transcripts · PRIMARY EVIDENCE
Solution demo & value workshop
transcripts/01_2024-03-20_solution-demo-value-workshop.txt
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1*** SYNTHETIC DATA. This transcript is entirely fictional. Acme Org, Northwind
2*** Retail Group, Meridian Consulting and every person named are invented. Any
3*** resemblance to a real organisation or individual is coincidental. Generated
4*** for the RELEX challenge track, AaltoAI Hackathon 2026.
6Meeting: Solution demo & value workshop
7Customer: Acme Org (Grocery Retail, EMEA)
8Date: 2024-03-20
9Phase: Pre-Sales
10Attendees: Lena Fischer (Acme), Sofia Almeida (Acme), Marco Rossi (RELEX), Robert Kahn (Acme CFO, joins late)
12Marco Rossi
131:041:04
14MR
15Marco Rossi 1 minute 4 seconds
16Thanks for the time today. Can everyone hear me?
17Lena Fischer
181:111:11
19LF
20Lena Fischer 1 minute 11 seconds
21Yes.
22Marco Rossi
231:201:20
24MR
25Marco Rossi 1 minute 20 seconds
26Good. So we will walk through forecasting first,
27Marco Rossi 1 minute 27 seconds
28then replenished,
29Lena Fischer
301:341:34
31LF
32Lena Fischer 1 minute 34 seconds
33Yeah, yeah.
34Marco Rossi
351:351:35
36MR
37Marco Rossi 1 minute 35 seconds
38then then the fresh-food capability Lena flagged in the call last
39Lena Fischer
401:441:44
41LF
42Lena Fischer 1 minute 44 seconds
43Mm-hm.
44Marco Rossi
451:461:46
46MR
47Marco Rossi 1 minute 46 seconds
48month.
49Lena Fischer
501:531:53
51LF
52Lena Fischer 1 minute 53 seconds
53Mm, okay.
54Lena Fischer
551:561:56
56LF
57Lena Fischer 1 minute 56 seconds
58That That order is fine but I want to say something before before you
59Sofia Almeida
602:052:05
61SA
62Sofia Almeida 2 minutes 5 seconds
63Yeah.
64Lena Fischer
652:082:08
66LF
67Lena Fischer 2 minutes 8 seconds
68start.
69Marco Rossi
702:152:15
71MR
72Marco Rossi 2 minutes 15 seconds
73Please.
74Sofia Almeida
752:182:18
76SA
77Sofia Almeida 2 minutes 18 seconds
78Right.
79Lena Fischer
802:222:22
81LF
82Lena Fischer 2 minutes 22 seconds
83The fresh waste is our...
84Lena Fischer 2 minutes 28 seconds
85biggest pain. That is why you are here. We throw away too much produce and dairy and
86Lena Fischer 2 minutes 37 seconds
87it is not a rounding error,
88Lena Fischer
892:432:43
90LF
91Lena Fischer 2 minutes 43 seconds
92it is the thing my board asks me about. If you can move that fifteen
93Lena Fischer
942:532:53
95LF
96Lena Fischer 2 minutes 53 seconds
97to twenty percent, like this pays for itself and I do not need to argue about anything else.
98Marco Rossi
993:043:04
100MR
101Marco Rossi 3 minutes 4 seconds
102Understood.
103Sofia Almeida
1043:093:09
105SA
106Sofia Almeida 3 minutes 9 seconds
107Okay.
108Lena Fischer
1093:133:13
110LF
111Lena Fischer 3 minutes 13 seconds
112I mean I say that now because in my experience the demo goes through
113Lena Fischer 3 minutes 20 seconds
114everything else first and then we run out
115Lena Fischer
1163:283:28
117LF
118Lena Fischer 3 minutes 28 seconds
119of time.
120Marco Rossi
1213:313:31
122MR
123Marco Rossi 3 minutes 31 seconds
124Yeah, yeah.
125Marco Rossi
1263:323:32
127MR
128Marco Rossi 3 minutes 32 seconds
129right That is a fair warning.
