AI tools support the development of Polish business

The debate leading in Katowice, prof. Marcin Lis, Vice -Rector of the WSB Academy in Dąbrowa Górnicza, pointed out at the beginning that artificial intelligence changes not only the social life of each of us, but also the Polish economy.

– Digital transformation will become one of the biggest challenges for business in 2025. – emphasized the discussion moderator.

At the same time, it is also an opportunity. So how do you approach her to maximize the benefits? Piotr Krupa, president of the debt collection company Kruk SA, told about it. He noted that innovation in enterprises must be looked primarily from a pragmatic angle, and assess their effectiveness by increasing the efficiency to which they contribute.

– I am a very pragmatic entrepreneur. Thinking about the potential implementation of technology, I immediately ask the question: “Why do we do this?” Because I think that every new technology must be for something. It is to help, facilitate, improve – defined Piotr Krupa.

The debt collection company, which has been managing for over 26 years, is one of the largest entities on the Polish financial services market and one of the world’s largest companies in this industry. The crow is guided by a pro -adventure strategy, enabling debt people paying off debts in installments, thanks to which over 3 million Poles have repaid their overdue liabilities. The company presents customers with available solutions, tailored to their financial situation, and debt repayment possibilities. In the first phase of debt enforcement – which the company buys from the original creditor – the company informs the person indebted about all stages of the arbitration road. If the customer does not decide to cooperate with the debt collection company, the case goes to court.

As the company’s representatives indicate, in the debt repayment process a lot depends on the client himself – he must make the right decision and be willing to cooperate and regulate his debt. The support of people indebted to a large extent depends on the quality of information exchange and contact between company employees and indebted clients. And in this way we come to the issue of technology.

The application facilitates the repayment of debts

Piotr Krupa pointed out during the debate that the latest technological achievements are used at Kruk SA just for contact on the company -client line.

-We create tools thanks to which our client (indebted person) can enter the e-kruk.pl platform and adjust the debt repayment subscription to individual possibilities. Can’t you pay back PLN 500 per month? Then use the self -service tool, set the repayment subscription to PLN 200 and forget about the topic. The young generation understands this – said the president of Kruk.

Hundreds of thousands of indebted people served by Kruk are already paying out through the e-kruk.pl platform.

Lack of need for direct contact with service or creditor may increase the desire to settle the debt. Especially in young people who are more likely to use modern technologies.

– When we get into financial problems, it is natural that we want to try to solve the situation. You can see that we are already going in the direction of contact with a person to contact the company through technology. Just like in the case of loans or loans, which we are increasingly taking without contact with man – noted Piotr Krupa.

Technology support for the labor market

Participants of the discussion in Katowice pointed out that the need to implement technology results, among others from the specifics of the Polish labor market. They reminded that labor costs in Poland are rising, and at the same time the number of people ready to take up work is falling.

GUS data indicate that over the past 15 years the average salary in the enterprise sector has increased by 160 percent. In the years 2022–2024 the average growth – in March until March – exceeded 10 percent. annually. Over the past 12 months, dynamics have slowed down slightly, to 7.7 percent. Such a clear increase in labor costs is the result of, among others increase in the minimum wage, the influx of direct foreign investment, the increase in added value generated in Polish companies and high inflation.

The rate of labor costs is well illustrated by nominal values. In March 2010, the average salary was below 4,000. PLN gross, while in March 2024 it already exceeded 8.4 thousand. zloty. The latest GUS data, for March 2025, showed that for the first time in history, the average salary in enterprises was broken by 9,000. PLN – last month it was exactly PLN 9056.

At the same time, at the same time, i.e. from March 2015 to March 2025, the unemployment rate fell in Poland from 11.4 percent. up to 5.3 percent

In order for the competitiveness of Polish production and service companies not buried by high labor costs, it is necessary to fully open enterprises for robotization and automation.

– Even 20 years ago, work in Poland was relatively cheap and available. People freshly sought any employment after graduation. The years have passed and the situation has changed completely; Today, work in Poland is expensive – said Piotr Krupa. – Training and finding good employees is expensive. So you need to simplify the processes. How? Thanks to the use of technology – he said.

Professor Marcin Lis reminded that, according to experts of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development in 2020-2025, the Polish economy reported a demand for 200,000. Big Data specialists and artificial intelligence.

– You have to talk loudly about preparing for the challenge how to build these competences of the future with employees – emphasized Marcin Lis.

AI will serve millions of customers

Piotr Krupa announced that the development of processes supported by AI technology will allow Kruk SA to maintain high profitability in the future by increasing the customer base without the need for excessive employment and employee costs.

– Today we serve about 12 million matters regarding debt, soon this number will increase to 20 million. An additional 8 million served customers will require new technological solutions on our side – he explained. – We must be able to better manage such a huge customer base. Technology is a basis that will thanks to which we will be able to support more processes and be a more effective organization, without a significant increase in the number of employees – he described.

AI technology can significantly improve the activities of debt collection companies by automating processes and analysis of large data sets. Artificial intelligence allows you to create advanced scoring models, which, based on the history of payment, financial and behavioral data, can predict which matters have the greatest chances for effective debt collection. Thanks to this, companies can prioritize activities, optimize resources and make more accurate decisions on how to negotiate with clients.

AI also supports personalization of contact with the client, automating the shipping of reminders, calls for payment or settlement proposals adapted to the individual preferences and financial situation of the indebted person. Chatbots and Voicebots based on artificial intelligence can conduct talks, collect information and answer the most frequently asked questions, relieving employees. Advanced algorithms also analyze legal risk and recommend the best paths of further proceedings, minimizing the costs and recovery time.

Personalized communication in the case of debt collection or more broadly – services from the financial sector for individual clients – is of great importance.

– The message that the client receives from the company must be personalized to convince him of specific behavior. Thanks to the use of technology, we can even talk about hyperspersonalization – he emphasized.

Man, however, a mountain

At the end of the discussion, the president of Kruk SA expressed the hope that artificial intelligence – although crucial in the context of company management – will still remain only an addition to emotions and mental processes occurring in man’s head.

– OhThe hard mind and organizational culture understood as continuous improvement are tools that remain the basis of management. Man and his emotions prevail over artificial intelligence – pointed out the president of Kruk SA.

– I will emphasize again: I am a pragmatic entrepreneur. I am not ashamed to say that I have no idea about artificial intelligence, algorithms … and I think that many colleagues managing companies are also not experts in this field. But we have an instinct that tells us that the technological revolution is a train that you have to get into. There is no retreat from this – summed up Piotr Krupa.