Thank you, CzechTrade: a recap of our talk at Future of Export Summit 2026

Thank you, CzechTrade. It was an honour and a pleasure to speak at Future of Export Summit 2026 at Cubex Centrum Praha – about how to prepare a company for export before it makes decisions based on a beach holiday.

A superbly organised conference, plenty of inspiring people and conversations that carried on long after the talks. Special thanks go to Hana Toclová for the excellent organisation – you could see how much work and care went into the whole event. And thank you to everyone who came, listened and asked questions.

Start by looking inside the company

Pavel Ohnoutka’s talk, subtitled Process, data and realistic numbers – before you spend the first dollar, started where most export plans end: inside the company.

The owner says “We’re going global!” because he enjoyed his holiday there. Sales reply “We’ll sell it, as long as there’s a margin”, production “We can do it, the deadline is TBC”, finance “And who exactly is paying for this?”, data and IT “Which number do you want? We have three.” and HR “Who’s going out there? Not me.” Every department has a different goal, different data and a different plan – and export only magnifies those differences.

An export-ready company in one month

Five steps to a management decision in four weeks, followed by regular steering:

1. Company diagnostics. People, processes, technology, data and reporting. It used to take three months; today it takes two to three weeks. AI collects data, reads documents, reconciles numbers and benchmarks against the market – people draw the conclusions and make the decisions. The output is a “Where we are today” report: where the company loses performance, what risks it faces and what to tackle first.
2. Market review with AI. Data instead of holiday impressions. Before you send your first salesperson, you need to know six things: the size and growth of the market, the competition, the customer and who decides, the route to market, the rules of the game (duties, origin of goods, certification, taxes) and the cost of entry. AI agents pull this together from public sources in days; people then verify it. In the real-life example from the talk, the market wasn’t the problem – competitors won with a team on the ground, not with their product.
3. Strategy. Written down, a few pages long and approved by management: goal, markets and their order, customers, offer and price, business model, people and responsibilities, finance, and KPIs with milestones. Three scenarios based on the company’s track record – growth of ×1.4 a year, not ×2 just because we’d like it to be.
4. Risks. Almost nobody has a risk register, yet it is the first thing a bank or an investor asks for. Every risk needs a probability, an impact in money, an owner, a mitigation with a deadline and an early-warning signal. The most common export risks: key people leaving with the clients, every system showing different numbers, dependence on a single contract, unpaid invoices and currency, and duties, origin of goods and certification. According to a 2023 AMSP ČR / Ipsos survey, 40% of small and medium-sized exporters practically do not address the risk of non-payment.
5. Roadmap and milestones. Not the whole market at once. Foundations and a pilot region first, further money only once a milestone is met – in the example 15-month expansion, after months 4, 9 and 15.

Then comes steering: one report every week – plan versus actuals in three scenarios.

“Fortune favours the prepared. Your competitors benefit from the unprepared.” – Pavel Ohnoutka

Key takeaways

1. Validate the market with data, not holiday impressions.
2. Find out who and what the company really stands on.
3. Write a strategy with three scenarios.
4. List your risks – each with an owner.
5. Release money by milestones, not all at once.

Follow-up webinars

• 10 Nov 2026 – How to export without unnecessary mistakes and costs, online with CzechTrade, 10:00–11:30
• 11 Nov 2026 – Finance transformation and AI, Strategix online webinar, 10:00–11:30
• 24 Nov 2026 – Managing transformation with AI tools, Strategix online webinar, 10:00–11:30

If there is anything – you would like the presentation, have a question about the talk or are interested in a consultation on export or company transformation – email us at eno.xigetarts@ofni. We will be glad to get back to you.

Pavel Ohnoutka’s original post (in Czech): LinkedIn. Before the conference we published a preview of the talk.