130Sofia Almeida
1313:353:35
132SA
133Sofia Almeida 3 minutes 35 seconds
134Should I introduce myself?
135Marco Rossi
1363:393:39
137MR
138Marco Rossi 3 minutes 39 seconds
139Sorry, what?
140Marco Rossi 3 minutes 44 seconds
141Yeah so, please.
142Sofia Almeida
1433:483:48
144SA
145Sofia Almeida 3 minutes 48 seconds
146Sofia Almeida, I manage the fresh categories. All of them, currently, yeah which is a longer story.
147Lena Fischer
1483:563:56
149LF
150Lena Fischer 3 minutes 56 seconds
151And, we lost someone in January and have not replaced them.
152Sofia Almeida
1534:054:05
154SA
155Sofia Almeida 4 minutes 5 seconds
156sort of Tobias Ekström. He did chilled and I did produce, and now I do,
157Marco Rossi
1584:124:12
159MR
160Marco Rossi 4 minutes 12 seconds
161Yeah.
162Sofia Almeida
1634:144:14
164SA
165Sofia Almeida 4 minutes 14 seconds
166both.
167Lena Fischer
1684:204:20
169LF
170Lena Fischer 4 minutes 20 seconds
171He went to a competitor, which we are not supposed to
172Lena Fischer 4 minutes 29 seconds
173say out loud.
174Sofia Almeida
1754:334:33
176SA
177Sofia Almeida 4 minutes 33 seconds
178He went to Hemtorget. Everyone knows.
179Sofia Almeida 4 minutes 38 seconds
180So today it is all manual and gut feel. That is...
181Sofia Almeida 4 minutes 47 seconds
182not me being I mean...
183Sofia Almeida 4 minutes 51 seconds
184and my judgement. Shelf life is not in any system properly.
185Marco Rossi
1864:574:57
187MR
188Marco Rossi 4 minutes 57 seconds
189Can I get your email so I send you the follow-up directly?
190Sofia Almeida
1915:065:06
192SA
193Sofia Almeida 5 minutes 6 seconds
194sofia.almeida@acme-org.example. Two Ls in Almeida, no, you know one L. Sorry. A-L-M-E-I-D-A.
195Lena Fischer
1965:145:14
197LF
198Lena Fischer 5 minutes 14 seconds
199Yeah.
200Marco Rossi
2015:155:15
202MR
203Marco Rossi 5 minutes 15 seconds
204sort of a direct line?
205Sofia Almeida
2065:185:18
207SA
208Sofia Almeida 5 minutes 18 seconds
209My mobile is easier. Zero
210Sofia Almeida 5 minutes 23 seconds
211seven, six two, four four one, actually nine oh three.
212Marco Rossi
2135:315:31
214MR
215Marco Rossi 5 minutes 31 seconds
216Okay so, actually Thank you.
217Marco Rossi
2185:385:38
219MR
220Marco Rossi 5 minutes 38 seconds
221Say more about that.
222Sofia Almeida
2235:455:45
224SA
225Sofia Almeida 5 minutes 45 seconds
226We have a shelf life field in the product master. It is
227Sofia Almeida 5 minutes 54 seconds
228populated for maybe half the range...
229Sofia Almeida
2306:036:03
231SA
232Sofia Almeida 6 minutes 3 seconds
233and it is but...
234Sofia Almeida 6 minutes 9 seconds
235nobody has owned it since it was set up. So
236Sofia Almeida 6 minutes 14 seconds
237when the
238Sofia Almeida 6 minutes 21 seconds
239store orders, nothing in the process knows whether the thing has three days
240Sofia Almeida 6 minutes 27 seconds
241left or three
242Sofia Almeida 6 minutes 30 seconds
243weeks.
244Lena Fischer
2456:346:34
246LF
247Lena Fischer 6 minutes 34 seconds
248Right.
249Marco Rossi
2506:386:38
251MR
252Marco Rossi 6 minutes 38 seconds
253And you compensate manually.
