From AI & robotics ambition to impact.
Breman used the FORTH Innovation Method to turn a broad AI and robotics ambition into six validated new business cases, three of them selected for implementation.
The challenge
Breman is a Dutch family-owned installation group with almost 1,700 installation experts and 26 specialised locations across the Netherlands and Germany. The board saw that AI and robotics would reshape the installation industry, but a broad ambition is not a plan. The question was concrete: where, specifically, should Breman apply AI and robotics, and which opportunities are worth real investment?
The approach
From October 2025 to February 2026 Breman ran a full FORTH expedition through its five stages: Full Steam Ahead, Observe & Learn, Raise Ideas, Test Ideas and Homecoming. The journey was carried by a core team of twelve participants, with five decision-making leaders joining as extended team members. That structure created ownership and management buy-in from the very first day, rather than trying to win it at the end.
What the expedition produced
FORTH does not stop at ideas. It narrows a wide field of raw friction and possibility down to a small set of validated business cases, step by step:
- 173relevant frictions found in the organisation
- 1,191ideas raised
- 67promising idea directions
- 18concepts developed
- 16concepts tested
- 12concepts improved
- 6radical new business cases
- 3selected for implementation
Why it worked
The strength of the outcome is not the number of ideas, it is the funnel. Every business case that reached the board had survived customer testing and improvement, and it arrived carried by the people who would have to deliver it. That is the difference between a workshop that generates enthusiasm and a process that produces decisions.
See FORTH in action
Follow Breman’s complete AI & robotics journey, from the first challenge to six radical new business cases and the final board presentation. A film by Gijs van Wulfen.