🔥 We’re back together! On May 8, Andersen, in collaboration with IIBA Poland Chapter, will hold a meetup

The world of business analysis is rapidly changing under the influence of AI, so now it’s high time to adapt to the new reality. How exactly? Learn from our speakers 👇

📌 Sviatlana Varabyova (Senior Business Analyst) – "The Evolving Role of the IT Business Analyst in the Age of AI"
We’ll discuss what essential skills IT business analysts need, what challenges they face, and how they can adapt to thrive in an AI-powered landscape.

📌 Tomasz Plebanski (Business Analysis Manager) – "AI for Smarter Business Analysis: Practical Use Cases and Insights"
We'll delve into practical use cases of AI in business analysis, including requirements gathering and analysis, stakeholder collaboration, document analysis, artefact creation, and more.

➡️ Register here

Twice as many speakers – twice as much value, and hence seats are filling up twice as fast. Don’t wait to register 😉

⏰ Time: 18:00 (CET)
⏳ Duration: 1-1.5 hours
🗣 Language: English
📍 Offline: Andersen’s office in Warsaw

See you!

#MeetUp #BusinessAnalysis #IIBA #AI

How to Handle Direct Criticism Across Cultures (Without Losing Your Cool or Your Team)

Do you work in international IT projects where feedback is part of everyday life?
Ever felt a teammate’s message was too blunt — or, on the flip side, annoyingly vague?
💡 It might not be about personality. It might be about cultural expectations of giving negative feedback.

📖 In The Culture Map, Erin Meyer describes how different cultures evaluate and express criticism. This is crucial for business/system analysts, who often act as bridges between stakeholders, developers, and end users.
Two cultural quadrants you should know:

🔹 Quadrant A: Low-Context + Direct Negative Feedback

Examples: 🇳🇱 Netherlands, 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇺🇸 USA
These cultures value clarity, honesty, and professionalism.
👉 If a Dutch or German colleague gives you direct criticism, it’s probably not personal. It’s a sign of respect for your competence.

📌 Do: Take their feedback seriously, not emotionally.
📌 Don’t: Try to “be just as direct” unless you deeply understand their style. You might overshoot and come off as rude.

🔸 Quadrant B: High-Context + Direct Negative Feedback

Examples: 🇷🇺 Russia, 🇮🇱 Israel
These cultures may be indirect in general conversation but very frank when giving negative feedback, especially toward strangers or subordinates.

📌 Do: Recognize that direct criticism doesn’t mean they dislike you — it’s how they operate in hierarchical or transactional settings.
📌 Don’t: Expect a polite sandwich of compliments — you might only get the meat.
Why does this matter in IT analytics?
Whether you’re facilitating a retrospective, analyzing stakeholder feedback, or conducting user interviews — understanding how criticism is meant to be delivered and received helps prevent:
- Unnecessary offense
- Silence instead of questions
- Misinterpretation of feedback loops
✅ Takeaways for analysts:
🔹 Accept that direct does not equal hostile.
🔹 When working with more direct cultures, take feedback at face value.
🔹 When working with less direct cultures, soften your message or use “downgraders” (“maybe,” “a bit,” “could be improved”).
🔹 Don’t mimic directness unless you truly understand where the line is.

Feedback is a tool — learn to read the instruction manual before using it.

#ITCommunication #BusinessAnalysis #SystemAnalysis #CrossCultural #FeedbackCulture #SoftSkills

🔍 Software (System) Requirements Specification (SRS)

Let’s talk about one of the most essential artefacts in a Business Analyst’s toolkit: the System Requirements Specification (SRS).

An SRS is much more than just a document-it’s the “set of laws” for your software project. It describes, in detail, what your system should do and the capabilities it must provide to users. This guide becomes the foundation for everyone involved:
✅ Project Managers use it to plan and track progress.
✅Developers rely on it to write the right code.
✅ QA specialists use it to test and validate the product.

Starting a project without an SRS is like setting off on a journey without a map. Without clear requirements, the team can easily lose direction, leading to confusion and costly mistakes.

Why is the SRS so valuable for customers?
Without a specification, requests can be misunderstood, and the final product may not meet expectations-resulting in wasted time and budget. A well-prepared SRS helps both sides stay aligned, reduces the risk of surprises, and makes it easier to compare project costs across different IT service providers.

It also saves money: instead of developers spending time clarifying requirements, the Business Analyst translates customer needs into clear, technical instructions-saving both time and resources.

Curious what an SRS actually looks like? Check out the example below! 👇

#BusinessAnalysis #SRS #SystemRequirementsSpecification #ProjectManagement

How a Business Analyst Can Help a Project Manager 🙌🏻

At a meetup on May 14, Olga Kletskina will share a few scenarios of how a business analyst can help in establishing processes related to backlog management and communication within and beyond the team.