254Sofia Almeida
2556:446:44
256SA
257Sofia Almeida 6 minutes 44 seconds
258I compensate manually. On the categories where it matters most,
259Sofia Almeida 6 minutes 53 seconds
260I go in and adjust. On the rest, we accept
261Marco Rossi
2627:007:00
263MR
264Marco Rossi 7 minutes
265Mm.
266Sofia Almeida
2677:037:03
268SA
269Sofia Almeida 7 minutes 3 seconds
270the waste.
271Marco Rossi
2727:077:07
273MR
274Marco Rossi 7 minutes 7 seconds
275Which categories are the worst?
276Sofia Almeida
2777:117:11
278SA
279Sofia Almeida 7 minutes 11 seconds
280There are about four where it
281Sofia Almeida 7 minutes 16 seconds
282is bad. The obvious ones are —
283Lena Fischer
2847:217:21
285LF
286Lena Fischer 7 minutes 21 seconds
287Sorry, Marco, is that your screen or ours?
288Marco Rossi
2897:287:28
290MR
291Marco Rossi 7 minutes 28 seconds
292like That
293Marco Rossi 7 minutes 34 seconds
294is mine, one moment. Let me share properly.
295Lena Fischer
2967:417:41
297LF
298Lena Fischer 7 minutes 41 seconds
299actually Now it is coming through.
300Marco Rossi
3017:487:48
302MR
303Marco Rossi 7 minutes 48 seconds
304Right. So this is the forecasting engine. What you are looking at here is a store-level forecast
305Sofia Almeida
3067:597:59
307SA
308Sofia Almeida 7 minutes 59 seconds
309Yeah.
310Marco Rossi
3118:008:00
312MR
313Marco Rossi 8 minutes
314for a single product, and this line is what our model produced
315Lena Fischer
3168:078:07
317LF
318Lena Fischer 8 minutes 7 seconds
319Mm-hm.
320Marco Rossi
3218:108:10
322MR
323Marco Rossi 8 minutes 10 seconds
324versus this line which is actual. And you can see the uplift here.
325Lena Fischer
3268:188:18
327LF
328Lena Fischer 8 minutes 18 seconds
329Right.
330Lena Fischer
3318:198:19
332LF
333Lena Fischer 8 minutes 19 seconds
334Against what baseline?
335Sofia Almeida
3368:268:26
337SA
338Sofia Almeida 8 minutes 26 seconds
339Yeah, yeah.
340Marco Rossi
3418:278:27
342MR
343Marco Rossi 8 minutes 27 seconds
344you know Against their previous system. It is on the chart,
345Marco Rossi 8 minutes 35 seconds
346this figure here.
347Lena Fischer
3488:468:46
349LF
350Lena Fischer 8 minutes 46 seconds
351basically Right.
352Marco Rossi
3538:498:49
354MR
355Marco Rossi 8 minutes 49 seconds
356And then if I scroll down, this is the same view aggregated, and you can see the pattern holds. This column is the one that matters.
357Lena Fischer
3589:019:01
359LF
360Lena Fischer 9 minutes 1 second
361Okay, yeah.
362Sofia Almeida
3639:039:03
364SA
365Sofia Almeida 9 minutes 3 seconds
366Is that a fresh product or ambient?
367Marco Rossi
3689:109:10
369MR
370Marco Rossi 9 minutes 10 seconds
371Yeah.
372Marco Rossi
3739:139:13
374MR
375Marco Rossi 9 minutes 13 seconds
376This particular one is embient. But the mechanism is the same.
377Sofia Almeida
3789:199:19
379SA
380Sofia Almeida 9 minutes 19 seconds
381kind of like It is not the same though.
382Lena Fischer
3839:259:25
384LF
385Lena Fischer 9 minutes 25 seconds
386Sure.
387Marco Rossi
3889:299:29
389MR
390Marco Rossi 9 minutes 29 seconds
391like No, you are right, the fresh case is harder and I will come to it.
