Engagement Configuration Draft — Dr. Max — Engaged Target (M6)
For internal VV use, then negotiation with client. Working draft generated 2026-09-02 from current platform state. Edit freely; re-generate after major edits to platform state to refresh derived sections.
1. Executive summary
Client: Dr. Max — Engaged Target (M6)
Archetype: Elevation — Amplify an existing internal AI lead — capability exists but lacks authority, scope, or executional discipline. Partner extends, never replaces.
Duration: 6 months core engagement + 12 months long-tail compensation tail
Primary VV win: _[Anton to fill — reference engagement / methodology validation / pharma vertical entry / Penta relationship]_
Primary client win: _[Anton/Michal to fill — likely AI Act compliance + AI capability foundations + measurable operational benefits in 12 months]_
Indicative engagement value: €240K – €375K across 18 months (T1+T2+T3+T4 combined).
Today's diagnostic shape: 1 active obstacles, 1 carrying critical/large engagement-value-at-risk. Cumulative delay if unresolved: 8–16 weeks. Illustrative € exposure: €250K–€750K across 1 measured obstacles.
2. Engagement structure
This is not a typical outside-in consulting engagement. It is a co-leadership pattern for 6 months:
VV roles
- Michal Lickó — Interim CAIO / AI Transformation Partner. Titled role, 1/4 FTE, ~5 days/month. Board-facing. Sits inside Dr Max leadership topology, not externally. Owns: strategic AI portfolio, board reporting, exec sponsor relationship, methodology installation.
- Anton Rakhmanov + 1–2 VV consultants — Delivery rota. Hourly billing within agreed advisory cap. Owns: workshops, analysis, mentorship of Kateřina + her team, methodology IP transfer, document/report drafting.
- VV (entity) — Delivery arm Michal recruits as needed for workshops, PoCs, analyses, reports. Commercially separate from Michal's CAIO retainer. Engaged through Michal but invoiced independently.
Client-side counterparts
- Penta Operating Partner (PEOperatingPartner) — UNKNOWN — Penta operating partner not identified; open question for validation.
- Leonardo Ferrandino (CEO) — CEO since 2016, target sponsor.
- Thomas Bornemann (CFO) — Capex sign-off, Heavy Gate 2 counterparty.
- Luca Demarchi (CIO) — Per 2024 sustainability report; tenure UNCERTAIN — possible move to Bata Group.
- Dimitrios Tritaris (CMCO) — Owns 12.5M Benefit Card members, e-shop, marketplace, retail media.
- Miguel Martins da Silva (CSCO) — Already AI-active (VusionGroup, Geek+, Rinkai, dark warehouse).
- Kateřina Lesch (HeadOfAI) — Newly appointed Head of AI at Dr. Max (internal). Was the engagement introducer in her former Deloitte / EmbedIT role; now holds the seat we needed her to influence. Reports to CIO (likely; verify with Kateřina). Methodology implication: O-031 External Champion Conflict no longer applies.
Unknown / open questions on counterparts:
- PEOperatingPartner — UNKNOWN — Penta operating partner not identified; open question for validation.
Commercial responsibility split
- Michal owns the CAIO engagement contract (T1 retainer) and the commercial framing of VV delivery scope (T2). Recuses on technical decisions of which VV consultant does what.
- VV owns delivery quality and consultant assignment. Michal does not invoice for delivery work; Anton et al. do not invoice for CAIO advisory work. Independent invoice trails.
- Recusal protocol declaration signed at M0 acknowledging the structure. This is the methodology's response to obstacle O-008 (VV Commercial Capture) — by declaring the structure, the obstacle does not fire.
3. Commercial structure
Four-tier compensation. Tiers are independent — each negotiated and invoiced separately to keep the structure clean.
T1 — Advisory time (CAIO + delivery rota)
Michal as Interim CAIO (1/4 FTE @ €2,000/day × 5 days/month = €10K/month) + Anton + 1–2 VV consultants on advisory rota (~20h/month @ €250/h = €5K/month). Capped monthly. Invoiced monthly against logged time.
- Monthly cap: 60 hours (capped, not minimum)
- Monthly cost: ~€15,000
- 6-month total: ~€90,000
T2 — Delivery scope (workshops + PoCs + analysis)
Workshops at €2,400/day (60K CZK/day) for facilitation + delivery; analysis, PoCs, reports invoiced separately at agreed rates. Indicative envelope of 6 workshops + 4–8 analysis pieces over 6 months. Budget capped at €120K with explicit scope ladder (must-have / should-have / nice-to-have).
- Workshop rate: €2,400/day (≈ 60,000 CZK/day)
- Indicative budget envelope: €60K – €120K
- Scope ladder: must-have (workshops with Kateřina + C-suite, AI Act conformity scoping, BDN sessions per market) → should-have (PoC support, decision register stand-up, training) → nice-to-have (advanced analytics, vendor evaluation, deeper coaching)
T3 — Exit-criteria bonus (paid at M6)
€40K bonus paid at M6 if methodology-defined exit criteria satisfied. Each criterion independently observable. Weighted partial payout if subset achieved (e.g., 65% criteria met → €26K paid). Independently verifiable from platform state — no measurement debate.
