SteelProfil CEO Piotr Engelbrecht joins a Puls Biznesu debate

Piotr Engelbrecht, President of the Management Board of SteelProfil sp. z o.o., took part in the Gazele Biznesu debate organised by Puls Biznesu. The discussion asked: “Invest now — or wait? Polish entrepreneurs between an unprecedented opportunity for growth and geopolitical risk.”

The debate brought together representatives of companies and institutions from different parts of the Polish economy, including Alior Bank SA, MakoLab S.A., Wizjo and SteelProfil sp. z o.o. They discussed the challenges facing businesses: geopolitical uncertainty, operating costs, access to finance, regulatory stability and the role of new technologies in business development.

Caution, efficiency and investment

One of the main themes was the change in business attitudes following the pandemic-era boom. As Piotr Engelbrecht observed, many companies experienced strong sales and easier access to capital after the pandemic. More recent years, however, have required greater caution, tighter cost control and a stronger focus on efficiency.

“After the pandemic, entrepreneurs enjoyed a favourable period, with capital readily available and sales rising. Over the past two years, however, they have been paying the bill for those boom years, learning efficiency, economy and a more cautious approach to business,” said Piotr Engelbrecht, President of the Management Board of SteelProfil.

From SteelProfil’s perspective, the market situation shows that investment can no longer be treated solely as a way to expand rapidly. Increasingly, it is about building resilience, improving processes, reducing customer service times and making better use of resources.

Artificial intelligence as practical business support

Artificial intelligence was another important topic. Participants noted that AI is increasingly moving beyond testing and into practical use within businesses.

Piotr Engelbrecht explained that SteelProfil is developing its own text and voice AI agents to support everyday operations, including quotation preparation and customer service.

“In our company, we have built our own system of text and voice AI agents, which prepare 200 quotations a day. This enables us to reduce customer service costs while giving customers the benefit of an almost instant quotation,” said Piotr Engelbrecht.

For SteelProfil, automation means relieving the team of repetitive tasks rather than replacing people with technology. Employees can then focus on work that requires experience, customer relationships, technical knowledge and responsibility for decisions.

The internet as one large marketplace for AI assistants

Piotr Engelbrecht also pointed to a wider change that artificial intelligence could bring to online commerce:

“As artificial intelligence develops, major e-commerce platforms will begin to lose their position and become less necessary, because the whole internet will become one large marketplace for AI assistants that analyse the offer of every individual online shop,” argued Piotr Engelbrecht.

In practice, this could mean a significant change in the online sales model. Customers would no longer need to search multiple websites and compare offers themselves. AI tools could do this for them, examining price, availability, product specifications, seller reliability and delivery terms. For companies such as SteelProfil, this means organising product data more carefully, responding promptly to enquiries and building credibility in digital channels.

A predictable legal environment as a condition for growth

The debate also addressed regulatory stability. Businesses can adapt to changing market conditions, but they need predictable rules. Frequent changes to regulations, particularly in taxation, business succession and administrative obligations, reduce companies’ willingness to make long-term investment decisions.

Piotr Engelbrecht referred, among other things, to family foundations and changes to lump-sum taxation, arguing that the state should both encourage entrepreneurship and provide stability.

Entrepreneurship in uncertain times

The Gazele Biznesu debate showed that Polish companies operate in circumstances where investment decisions require more careful consideration than a few years ago. At the same time, these conditions make consistency, process optimisation, technology and the ability to react quickly all the more important.

We thank Puls Biznesu for the invitation and the opportunity to exchange experiences with representatives of Polish business.

A full report of the debate was published in Puls Biznesu: read the report.