392Lena Fischer
3939:439:43
394LF
395Lena Fischer 9 minutes 43 seconds
396Please do come to it.
397Sofia Almeida
3989:469:46
399SA
400Sofia Almeida 9 minutes 46 seconds
401Okay.
402Marco Rossi
4039:489:48
404MR
405Marco Rossi 9 minutes 48 seconds
406So. Shelf-life optimisation. This sits in the allocation module. What it does is take remaining...
407Marco Rossi 9 minutes 57 seconds
408life as an input to the order calculation, so a product with
409Marco Rossi 10 minutes 3 seconds
410three days left is treated differently from one with three weeks, which
411Marco Rossi 10 minutes 11 seconds
412addresses exactly what Sofia described.
413Sofia Almeida
41410:1710:17
415SA
416Sofia Almeida 10 minutes 17 seconds
417Where was I.
418Sofia Almeida 10 minutes 23 seconds
419That is the thing I have been asking for since I started.
420Marco Rossi
42110:3010:30
422MR
423Marco Rossi 10 minutes 30 seconds
424sort of Good. Now, you know the way we would normally sequence this is core replenished first, then fresh as a second,
425Marco Rossi 10 minutes 42 seconds
426phase. The reason is de-risking. Core replenished lands value quickly and
427Marco Rossi 10 minutes 51 seconds
428it establishes
429Marco Rossi 10 minutes 55 seconds
430the data flows that fresh depends on.
431Lena Fischer
43211:0111:01
433LF
434Lena Fischer 11 minutes 1 second
435How long
436Marco Rossi
43711:0611:06
438MR
439Marco Rossi 11 minutes 6 seconds
440Yeah.
441Lena Fischer
44211:0911:09
443LF
444Lena Fischer 11 minutes 9 seconds
445is a second phase.
446Marco Rossi
44711:1511:15
448MR
449Marco Rossi 11 minutes 15 seconds
450Realistically a few months after the first golive.
451Lena Fischer
45211:2411:24
453LF
454Lena Fischer 11 minutes 24 seconds
455Understood. But fresh is the reason we are here. Do not let
456Marco Rossi
45711:3211:32
458MR
459Marco Rossi 11 minutes 32 seconds
460Yeah.
461Lena Fischer
46211:3311:33
463LF
464Lena Fischer 11 minutes 33 seconds
465it become a someday item.
466Marco Rossi
46711:3611:36
468MR
469Marco Rossi 11 minutes 36 seconds
470Noted, and I will commit it as Phase 2 in the statement of work with...
471Marco Rossi 11 minutes 43 seconds
472a target window rather than leaving it open.
473Lena Fischer
47411:4711:47
475LF
476Lena Fischer 11 minutes 47 seconds
477In writing.
478Marco Rossi
47911:5411:54
480MR
481Marco Rossi 11 minutes 54 seconds
482Yes.
483Marco Rossi
48411:5811:58
485MR
486Marco Rossi 11 minutes 58 seconds
487In writing.
488Sofia Almeida
48912:0412:04
490SA
491Sofia Almeida 12 minutes 4 seconds
492Can I raise something awkward.
493Lena Fischer
49412:1112:11
495LF
496Lena Fischer 12 minutes 11 seconds
497Go ahead.
498Sofia Almeida
49912:1512:15
500SA
501Sofia Almeida 12 minutes 15 seconds
502Okay, yeah.
503Sofia Almeida
50412:1912:19
505SA
506Sofia Almeida 12 minutes 19 seconds
507If fresh is a second phase and that lands late in the year, I have surgery scheduled. but...
508Sofia Almeida 12 minutes 31 seconds
509It is me. If the fresh work happens while I am,
510Sofia Almeida 12 minutes 37 seconds
511gone, it will happen without anyone who understands what we actually need.
512Lena Fischer
51312:4612:46
514LF
515Lena Fischer 12 minutes 46 seconds
516Mm.
517Lena Fischer
51812:4712:47
519LF
520Lena Fischer 12 minutes 47 seconds
521We will manage it.
