The interview took place at a party. Monique Fischer hardly knew anyone there. When asked what she did for a living, she said, «I’m a saleswoman.» The response was, «Ah, interesting,» and then the conversation was over. She’s convinced that if she’d introduced herself as a lifestyle consultant or styling coach, the conversation would have continued. «Oh, that’s interesting, too. What would look good on me?»
For Fischer, this scene highlights a problem in her industry. The fashion retail sector faces a shortage of sales professionals; the job is poorly paid and holds little prestige. Yet good saleswomen are «real sales machines.» They determine whether a product succeeds at the point of sale.
Fischer herself has three decades of sales experience. She served as Vice President of International Sales and Sales Director at Willy Bogner in Munich, Strenesse, Gerry Weber, the Paris-based Vivarte Group, Luisa Cerano, and Zimmerli of Switzerland. She has opened over 300 franchise stores and 300 shop-in-shops and introduced brands to new markets on three continents. In 2012/2013, the British trade magazine Drapers named her one of the 100 most influential people in the fashion retail industry. Today, she is self-employed, advises brands on international distribution, and serves on boards as a certified supervisory board member.
When she started at Bogner, she still wrote up orders by hand. Her handwriting wasn’t always easy to read, so in the evenings the team would go through the orders to find mistakes, such as incorrectly noted color codes. After the sales days, they would sit there for hours adjusting the collections. Today, you hold a scanner up to an item, and a photo appears on the screen—and with some ordering tools, even a video. The time that used to be spent on administrative tasks is now dedicated to serving customers.
Looking back, AI provides reliable analysis: What sold well, which dress didn’t sell well last year, and why. This helps prevent overproduction and brings purchasing closer to actual demand. But the machine doesn’t take the place of brands when it comes to looking ahead. Trend researchers might say that blue is the next big color. «But the question is: How can I convey that to my target audience?»
Shein and Temu operate differently. There, the process is «100 percent» AI-driven, says Fischer: testing trends on social media, producing small quantities, measuring how quickly they sell out, and automatically sending reorder requests to manufacturers.
In the high-end segment, that’s not enough. Fischer often doesn’t realize why a piece didn’t sell until she holds it in her hands again: «It was actually a good piece, but the sleeve was too short.’ That’s why she also advises top management to visit the stores regularly themselves. There, you can see who’s buying your products and what’s missing. Her favorite example is the sleeveless dress for a customer over 50 who would need short sleeves or a matching jacket.
Many brands don't even want the customers they have. Top management often dreams of a customer with model-like measurements, even if their actual customer base is 50+. It’s important to use fresh faces in external advertising to appeal to all age groups, but internally, you need to understand your actual customers and their needs and meet them. «The customers you already have are responsible for generating revenue; those you don’t yet have must be strategically cultivated.»
Fischer would ban this phrase from every store. In 99.9 percent of cases, it’s followed by a «no,» and that first “no” creates a barrier between the sales associate and the customer. A simple “It’s nice to have you here,” accompanied by eye contact and a smile, is better. She sees salespeople as hosts in the future. The more digital business becomes, the more important personal contact will be.
She sees the difference when comparing the two countries. She notes that Swiss stores have a higher staff-to-customer ratio than those in Germany, provide more personalized service, and that stores with skilled sales staff generate significantly higher sales per square meter. She regrets, however, that Jelmoli has nevertheless disappeared from Zurich. Foot traffic has declined everywhere, «we can’t sugarcoat that.».
If a customer tries on an item in the store and then says she plans to order it online, Fischer responds with a question: «How much is advice worth to you?»
Fischer sees a lot of value in apps and social media. A major Swiss retailer suggested items that matched her last purchase in its new app. «That was really helpful.» It becomes uncomfortable, however, when customers feel like they’re being watched: an item you looked at in the store pops up on your phone afterward, or after searching for information about illnesses, you see related offers. «It’s a balancing act.»
She considers chatbots that lead customers into endless loops when handling complaints and returns to be a customer service problem. When customers can no longer reach a human representative, they eventually give up because their time is worth more than the 300 euros they want back—which results in losing good customers forever.
