A business ready for succession. Michał Zwyrtek on AI, digital transformation and generational change

On 29 October 2026, Michał Zwyrtek, partner and co-founder of Zwyrtek Group, spoke and served as a panellist at the “Sukcesja w biznesie” (Succession in business) conference at Akademia Górnośląska im. Wojciecha Korfantego in Katowice. The event was organised by the Polish Economic Society – Katowice Branch and Akademia Górnośląska im. Wojciecha Korfantego.

His presentation, “Firma gotowa na sukcesję: jak AI i transformacja cyfrowa zmieniają wartość biznesu rodzinnego” (A business ready for succession: how AI and digital transformation change the value of a family business), addressed preparing a business not only for the formal transfer of ownership, but also for continued, independent development under the next generation. Michał Zwyrtek also served as a panellist in “Dwa pokolenia, dwie wizje – jak połączyć doświadczenie z innowacją?” (Two generations, two visions – how can experience and innovation be combined?).

The event also marked the launch of the monograph “Bariery i wyzwania w procesie sukcesji. Wybrane problemy zmiany pokoleniowej” (Barriers and challenges in the succession process. Selected issues in generational change), academically edited by Barbara Rychta and Barbara Cyganik. Michał Zwyrtek is a co-author: he wrote the chapter “Sukcesja w polskich przedsiębiorstwach prywatnych i rodzinnych. Wybrane zagadnienia” (Succession in Polish private and family businesses. Selected issues). These three perspectives — the presentation, the generational discussion and the publication — share a question: what does a business ready for succession really look like?

Key takeaways

• Succession encompasses ownership, management and the organisation’s ability to operate; transferring shares alone does not complete the process.
• Knowledge about clients, processes and decisions should be accessible within the business, not held solely in the founder’s head.
• Repeatable processes, reliable data and defined responsibilities allow successors to take on a genuine management role.
• AI and automation can support organisational independence, but require orderly processes, security and human oversight.
• The founder’s experience and successors’ innovation can complement each other if the family agrees roles, decision-making principles and the pace of change.

Succession is more than a change of owner

Succession of a family business is not simply a transfer of shares, the preparation of a will or the establishment of a family foundation. Legal arrangements organise ownership and may support continuity, but do not themselves ensure that a business can continue to develop. The next generation should receive an organisation with accessible knowledge, reliable data and clearly defined responsibilities.

Effective succession involves interconnected areas:

• ownership and control of the business;
• the roles of family members and future successors;
• how decisions are made;
• knowledge transfer;
• preparation of the management board and team;
• processes, data and tools;
• the strategy for further development;
• relationships between the family, owners and professional management.

A business can be formally transferred to successors while remaining operationally dependent on its founder. If every significant decision, quotation or conversation with a key client requires the founder’s involvement, ownership has changed but the way the business operates has not. This does not mean succession is complete.

It is worth distinguishing the roles of owner, family member and manager. Not every successor needs to manage day-to-day operations, and professional management does not preclude family control. Agreeing these roles reduces misunderstandings and helps establish a model suited to the particular family and business.

Can the business operate without its owner?

A succession-readiness test starts with the way the business functions each day. Management, owners and successors should jointly answer the following questions:

• Is critical knowledge available within the organisation, or only in the owner’s head?
• Are processes documented and repeatable?
• Is it clear who makes each type of decision?
• Does management have current, reliable data?
• Do client and supplier relationships belong to the business, or solely to the founder?
• Are successors given genuine responsibility?
• Can the business operate for an extended period without the owner’s daily presence?

Answers should be supported by evidence: process maps, decision-making authority, management reports, deputising arrangements and documentation of key relationships. The purpose is not documentation for its own sake. It is to establish whether the team can use knowledge and make decisions without referring back to the founder on every occasion.

Dependence on one person is not only a succession risk. It can constrain business value, scalability and the ability to attract an investor. A business whose performance relies on the founder’s constant presence is harder to develop and assess as a buyer. Reducing this dependence is not about sidelining the founder; it is about deliberately transferring knowledge, authority and responsibility.

The role of AI and digital transformation

Digital transformation can support succession by changing how people work, rather than merely purchasing new systems. Technology helps preserve knowledge and enables data-led management when it is tied to a specific business objective.

