AI-Accelerated Turnaround & Performance

Turnaround situations tolerate no long analysis phases. Every week without a robust basis for decision-making costs liquidity, worsens the negotiating position towards banks and investors and reduces management’s room for manoeuvre. At the same time, speed without substance is dangerous: measures that are not based on a well-founded diagnosis risk turning the wrong screws. The solution lies in the methodical acceleration of the analysis process itself – and AI is structurally changing the methodical possibilities in the turnaround.

Between the onset of an earnings crisis and the moment at which room for manoeuvre is irreversibly lost, there is often less time than expected. Classic analysis processes deliver results when the negotiating position towards banks and investors is already further weakened, and measures without a diagnostic basis rarely turn the right screws. AI changes this relationship structurally: analyses that previously took weeks are compressed into days without any loss of robustness. FOSTEC & Company uses precisely this methodical lever by combining AI-supported diagnostic methods and operationally proven restructuring methodology into an integrated approach that secures speed and substance simultaneously.

Context and relevance

Classic turnaround management follows a familiar logic: stabilisation first, then diagnosis, then a programme of measures. The bottleneck is the time required: manual P&L analyses across several business units, supplier assessments and cash-flow projections tie up capacities that are not available in the crisis and produce results once the pressure to act has already passed its peak. AI changes this relationship. Automated data evaluation, pattern-recognising screening of supplier and customer portfolios as well as AI-supported cash-flow forecasts can shorten analysis steps that previously took weeks to a few days. This creates decision time for what counts in the turnaround: implementing well-founded measures before room for manoeuvre declines further.

Our approach

This cluster combines two self-contained but content-wise sequential modules: AI-accelerated crisis diagnostics and stabilisation on the one hand, and structured digital performance improvement on the other (Figure 1: Two modules of the cluster – AI-Accelerated Turnaround and Digital Performance Improvement). Both modules can be booked individually, but unfold their full effect when diagnosis and measure implementation are designed as an integrated programme.

Figure 1: Two modules of the cluster – AI-Accelerated Turnaround and Digital Performance Improvement

The difference between the two modules is precise: AI-Accelerated Turnaround accelerates the turnaround process itself, through faster diagnosis, earlier bases for decision-making and compressed analysis phases. Digital Performance Improvement delivers concrete earnings improvement under earnings pressure, through digital measures with a proven business case and immediate P&L impact. Methodical acceleration and operational impact complement each other in the combination of the two modules.

Results and impact

The decisive value of both modules lies in the combination of analysis speed and operational effectiveness. AI-supported diagnostic methods shorten the time to a robust basis for decision-making and thereby create the room for manoeuvre that restructuring situations require. Operational improvement programmes with a proven business case ensure that this room for manoeuvre is translated into measurable P&L impact. For companies in acute restructuring situations, this means: earlier stabilisation, robust communication towards investors and creditors and an analytically robust basis for the decision on the way forward – whether operational realignment, strategic restructuring or an orderly exit.

Position within the service portfolio

The Turnaround & Restructuring portfolio brings together the central levers for stabilising, restructuring and repositioning companies in critical situations. Optimisation takes place along clearly defined fields of action:

• Commerce & Digital Performance Diagnostic
• Rapid Profit & Margin Recovery
• AI-Accelerated Turnaround & Performance
• Commerce & Channel Restructuring
• Crisis Operating Model & Structural Cost Reset
• Stakeholder & Investor Communication
• Value Creation & Exit Recovery

Let us assess in an introductory conversation how AI can accelerate the analysis and stabilisation phase in your situation – data-driven, pragmatic and with clear, actionable recommendations.