Fischer is currently helping the founder of a sports fashion brand set up a social selling strategy. The brand is sold at select retailers and is also recommended by people who have their own communities. They’re looking for people who believe in the product and would recommend it to their best friends—ideally with a personal story to share. At a retreat focused on health and fitness, the brand was able to win over customers who then recommended it to others. AI helps with newsletters and social media. Fischer rejects standardized, AI-generated responses to the community.
Her leadership concept is called Mindstep and is rooted in Argentine tango. When she was learning tango, she realized that the dance involves communication on multiple levels: physical, emotional, and mental. Anyone who thinks one thing but leads another won’t get very far. After just a few steps, the leader can sense whether his partner has understood him. If not, he must give clearer cues or choose simpler steps. Fischer compares the music to the market: Anyone who ignores the beat won’t succeed.
In her booklet *Why Executives Should Dance the Tango*, she argues that every executive should take at least one tango class in order to gain a holistic understanding of communication.
She has experienced many different leadership cultures. In Germany, where she lived for nearly 30 years, instructions were given clearly and directly. At a French corporation, decisions were made before and after meetings, not during the meetings themselves. In Japan, where she frequently presented collections between 2004 and 2013, she once saw a high-ranking manager sleeping in his office. She was told to be quiet—he was thinking for the company.
Fischer uses AI every day as an assistant: for workshop summaries, cover letters, and analyses that used to take hours. She invests the time she saves into her concepts. She advises a company planning to invest 100,000 francs in AI not to develop anything in-house. Instead, she says, the money should go toward systems that track inventory and sales, a robust CRM, and consistent brand communication.
And what’s the fastest way to ruin a fashion company with AI? «Let AI handle 100 percent of your buying or design, and fire all your buyers and designers immediately.» Most companies that fail, however, fail for several reasons: collections that miss the mark with their own customers, poor leadership that drives away good people, and positions that are given to cronies instead of the right people.
She advises young people who want to enter the fashion industry to start by learning the basics of AI tools. After that, other things matter: networking, attending events, being reliable, and not promising anything you can’t deliver. «At the end of the day, this industry is all about people.»
About the person
Monique Fischer is Swiss and has served as international sales director at companies including Willy Bogner, Strenesse, Gerry Weber, the Vivarte Group, Luisa Cerano, and Zimmerli of Switzerland. Through Monique Fischer Consulting, she advises companies in the textile, fashion, and luxury goods industries on sales, brand positioning, and interim management. She is a DVCT-certified business coach as well as a certified supervisory board member and offers training for executives and sales professionals under the name Mindstep. moniquefischer-consulting.ch
Those who manufacture pharmaceuticals operate in one of the most strictly regulated industries in the world. GMP—Good Manufacturing Practice—refers to the aspect of quality assurance that guarantees consistent standards in the production and testing of pharmaceuticals. In this environment, Sergej Ruppel is driving the digital transformation forward: Together with his team at QPS Engineering AG, he supports companies in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and food technology sectors—from robot-assisted visual inspection to AI-based solutions. «We came up with the idea of combining various components to create something of our own, in order to optimize processes and make them safer,» he explains.
Simply integrating AI into a validated production process—that doesn’t work in the life sciences industry. No one here can afford the «hallucinations» associated with generative models. That’s why Ruppel relies on local, closed systems. «Patient safety is the top priority,» he says. Ruppel explains the advantage over human workers in a matter-of-fact way: In cleanroom areas, humans themselves are the most common source of particles and contamination. “That’s exactly where robotics and camera systems make much more sense and are much more efficient.”
In Europe, Ruppel feels things are moving too slowly: We need to generate more data instead of just calling for AI. His trip to China reinforced this view. «I experienced culture shock,» he says. Robotics and AI are socially integrated there, and the fear that Europe knows has disappeared. The government and society are pulling in the same direction. In Europe, on the other hand, the debate revolves primarily around regulations. Both are important—but the balance is off: «We mustn’t limit ourselves to the point where we can no longer develop.»
