Date: 30.10.2025 (2025-10-30)
Sacha Fuchs (30.10.2025) • https://www.linkedin.com/in/sacha-fuchs/ • Frm McKinsey • Senior Strategy & Transformation Manager at dsm-firmenich (Chemieunternehmen)
Questions: • Context: • Strategy unit: health, nutrition, care • Product management • Strategic projects: • Leading of projects • Example: analysis of a product market: competitors • Legacy software: • McK: • Finanzdaten: in SAP systems -> often modern systems do not have the data you need • Solution: manual export by Controllers • Everything is put into Excel -> then a lot of analysis • After the project customer does the same as before (chaos) • One project: • They tried to automate a legacy system with RPA but it did not work (uiPath) • It has to be sth that integrates well when software changes • They wanted to archive documents in a different system -> the last step was a problem • A lot of software is custom • Industries that have legacy software: • B2B companies • DSM: • Legacy software: • They have to set up a new ERP -> huge pain • DSM has a lot of M&A -> fragmented IT landscape -> there is a lot of manual work -> a lot of manual asking -> automation could lead to more stable integrations • Problem: CRM (Dynamics) -> Sales People have own Excel -> getting the data in the first place is a challenge • Sales people feel monitored when they have to document in a CRM • Another big problem: break down finance data to product • Opex from the whole company to an individual product -> manual work -> a lot of discussion • Are they automating today? If yes, which tools (Excel macros, Zapier, RPA, ERP features)? • If yes: who does it? Which tools? What works? What does not work? • • If no, why not (cost, complexity, lack of time, no clear ROI)? • d • He does not know that they are doing automation but he is not close IT • Commercial and Digital Excellence, One does Finance dashboard • Accounting: no insights • Pain / potential process: when they have to do product change notifications -> which products are affected (based on CRM) -> which customers are affected -> interlink between systems -> mail automation -> document • Fehlerfreiheit ist super important → how can testing be done easily • How can you give people the confidence that the quality is good • Talk to Timon Oberholzer -> he did some automations • Who do they do automations? • • Best processes / most valuable? • • More processes to automate: • • Other automations from other people / departments: • • How does he see legacy software in the energy sector? • • Pitch: finance / accounting and purchasing automation / optimisation! • • Day-to-day reality: What are the most admin-heavy processes in his finance role (invoices, reconciliations, reporting, payroll, compliance, audits)? • • Legacy systems: does he deal with them (accounting tools, banking interfaces, HRIS, ERP)? How painful are integrations? • • Successes & frustrations: if he had a “magic wand,” what would he automate first? • • Ask if he can introduce you to 3 peers in similar roles (finance leads in other startups). •