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.

I help SMBs use AI agents to get more leads and save precious hours

First commercial hire at Europe's next rocketship - Light
I write about GTM strategy, startup life, and philosophy

Jay Mirpuri

One thing I’ve noticed about the best early hires in startups

Many are ex-entrepreneurs


Not because it’s fashionable

Because early companies don’t need specialists. They need builders


At Light, many of our first hires, especially in GTM, came from entrepreneurship


I’ve spoken extensively about how I went from running my own AI agent startup

To becoming the first GTM hire at Light

And how we built and scaled the function


What I haven’t said is that I wasn’t the only one


Our 4th sales hire, Steve, joined as a BDR last May and has since been promoted to AE

Years before Light, he ran his own clothing brand


Hugo, one of our AEs, previously ran an ecom store on the side 


Our entire marketing function in 2025 was made up of ex-entrepreneurs

Martin had run multiple businesses in Sweden including co-working spaces

And could take anything from zero to one in traffic and brand.


Arthur had built several ecom brands

Where he learned paid ads and performance marketing the hard way

And applied that playbook to Light, 10x-ing inbound


Our head of talent Nick had his own HR saas company in the past


This isn’t accidental

Here’s why entrepreneurs make exceptional early hires


1. They don’t wait for permission to create value

They see a problem and fix it. No hand-holding. No “is this my job?”


2. They think in outcomes, not tasks

Pipeline, revenue, retention

They optimise for what moves the number, not what fills their calendar.


3. They’re comfortable with chaos and no structure

Early startups are messy. Entrepreneurs are already used to making decisions with incomplete data.


4. They build leverage instinctively

Automation, tooling, documentation and AI come naturally

Not because they were told to, but because repeating manual work feels offensive.


5. They have an ownership mindset by default

If something breaks, they feel responsible. 

That’s incredibly hard to teach.


6. They’re anti-fragile

Experiments fail. Strategies change. Feedback is blunt. 

They adapt and move fast instead of spiralling.



The common fear when hiring entrepreneurs is:

“Won’t they just leave and start their own thing?”


Maybe. But not anytime soon. And you’ll get outsized impact long before that

And often far more loyalty than expected when there’s real alignment.


Early companies don’t need people who execute perfectly within a box.

They need people who can build the box while standing in it.


If you’re looking for early hires, find entrepreneurs

--

Follow me Jay Mirpuri for more startup insights

Founding GTM @ Light | AI Native Finance Platform

Time to hack!

Light x Lovable SF hackathon is on ⚡

Greetings from San Francisco!

So great to be back here again with Light

The energy of this city is unreal


Feels just like yesterday we were here hosting a finance dinner event

And now we're hosting an event 10x bigger


Tomorrow with Lovable and J.P. Morgan we're hosting a hackathon for finance leaders

Where they can build apps with Light to solve their own specific use cases

Its a fantastic opportunity to get your hands dirty and flex your vibe coding skills


If you're around SF tomorrow and want to join, shoot me a DM

The event is overbooked but I'll see if I can squeeze you in ;)

Your network isn't built in a week

It compounds over years


Some of the most valuable connections I have today?

I met over a year ago at random events in London

We didn't do business together immediately

We didn't even talk about work much


We just stayed in touch

Coffee here

Event there

Quick message every now and then

Both parties providing value where we can


Here's the thing:

Most people network like they're speed dating:

"What can you do for me right now?"

And when the answer is "nothing," they move on.


That's not networking.

That's extraction.


Real networking is playing the long game:

Showing up consistently (events, calls, messages)

Giving value without expecting immediate return

Building relationships, not collecting contacts


The network you build this year won't pay off this year.

It'll pay off in 2-5 years.


When that person you helped:

- Joins a company that needs what you're selling
- Raises a fund and wants to invest in you
- Starts a company and wants to hire you


But only if you stayed in touch.

Only if you invested in the relationship.

Only if you didn't treat them like a vending machine.


I spent my first 6 months in London going to EVERY event I could find:

- Founder meetups.
- Investor dinners.
- Networking drinks.


It felt like I was wasting time.

I wasn't closing deals.

I wasn't generating revenue.


But I was planting seeds.


And now?

Those seeds are turning into forests.

Because I played the long game.


Your network is your net worth.

But only if you actually build one.

Not overnight.

Not transactionally.

Consistently. Generously. Over years.


That's how you build a network that compounds.

That's how you build a network that changes your career.


So go to that event.

Take that coffee meeting.

Send that follow-up message.


Even if there's no immediate ROI.

Because the best ROI comes from relationships you invest in years before you need them.

--

Follow me Jay Mirpuri for more insights

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