Are robotics and AI bad news for the workforce? Ruppel disagrees. Certainly, humans will be replaced in some areas—«but they can be deployed elsewhere.» He advises younger people to understand the technology rather than fear it; learning a trade isn’t a bad idea anyway, because it’s harder to replace than a purely computer-based job.
Despite all the enthusiasm, Ruppel draws a clear line. When safety is at stake, he says, someone needs to be the one who ultimately makes the decision. «That’s exactly where people need to take the lead.» Liability remains unchanged: the manufacturer is always responsible, and every system must be validated before it goes live. In his private capacity, Ruppel runs Agentic Engineering and places a high value on digital sovereignty—sensitive data is processed locally. In the coming weeks, QPS will release two systems: AI-based visual inspection and «Dr. Project AI,» a project management tool.
«AI and Society – Pathways to a New World» is a video podcast produced by the Swiss Text Academy Foundation and the Swiss Prompt Engineering Academy in collaboration with Science City Davos and Lab42 Davos. Hosted by Christoph Soltmannowski. Available on YouTube, Spotify, and all other major podcast platforms: tinyurl.com/5t4fyfex
]]>Alain Graf has 25 years of experience in sales, business development and entrepreneurship in the construction, real estate and SaaS sectors. In the video podcast «AI and society - paths into the new world» from the Text Academy Foundation, the founder and CEO of EncoSphera talks to presenter Christoph Soltmannowski about the issue of justice in the AI transformation.
What drives Alain Graf is an uncomfortable calculation: 83 percent of companies are currently unable to quantify their AI profits - and practically zero percent of employees receive a share of this. «Pure shareholder capitalism is reaching its limits - we need an expanded capitalism that also includes the people who create value. Otherwise, AI will win in the end - and AI will win over people.» With the «Human Dividend Model», Graf has developed a framework that makes efficiency gains visible and can be shared fairly - between companies, employees and society. He sees the fact that OpenAI itself spoke of an «efficiency dividend» in April as retrospective confirmation.
The model is based on three building blocks. A quick scan shows the efficiency potential in francs or euros. The EncoSphera Amplification Score measures the degree of maturity along the dimensions of efficiency, value creation and employees on a scale from 0 to 100. From a score of 50, the Human Dividend becomes payable. 32 transparent and comprehensible parameters record where the profits are actually generated - in terms of people, materials and energy. Only this transparency makes fair distribution possible. As long as no one knows how big the cake is, it can be made as small as you like.
For Graf, fair distribution does not automatically mean higher wages. It can mean a four-day week with full pay compensation, a training budget, more time for creativity and social contacts. «Efficiency doesn't mean that we have to be worse off.» Instead of replacing people with AI, they should share in its profits. For Graf, the fact that around 49% of employees are afraid of AI is the biggest obstacle to innovation: «Any project that doesn't involve people will fail.» A transparently distributed dividend defuses this fear - and thus turns a supposed cost factor into a transformation accelerator.
Graf is deliberately not advocating a state-imposed basic income. Anyone replacing people with AI should not pass on the consequential costs to the state: «The economy has initiated the transformation - it must also shape it.» Nevertheless, he believes politicians have a role to play. His picture is clear: «Politicians see a tsunami approaching - but instead of setting up a warning system and protective structures, they are still discussing whether life jackets are enough.»
His vision is that in five years« time, job interviews will ask about a company's distribution model as naturally as they ask about its environmental footprint today. Those who share efficiency gains win threefold: with talent, with customers and on the capital market. Those who withhold them first lose the motivation of their workforce - and then the legitimacy of their business model. For Graf, it is clear that the real question of AI transformation is not a technical one, but a question of distribution. »People are the compass, AI is the engine. We set the course - not the other way around."
The video podcast format «AI and Society - Paths into the New World», hosted by Christoph Soltmannowski, is produced by the Swiss Text Academy Foundation. Two episodes are published monthly on Spotify, YouTube and the major other podcast platforms.
]]>