01
Potential Check
Where are we losing our time?
A compact starting point for executives and leadership teams. Analysis of selected core processes and first concrete measures.
from approx. €3,500
Arrange an initial conversation →Herbert Vitzthum · Rethinking work
RETHINK
WORK.
For associations, chambers, representative bodies, and other organisations with complex administration.
How much of today’s work should not have to be done at all?
Many organisations have been digitalising for years. They introduce software, connect systems, and start using artificial intelligence. Yet employees do not have less work. Often, they have more.
Digitalising an unnecessary process does not make it useful. It only makes it digitally unnecessary.
The problem
Digitalisation alone does not reduce work.
A new process often does not replace the old one. It is added to it. Over the years, this creates more systems, more controls, and more handovers.
The crucial question is not: What can we digitalise?
It is: What do we still need at all?
- Duplicate data entry
- Broken digital workflows
- Shadow spreadsheets
- Manual checks
- Unnecessary approvals
- Recurring enquiries
- Knowledge held by individuals
- Growing complexity
The method
The right sequence changes everything.
Technology enters the picture only after it is clear which work should remain.
- 01
Eliminate
Does this work need to be done at all?
- 02
Simplify
Can the same value be achieved with substantially less work?
- 03
Automate
Which recurring rules can systems handle reliably?
- 04
Apply AI
Where must information be understood, assessed, or connected?
- 05
Empower people
Where do advice, responsibility, and relationships create the real value?
Free people from work that does not really require people.
The core service
HALF
THE WORK
The transformation audit for less administration and greater impact.
Explore the transformation auditWe systematically identify which administrative activities can be eliminated, radically simplified, automated, or meaningfully supported by AI—and which should deliberately remain human.
After the audit, you will know:
- where avoidable work is created today
- which processes should change first
- where automation and AI make economic sense
- what your concrete 90-day plan looks like
“Half the Work” describes an ambition and a way of thinking. Actual savings depend on the organisation, its processes, and its starting point.
Three ways to begin
From first insight to implementation.
02
Half the Work
The complete transformation audit.
Activity and process analysis, economic assessment, prioritisation, a 90-day plan, and a 12-month roadmap.
typically approx. €15,000–25,000
Explore the audit →03
Transformation
Turn insights into results.
Redesign processes, connect systems, automate data flows, and implement useful AI solutions.
based on scope
Discuss implementation →Case study · Honours process
Do not process faster. Need fewer steps.
Before
- around 60 internal steps
- several IT systems and data transfers
- manual eligibility checks
- Word templates, printing, and dispatch preparation
After
- reuse existing data automatically
- check eligibility through rules
- generate documents and labels automatically
- limit manual work to physically necessary tasks
Progress did not come from making an existing 60-step process faster. It came from no longer needing most of those steps.
About me
I understand technology. And organisations.
My career spans early internet infrastructure, telecommunications, international internet governance, digitalisation, Industry 4.0, software development, and artificial intelligence.
I know digitalisation not only from presentations, but from responsibility for organisations, employees, budgets, members, and measurable outcomes.
My goal is not more digitalisation. My goal is less unnecessary work.
Free diagnostic · about 5 minutes
WORK
RADAR
Where does your organisation create work that should not exist?
Start the Work RadarThe Work Radar reveals the largest potential: eliminate work, simplify processes, automate routines, use AI sensibly, and reclaim human working time.
It is not a blanket rating of your organisation, but an individual potential profile based on your assessment.
Books & ideas
Technology changes more than technology.
New · Management book · German
Das unsichtbare Betriebssystem
How large associations rebuild their organisation for the age of AI.
The book provides the conceptual foundation for my services for presidents, boards, executives, and divisional leaders.
Now available on Amazon in German as a Kindle edition and paperback.
Audio summary in German · 1:59
Download audio ↓Source discussion in German · 26:03
AI exposes the invisible operating system—a discussion based on all sources used in the book.
Download audio ↓
Novella · German & English
NXDOMAIN
A thought experiment about internet infrastructure, dependency, and the day Austria disappeared from the internet.
Background discussion in German · 25:51
Eight lines of code erase a country—background to NXDOMAIN.
Download audio ↓30-minute potential conversation
Where does your working time disappear?
We do not start with new software. We start with three questions: What work is created today? Why is it created? And which of it should no longer have to be done?
Prepare an initial conversation →