Target: €40,000
Weighted criteria (sum = 100%):
| Weight | Criterion |
|---|
| 20% | Heavy Gate 2 fired ≥ once |
| 15% | AI Council met monthly for ≥ 4 consecutive months |
| 20% | Track 3 (AI OS) at L4 maturity |
| 20% | Track 5 (Risk & Compliance) at L4 maturity |
| 15% | AI conformity assessment (L3-329) operational |
| 10% | ≥ 2 of 6 markets running cross-market sync forum |
T4 — Benefits-realization tail (paid at M+6 and M+12 post-engagement)
Two long-tail compensation packages tied to measurable Dr-Max-side business benefits, paid 6 and 12 months after engagement closes. Designed jointly during M0–M2 with Kateřina + CFO Bornemann; specific metrics, baselines, targets, and bonus sizes locked at M2. Pre-condition: measurement plumbing for the chosen benefits must be operational by M3.
M6+6 months (≈ post-engagement Q2)
- Indicative size: €25K – €50K
- Tied to: Tied to a single high-confidence operational benefit measurable within 6 months of engagement close (e.g., stockout reduction in CZ retail, forecasting accuracy improvement, decision cycle time on first-wave initiatives).
- Pre-condition: measurement plumbing operational by M3 of engagement.
M6+12 months (≈ post-engagement Q4)
- Indicative size: €25K – €75K
- Tied to: Tied to a slower-cycle compounding benefit (e.g., portfolio-level AI initiative ROI, % of revenue running through AI-supported decisions, AI Act compliance audit pass).
- Pre-condition: measurement plumbing operational by M3 of engagement.
Total indicative engagement value (18-month horizon)
€240K – €375K
Note: the actual T2 and T4 sizes are negotiated. T1 is fixed-rate. T3 is fixed-target with weighted partial payout.
4. Authority asks for the Interim CAIO seat
These are the L1 partner authorities Michal needs to function as Interim CAIO. Methodology defaults for Elevation engagements are filtered below; current state has all 32 set to Out (Day-0 baseline).
Must-have (engagement cannot deliver without)
Information:
L1-113 — Right to interview anyone (incl. cross-market)
Hiring:
L1-116 — Co-design Internal AI Lead roleL1-117 — Veto on succession candidate
Communication:
L1-129 — Direct board access on AIL1-130 — Speak to regulators on AI
5. Mechanisms to install
L3 mechanisms (forums, gates, escalation paths, protocols, cadences, artifacts) the engagement stands up over 6 months. Currently none stood up at Dr Max for AI specifically.
Forum (11)
L3-301 — AI Council ✓ already stood upL3-302 — Portfolio Council ✓ already stood upL3-303 — Scale Decision Forum ✓ already stood upL3-304 — Exec Sponsor 1:1 ✓ already stood upL3-305 — Internal AI Lead 1:1 ✓ already stood upL3-306 — Board AI committee / chair 1:1 ✓ already stood upL3-314 — Portfolio-BDN review ✓ already stood upL3-315 — Strategy-BDN review ✓ already stood upL3-324 — Exit Review ✓ already stood upL3-326 — Cross-market sync forum ✓ already stood upL3-327 — Vendor portfolio governance ✓ already stood up
Gate (4)
L3-307 — Heavy Gate 1 (Validated → Pilot) ✓ already stood upL3-308 — Heavy Gate 2 (Pilot-Validated → Scaling) ✓ already stood upL3-309 — Risk gate at Scoped ✓ already stood upL3-310 — Risk gate at Pilot-Validated ✓ already stood up
ArtifactEvent (3)
L3-311 — Initiative-BDN snapshot v0 (at Scoped) ✓ already stood upL3-312 — Initiative-BDN snapshot v1 (at Pilot-Validated) ✓ already stood upL3-313 — Initiative-BDN snapshots v2/v3 (Realizing) ✓ already stood up
Path (4)
L3-316 — Escalation L0 (Initiative team) ✓ already stood upL3-317 — Escalation L1 (AI Council) ✓ already stood upL3-318 — Escalation L2 (Exec sponsor + CEO) ✓ already stood upL3-319 — Escalation L3 (Board chair) ✓ already stood up
Protocol (6)
L3-320 — Stop-the-line right ✓ already stood upL3-321 — Recusal protocol (commercial) ✓ already stood upL3-322 — Conflict-of-interest disclosure (5d SLA) ✓ already stood upL3-328 — External Champion handover protocol ✓ already stood upL3-329 — AI conformity assessment process ✓ already stood upL3-330 — Post-acquisition AI integration template ✓ already stood up
Cadence (1)
L3-323 — Velocity checkpoint ✓ already stood up
Artifact (1)
L3-325 — Decision register ✓ already stood up
6. Exit criteria — what "engagement complete" means
Tied to T3 bonus (Section 3). Independently observable from platform state at M6.