522Sofia Almeida
52312:5012:50
524SA
525Sofia Almeida 12 minutes 50 seconds
526I am not asking you to manage it, I am telling,
527Sofia Almeida
52813:0013:00
529SA
530Sofia Almeida 13 minutes
531him so it is on the record.
532Lena Fischer
53313:0613:06
534LF
535Lena Fischer 13 minutes 6 seconds
536Mm-hm.
537Marco Rossi
53813:0913:09
539MR
540Marco Rossi 13 minutes 9 seconds
541It is a real risk and I am glad you said it. Single point of knowledge on,
542Marco Rossi 13 minutes 18 seconds
543the most important part of
544Marco Rossi 13 minutes 22 seconds
545the scope.
546Sofia Almeida
54713:2613:26
548SA
549Sofia Almeida 13 minutes 26 seconds
550Yes.
551Sofia Almeida
55213:3013:30
553SA
554Sofia Almeida 13 minutes 30 seconds
555sort of Yes.
556Robert Kahn
55713:3413:34
558RK
559Robert Kahn 13 minutes 34 seconds
560Mm.
561Marco Rossi
56213:3713:37
563MR
564Marco Rossi 13 minutes 37 seconds
565I will note it.
566Lena Fischer
56713:4013:40
568LF
569Lena Fischer 13 minutes 40 seconds
570Sure.
571Robert Kahn
57213:4413:44
573RK
574Robert Kahn 13 minutes 44 seconds
575Sorry I am late, I and...
576Marco Rossi
57713:4713:47
578MR
579Marco Rossi 13 minutes 47 seconds
580Okay, yeah.
581Robert Kahn
58213:5013:50
583RK
584Robert Kahn 13 minutes 50 seconds
585thing that overran.
586Marco Rossi
58713:5513:55
588MR
589Marco Rossi 13 minutes 55 seconds
590Yeah, yeah.
591Lena Fischer
59213:5713:57
593LF
594Lena Fischer 13 minutes 57 seconds
595Sorry, go ahead.
596Lena Fischer 14 minutes
597Robert, right this is Marco from relics. Robert is our CFO.
598Marco Rossi
59914:0714:07
600MR
601Marco Rossi 14 minutes 7 seconds
602Mm-hm.
603Robert Kahn
60414:0814:08
605RK
606Robert Kahn 14 minutes 8 seconds
607I have about twelve minutes and one question, which is what does this cost and
608Robert Kahn 14 minutes 17 seconds
609when do I see it back.
610Marco Rossi
61114:2214:22
612MR
613Marco Rossi 14 minutes 22 seconds
614We have,
615Marco Rossi 14 minutes 29 seconds
616not talked commercials yet today.
617Robert Kahn
61814:3214:32
619RK
620Robert Kahn 14 minutes 32 seconds
621Yes.
622Robert Kahn
62314:3314:33
624RK
625Robert Kahn 14 minutes 33 seconds
626Then let me be clear about the frame. Whatever we,
627Sofia Almeida
62814:4114:41
629SA
630Sofia Almeida 14 minutes 41 seconds
631Yeah.
632Robert Kahn
63314:4514:45
634RK
635Robert Kahn 14 minutes 45 seconds
636sign, I need return on investment inside twelve months. Ambient efficiency is nice. I understand it is real. But the board cares,
637Robert Kahn 14 minutes 57 seconds
638about waste, because waste is what
639Sofia Almeida
64015:0315:03
641SA
642Sofia Almeida 15 minutes 3 seconds
643True.
644Robert Kahn
64515:0615:06
646RK
647Robert Kahn 15 minutes 6 seconds
648was in the newspaper, so that is what the case has to be built on.
649Marco Rossi
65015:1415:14
651MR
652Marco Rossi 15 minutes 14 seconds
653Sure.
654Marco Rossi
65515:1815:18
656MR
657Marco Rossi 15 minutes 18 seconds
658Then we will structure the value case around fresh waste plus inventory reduction, measured
659Robert Kahn
66015:2915:29
661RK
662Robert Kahn 15 minutes 29 seconds
663Sure.
