Andreas Schwarzkopf

Data Engineering Consultant (Retail AI Division)

AI Expert - The AI Navigator 🧭 Top AI Voice | Mercedes-Benz Alum | Sharing AI Insights for Leaders

With over 12 years of hands-on AI integration experience across various industries, I guide companies through AI-native transformations.

My background:

- LinkedIn Top Voice, recognized for practical AI insights
- Consulted for Mercedes-Benz to enhance manufacturing quality using AI
- Advised on AI across various industries, including retail, telecom, education, and more
- Founded a data and AI startup, leading it to a successful exit.

What you can expect from my AI-native newsletter:

- Insights on AI-native strategies for a competitive edge and sustainable growth
- Tactics for efficient and customer-focused AI-native operations
- Guidance on creating a data-driven, innovative, and responsible AI-native culture.

Follow me and subscribe to my newsletter for practical advice on building an AI-native business.

Looking forward to connecting!

CEO / Founder, AI Strategist

Helping businesses understand and harness the potential of AI.

Want to scale your Upwork account with high-quality leads—without wasting time on low-budget jobs?

Many believe Upwork is flooded with low-paying clients and endless competition. The truth?

If you position yourself correctly, optimise your profile, and follow Upwork’s success principles, you can land premium contracts—even from enterprise clients like Microsoft, Airbnb, and Unilever.

That’s exactly what we help you do.

👇 How We Get You to the Top 1% on Upwork 👇

We’ve built a proven system that helps you stand out, attract the right clients, and bring in high-quality leads—the kind you actually want to work with.

✅ Step 1: We define exactly what a high-quality lead looks like for you. You set the criteria, and we ensure every lead meets it.
✅ Step 2: We optimise your Upwork profile so you start getting more inbound leads.
✅ Step 3: We craft highly targeted, personalised proposals that get noticed (and get responses).
✅ Step 4: We implement a lead generation system that brings in consistent, high-value leads—so you can focus on closing deals.

The Results Speak for Themselves:
✔ 200+ Upwork profiles boosted to Top Rated & Top Rated+
✔ 3,000+ deals closed, generating over $25M in sales
✔ Clients scaling from $0 to $120K+ in contracts within a year

📌 No more wasting hours on proposals that go nowhere.
We handle the heavy lifting so you can focus on the right leads and the right deals.

Want to see how this could work for you?

👉 Book a free strategy call with me. Even if we don’t end up working together, you’ll walk away with actionable insights to improve your Upwork performance.

From 🇱🇻 with ❤️
Imran

Imran A.

🚨 Attention. New update from Upwork 2026

This small change can cost you your profile if you ignore it.

Most freelancers won’t notice it.
Some will feel the impact later.
❌ It’s not about your skills.
❌ Not about reviews.
❌ Not about connects.

It’s about how your headline is written.

If your headline looks like a website, not a role,
that’s a risk.

Upwork treats headlines as positioning, not advertising.
Anything that resembles a domain can trigger extra checks.

What to do right now.
✅ Open your profile.
✅ Look at the headline.
✅ Simplify it (delete www. or .com .io, etc.) 

Leave the tool or platform name.
Remove anything that looks like a domain extension.

This is a one-minute fix.
Ignoring it can create unnecessary problems. 

Drop FIX in the comments and I’ll send you a practical document with 20+ common mistakes that can cause problems with your Upwork profile

Helping #tech & #digital agencies win premium clients on Upwork 🚀 | $15M+ revenue | Co-Founder @ Upwhale

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How to cut your Connects spend by almost 90%
and stop paying Upwork?

A question that is long overdue.

And yes, time to share the secret 🤫 

Everyone is looking for:
Schemes
Life hacks
Grey tactics

The answer is very simple.

YOU CAN’T 🤣

Upwork will not make Connects cheaper.
And this is not a mistake.

This is
1 how the platform makes money
2 a filter against spam and copy-paste proposals

Connects hurt only while you have
💔 a weak profile
💔 the same proposals as everyone else
💔 no clear position

Stop looking for shortcuts.
Start building a system that pays back every single Connect.

If you want
write FREE in the comments.
I will send you a guide
on how to set up your profile and grow naturally.

TOP reasons why Upwork will block accounts in 2026

Here’s what is genuinely risky in 2026:

1. Any off-platform contact before the first contract
Telegram, WhatsApp, email, Calendly - even a mention. Even “just for convenience”.

2. Mismatch between your profile and how you actually work
You claim senior experience, but ask basic questions.
You write as “yourself”, yet the tone and style change from project to project.

3. VPNs and unstable location signals
Ukraine today, Türkiye tomorrow, the US the day after.
That pattern is a clear red flag.

4. Portfolio items that aren’t truly yours
“I helped”, “I was part of the team”, “I contributed”.
If you can’t clearly prove your role, don’t list it.

5. Ignoring Trust & Safety emails
No reply within 48 hours?
From their perspective, that’s close to an admission of risk.

What to do instead

Don’t try to outsmart the system.
Work in a way that makes your account look boring and predictable from a risk perspective:

✅ Keep all communication on the platform until the contract is closed
✅ One person = one account (teams should use an Agency profile)
✅ Stable IP, location and device
✅ A portfolio you can confidently defend
✅ Fast, clear responses to support requests
✅ Consistent behaviour over time

Sounds basic?
That’s exactly why it works.

Comment Upwork and I’ll send you a step-by-step guide with the key questions Upwork asks when they start reviewing an account and invite you to a compliance call that decides whether the account stays active or gets blocked.

“I’m tired of simple advice.
Just tell us what really works”

I hear this all the time.

People are still looking for a magic button.
One trick.
One template.
One line that suddenly fixes everything.

The answer is very simple.
And you may not like it.

Put yourself in the client’s place.

They are ready to spend money.
And they don’t see only your proposal.
They see dozens of similar ones.

Everyone says the same things.
Years of experience.
Experts.
High quality.
Personal approach.

So here is the real question:

Why should they choose you,
if everything looks the same?

If you can’t answer this honestly,
you don’t have a position.
And without a position, you have no real chance.

You will disappear in the noise.
Not because you are bad.
But because you are not different.

There is no magic here.
Just one simple filter:

👉 Can a client understand in 5 seconds
why you are different from others?

If yes, results come.
If not, no “secret strategy” will help you.

Save this or send it to someone
who is still looking for a magic pill.

taplio

The Battle

Andreas Schwarzkopf

Imran A.

Followers

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taplio

The Battle

Andreas Schwarzkopf

Imran A.

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Imran A.'s LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreImran A.'s LinkedIn Performance