- ○ Heavy Gate 2 fired ≥ once (weight: 20% of T3 bonus)
- ○ AI Council met monthly for ≥ 4 consecutive months (weight: 15% of T3 bonus)
- ○ Track 3 (AI OS) at L4 maturity (weight: 20% of T3 bonus)
- ○ Track 5 (Risk & Compliance) at L4 maturity (weight: 20% of T3 bonus)
- ○ AI conformity assessment (L3-329) operational (weight: 15% of T3 bonus)
- ○ ≥ 2 of 6 markets running cross-market sync forum (weight: 10% of T3 bonus)
Methodology exit criteria reference: methodology/exit-criteria.json defines 8 hard criteria + 5 soft; the ones above are a curated subset weighted for this archetype + scope.
7. Long-term benefits to design with Kateřina + CFO
These are placeholders. Specific benefit pairing, baselines, targets, and bonus sizes are co-designed with Kateřina + Thomas Bornemann (CFO) during M0–M2 and locked at M2.
Candidate operational benefits for Dr Max (to validate)
- Stockout reduction (CZ retail or group-wide): baseline TBD, target -X% over 6–12 months. Tied to forecasting + replenishment AI capability.
- Decision cycle time for first-wave AI initiatives: baseline TBD (likely 8–16 weeks for Heavy Gate decisions today), target ≤ 4 weeks. Tied to Heavy Gate + AI Council operational rhythm.
- AI Act compliance audit pass at first formal review: pass/fail. Tied to L3-329 operational + risk classifications fired on every initiative.
- % of customer-facing decisions touched by AI (Benefit Card audience targeting, marketplace ranking, pharmacy operations): baseline TBD, target X% by M+12. Tied to Track 4 (Value Chain Coverage).
- Cross-market parity on AI initiative roadmap: degree of alignment, measurable via initiative pipeline + cross-market sync forum cadence.
Pre-condition before commercial commitment to T4 packages
Measurement plumbing (data pipelines, baselines, monthly reporting cadence) must be operational by M3 for any benefit selected for T4 compensation. If plumbing isn't ready by M3 for a candidate benefit, it cannot anchor a T4 package — drop it and pick another.
8. Known risks (active obstacles + recovery)
Top 1 active obstacles in current diagnostic. Each has methodology-defined recovery actions.
O-003 — Risk Function Disengaged [severity: high]
Regulated profile but CRO/DPO not integrated; risk classification skipped
Impact: 8–16 weeks delay · LARGE VaR · compliance / relationship / schedule
Risk classifications skipped; one bad initiative kicks off and blows up audit/regulatory window. Pharma-high regulatory profile makes this catastrophic — potential SUKL / EMA exposure.
Recovery actions during engagement:
- Force trigger via L1-124 (veto) on next initiative requiring classification
- Surface to L1 escalation
- Direct to L3-319 for regulated industries
9. Open questions to validate with client
Items below need direct confirmation from Kateřina or Leo before final engagement commitment.
- PEOperatingPartner: UNKNOWN — Penta operating partner not identified; open question for validation.
- Ivo Šenkyřík (HeadMA) — currently named but not engaged on AI; confirm (Continuous M&A pipeline (Žalfija Q3 2025 + ongoing).)
- Engagement structure approval: confirm Dr Max is comfortable with interim-CAIO + VV-delivery commercial structure (recusal protocol declaration to sign at M0).
- T4 benefit selection: which 2 of the 5 candidate operational benefits in Section 7 are Dr Max's highest-priority + highest-confidence to anchor T4 packages.
- AI Act timeline confirmation: is "3–6 months pressure" still accurate? Has the deadline shifted?
- PE involvement at M0: should Penta operating partner be in the room for M0, or briefed afterwards?
10. Proposed sequencing (next 4–6 weeks)
1. Pre-stage 30-min CEO briefing before M0
- When: before-m0
- Who: AR — (in this engagement structure: Anton (delivery) → escalates to Michal (CAIO) for board-level moves)
- Why: Sponsor is not actively driving (Board state = Aware). M0 will not get the air cover it needs unless the CEO arrives pre-aligned on what is at stake.
2. Confirm Luca Demarchi still in seat (or identify successor)
- When: this-week
- Who: AR — (in this engagement structure: Anton (delivery) → escalates to Michal (CAIO) for board-level moves)
- Why: CIO is the structural reporting line for the Internal AI Lead and the convening counterparty for Track 3. If the seat changes during the engagement, the AI Council charter has to re-anchor.
Draft generated by VV Engage. Methodology v0.2.1 · Engine v0.2 · Recommendations v0.1 · Engagement structure: Interim Senior Role.
Edit freely. Re-generate after material edits to platform state to refresh derived sections (sections 1, 4, 5, 8, 10).