664Marco Rossi
66515:3315:33
666MR
667Marco Rossi 15 minutes 33 seconds
668against your current and then the...
669Robert Kahn
67015:3815:38
671RK
672Robert Kahn 15 minutes 38 seconds
673Measured how.
674Marco Rossi
67515:4515:45
676MR
677Marco Rossi 15 minutes 45 seconds
678We agree the baseline with you before go-live and report against it.
679Robert Kahn
68015:5215:52
681RK
682Robert Kahn 15 minutes 52 seconds
683Fine. Twelve
684Lena Fischer
68515:5615:56
686LF
687Lena Fischer 15 minutes 56 seconds
688Mm, okay.
689Robert Kahn
69015:5815:58
691RK
692Robert Kahn 15 minutes 58 seconds
693months.
694Lena Fischer
69516:0116:01
696LF
697Lena Fischer 16 minutes 1 second
698Robert, the fresh module is phase two.
699Robert Kahn
70016:0616:06
701RK
702Robert Kahn 16 minutes 6 seconds
703But, then phase,
704Lena Fischer
70516:1216:12
706LF
707Lena Fischer 16 minutes 12 seconds
708Okay.
709Robert Kahn
71016:1416:14
711RK
712Robert Kahn 16 minutes 14 seconds
713two needs to be inside the twelve months, kind of like does
714Robert Kahn 16 minutes 22 seconds
715it not.
716Marco Rossi
71716:2716:27
718MR
719Marco Rossi 16 minutes 27 seconds
720That is a tighter constraint,
721Sofia Almeida
72216:3416:34
723SA
724Sofia Almeida 16 minutes 34 seconds
725Yep.
726Marco Rossi
72716:3816:38
728MR
729Marco Rossi 16 minutes 38 seconds
730than I had understood.
731Robert Kahn
73216:4116:41
733RK
734Robert Kahn 16 minutes 41 seconds
735It is the only constraint I
736Robert Kahn 16 minutes 46 seconds
737have.
738Lena Fischer
73916:5316:53
740LF
741Lena Fischer 16 minutes 53 seconds
742We should let Robert go.
743Robert Kahn
74416:5816:58
745RK
746Robert Kahn 16 minutes 58 seconds
747Thank you. Send me one page, not forty.
748Marco Rossi
74917:0617:06
750MR
751Marco Rossi 17 minutes 6 seconds
752Understood.
753Sofia Almeida
75417:1217:12
755SA
756Sofia Almeida 17 minutes 12 seconds
757He does that.
758Lena Fischer
75917:1817:18
760LF
761Lena Fischer 17 minutes 18 seconds
762He is not wrong though.
763Marco Rossi
76417:2517:25
765MR
766Marco Rossi 17 minutes 25 seconds
767Let me...
768Sofia Almeida
76917:2817:28
770SA
771Sofia Almeida 17 minutes 28 seconds
772Mm, okay.
773Marco Rossi
77417:3217:32
775MR
776Marco Rossi 17 minutes 32 seconds
777give you
778Marco Rossi 17 minutes 38 seconds
779my mobile so you are not going through the mailbox. It is plus three five one,
780Marco Rossi 17 minutes 48 seconds
781Ohh, that's not the one I wanted to share.
782Marco Rossi 17 minutes 51 seconds
783so nine one two, four four seven, oh two
784Marco Rossi 17 minutes 56 seconds
785six.
786Lena Fischer
78718:0018:00
788LF
789Lena Fischer 18 minutes
790you know Got it.
791Marco Rossi
79218:0718:07
793MR
794Marco Rossi 18 minutes 7 seconds
795right I will send a written summary and the value case structure this week.
796Robert Kahn
79718:1418:14
798RK
799Robert Kahn 18 minutes 14 seconds
800Right.
801Lena Fischer
80218:1718:17
803LF
804Lena Fischer 18 minutes 17 seconds
805Thank you.