Support may include:

• organising and documenting processes;
• building a shared source of data;
• automating repetitive activities;
• developing management reporting and controlling;
• preserving and sharing organisational knowledge;
• improving document and decision workflows;
• helping managers analyse data;
• reducing dependence on knowledge held by individual people.

For example, an orderly client-information system can move relationship histories from private notes into the organisation. A knowledge base can make procedures and experience accessible to the team, while management reporting can show margins, liquidity and variances without the owner manually gathering data. AI can help retrieve information, prepare analyses and identify exceptions, but its output requires assessment by the person accountable for the decision.

Processes, data and responsibility first

AI will not repair a poorly designed process. Automating chaos may simply accelerate it. If data is inconsistent, responsibilities unclear and operating rules exist only in the owner’s memory, introducing a tool does not remove the underlying problem.

The starting point should be the business objective, a process map, data quality and a person accountable for the outcome. A solution can then be selected, a limited pilot conducted and its impact on working time, quality, errors and team independence assessed. The number of licences or automations deployed is not, by itself, a measure of succession readiness.

Security, compliance and change management

AI implementation requires information-access rules, protection of personal and confidential data, supplier assessment and human oversight. The business must define what data may be provided to a tool, who checks its output and who is responsible for the decision. Legal requirements need to be assessed for the particular use case.

Communication, user training and preparation of managers are equally important. Technology does not replace ownership decisions or conversations between generations. It can, however, improve independence, scalability, resilience and business value when it supports orderly processes and deliberate change management — without guaranteeing a particular outcome.

A panel on experience and innovation

Following the expert presentations, Michał Zwyrtek served as a panellist in “Dwa pokolenia, dwie wizje – jak połączyć doświadczenie z innowacją?” (Two generations, two visions – how can experience and innovation be combined?). The panel addressed relationships between founders, successors and those supporting business transformation.

Good succession is not a choice between the older generation’s experience and successors’ ideas. Its purpose is to create a model that can:

• preserve the knowledge, relationships and culture built by the founder;
• give successors genuine responsibility;
• open the business to technology, new operating models and further development;
• clearly define roles and decision-making principles;
• gradually change the management approach rather than abruptly hand over power.

The founder can contribute knowledge of the market, relationships and the history of key decisions; the successor can bring new skills, a technological perspective and development ideas. Agreed boundaries of responsibility are needed for these resources to complement each other. Assigning a task without decision-making authority is not a transfer of management; innovation without understanding the business model does not ensure continuity either.

The launch of a monograph

The conference also marked the launch of “Bariery i wyzwania w procesie sukcesji. Wybrane problemy zmiany pokoleniowej” (Barriers and challenges in the succession process. Selected issues in generational change), academically edited by Barbara Rychta and Barbara Cyganik.

Michał Zwyrtek is a co-author of the publication. He wrote the chapter “Sukcesja w polskich przedsiębiorstwach prywatnych i rodzinnych. Wybrane zagadnienia” (Succession in Polish private and family businesses. Selected issues).

The publication combines an academic perspective with the challenges faced by family businesses, including legal, financial, psychological, organisational and managerial issues. It highlights the importance of looking beyond the mechanism for transferring ownership: generational change also concerns people, working practices and family relationships. The English translations of titles above are provided for reference; they do not indicate an English-language edition of the monograph.

How Zwyrtek Group supports family businesses

Support for private and family businesses should combine the ownership plan with preparation of the organisation to implement it. The choice of solutions depends on the family’s circumstances, the business structure and the next generation’s intentions. A family foundation is one possible tool, not a universal answer to every situation.

Zwyrtek Group can support:

• assessing the succession readiness of the business, owner and family;
• developing a succession plan;
• organising the ownership structure and governance principles;
• preparing the next generation for new roles;
• family foundations and other legal arrangements;
• tax, legal, financial and transaction advisory;
• professionalising management, controlling and reporting;
• mapping and organising processes;
• digital transformation, AI and automation;
• preparing the business for a sale or an investor’s entry;
• coordinating implementation through one team.

Business advisory helps bring these areas together in a coherent plan: establishing priorities, a timetable, responsibilities and a way to assess progress. The plan should address both formal decisions and the organisation’s day-to-day operation after implementation. A free consultation on the business’s succession readiness can be a starting point.

A well-planned succession does not bring the founder’s business story to an end. It creates the conditions for the next generation to develop it with purpose.