Advising companies on AI since the launch in November 2022.
20+
years in editorial & content
Two decades of making hard technology easy to grasp, now pointed at AI.
Clients include Deutsche Post, rpc (The Retail Performance Company, a joint venture of BMW Group and h&z), and BMW. A wide toolkit, from prompting and AI-generated imagery to Content on Brand and Claude Cowork, so every use case gets the right tool.
What you can book (mix and match)
- AI readiness check & use case discovery. Walk through departments and processes, score your AI maturity, collect use cases, and rank them by business value.
- AI strategy & roadmap. From use case to shipped work: build vs. buy calls and an operating model for AI adoption.
- AI governance & guidelines. Usage policies, clear ownership, and the EU AI Act and GDPR as guardrails, written with your legal and compliance teams.
- Enablement & training. Ongoing enablement for teams and the C-suite, not a one-off workshop.
- Regular AI updates for your team. A standing session on new tools, new use cases, and what actually changed, so your team stays current.
- Adoption & change. Run the cross-functional work, take the fear out of the tools, and bring shadow AI into the open.
- Strategy sessions & advisory. A sounding board for the calls leadership has to make.
Client work and results
contentbird KI-Academy (AI academy)
Built and led Germany's first AI academy focused on content. Result: more than 500 marketers who know how to bring AI into a team.
Sage (around 3 years)
Data-driven work across HR and content. Result: deep data governance experience that now shapes how I build AI governance.
From client work
Interview: why AI is a competitive advantage today
"AI is no longer a vision of the future. It is an immediate competitive advantage." (translated from German) In this interview with rpc, I lay out why companies should move now, and how AI gets from pilot project to real advantage.
→ Read the interview at rpc (in German)FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between AI literacy and AI enablement?
AI literacy is understanding: what AI can do, where it fails, and what the risks are. AI enablement is practice: that understanding turns into safe, daily use, carried by real use cases, working routines, and ongoing support.
Does the EU AI Act require my company to do anything about AI literacy?
Most likely yes. Since February 2, 2025, Article 4 of the EU AI Act has required companies that deploy AI systems to make sure their staff have a sufficient level of AI literacy. I turn that requirement into a workable strategy and clear guidelines, written with your legal and compliance teams. It does not replace legal advice.
How do we get started with AI in our company?
Start with an AI readiness check and use case discovery. We map your maturity and your needs, then rank use cases by business value. That ranking becomes your roadmap.
What does working together look like?
Either a project or a monthly retainer, mostly remote. A typical engagement runs in phases over several months: readiness, strategy, enablement, and then making the new habits stick, tracked with KPIs.
How much does AI strategy consulting and training cost?
It depends on scope and format, from a single half-day workshop to a retainer that runs for months. After a free intro call and a short needs assessment, you get a custom proposal with transparent pricing.
Is AI strategy the same as GEO?
No, but the two are related. GEO makes your brand visible in AI search. AI strategy and enablement make your company ready to use AI internally. Plenty of clients need both, and I do both.
Next step
Let's find out where your company really stands with AI and which piece of work gives you the most leverage.
Book an intro call
About the author
Stefan von Gagern is an AI + content consultant based in Norderstedt, near Hamburg, Germany. He has guided companies through AI transformation since ChatGPT launched in November 2022, with a focus on AI readiness, strategy, enablement, and adoption. He has trained more than 500 marketers, led Germany's first AI content marketing academy (contentbird), and worked with clients such as Deutsche Post, rpc, and BMW. Twenty years in editorial and content, 17 of them as a brand copywriter, shape how he makes complex AI topics easy to grasp.
→ More about Stefan