We stand for a practice-based approach – the speech is based on the speaker’s first-hand experience 🤩

🎟 Register here

⏰ Time: 19:00 (Minsk time)/18:00 (CET)
🕒 Duration: 1 hour
🗣 Language: Russian
📍 Offline: Andersen’s office in Minsk
💻 Online: The link to the stream will be sent to your email specified in the registration form

Join Andersen IT Community:
📱 BA/SA LinkedIn

Hi everyone! Last week we had the pleasure to participate in a fantastic Business Analysis Meet Up in collaboration with IIBA Poland Chapter at vibrant Andersen Lab space 🙌

Together, we explored the evolving role of Business Analysts and the real impact of AI on business analysis. The discussions were thought-provoking.

A special thank to Tomasz Plebański and Sviatlana Varabyova for contributed their expertise and perspectives.

If you couldn’t attend or want to revisit the highlights - please, here is a full event recording here:
▶️ https://lnkd.in/dSVWkqep

Thank you once again to all attendees, partners, and the IIBA team for making this event a success. Let’s move beyond the buzzwords and focus on meaningful change together! 🙂

#AI #Innovation #IIBA #BusinessAnalysis #ProfessionalGrowth

Hi Analysts,

Today We'd like to share some DOs and DON'Ts for BAs from experience.

"DO"s and "DON'T"s for Business Analysts:

1. DO
your research all the time. Technology and technical solutions are always evolving and you can find answers to your questions by researching.
2. DON'T
work as a call-center operator. Don't repeat the customer's words and do what they say without analyzing and verifying that it's really valuable. If you can't translate requirements into actionable items, you should improve it first.
3. DO
communicate with team often while you are still working on your output. Before presenting the solution to the team, always have their opinion, especially, tech team. Some solutions may not fit your project.
4. DON'T
set up meeting with stakeholders until you clearly set objectives from the meeting and know what questions to ask. Otherwise, you will have a chaotic picture of requirements.
5. DO
take notes. Because it's not only helpful to understand better, but also memorize the topics afterwards.
Note: Handwriting helps to memorize things much better.
6. DON'T
make extremely complicated diagrams just to use cool elements. Simpler the better for understanding.

#BATips #BusinessAnalyst #BACommunity #AnalystHub

🤝 MeetUp Recap: How Can a Business Analyst Help a Project Manager?

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of conducting a fantastic Meet up with our speaker Olga Kletskina on the topic “How Can a Business Analyst Help a Project Manager?”

💡 Here are the key takeaways from our discussion to point out:
✅Business Analysts (BAs) and Project Managers (PMs) have many overlapping areas within a project, which means constant collaboration is essential.
✅Both BAs and PMs regularly rely on each other’s support and expertise to achieve project goals.
✅Effective interaction between BAs and PMs directly influences project processes, the planning and delivery of functionality, and the quality of the final product.
✅The most important aspect of BA–PM collaboration is mutual respect, clear communication of requests with explanations, and alignment of expectations and deadlines.

A huge thank to you Olga for the engaging performance, sharing your expertise with our community, and to everyone who joined the discussion as well! Let’s continue fostering strong collaboration between BAs and PMs to drive our projects to success.

If you still have questions after the meetup, this is the best time and place to ask - drop them in the comments below!

#BusinessAnalysis #ProjectManagement #Teamwork #Collaboration #MeetUp #BACommunity #ProfessionalGrowth

🤝 Understanding the Role of a Project Manager and Their Collaboration with Business Analysts

In our recent Meetup, we explored the vital collaboration between Project Managers (PMs) and Business Analysts (BAs). To deepen our understanding, let’s take a closer look at who a Project Manager is, their core responsibilities, and how they work together with BAs to ensure project success.

Who is a Project Manager?
According to PMBOK®, a Project Manager is the person appointed to lead the project team and is responsible for achieving the project’s objectives. The PM manages the project team to meet goals and stakeholder expectations while balancing competing project constraints with available resources.

Key Knowledge Areas of a Project Manager (PMBOK®):
🔹Project Integration Management
🔹Project Scope Management
🔹Project Schedule Management
🔹Project Cost Management
🔹Project Quality Management
🔹Project Resource Management
🔹Project Communications Management
🔹Project Risk Management
🔹Project Procurement Management
🔹Project Stakeholder Management

Core Responsibilities of a Project Manager:
🔸Planning and defining the project scope, schedule, and budget
🔸Leading and managing the project team
🔸Executing the project plan and monitoring progress
🔸Managing communications and stakeholder expectations
🔸Identifying and mitigating risks
🔸Overseeing quality and procurement processes
🔸Reporting on project status and ensuring timely delivery

How Do Project Managers and Business Analysts Collaborate?
✅ PMs and BAs have overlapping areas in projects, requiring constant interaction and mutual support.

✅ BAs help define clear requirements and translate business needs into actionable items, supporting PMs in scope and stakeholder management.

✅ Their collaboration directly impacts process optimization, functional delivery planning, and product quality assurance.

✅ Effective communication, mutual respect, clear requests with reasoning, and aligned expectations and deadlines are the foundation of their partnership.

Together, PMs and BAs form a powerful tandem that drives project success by combining strategic planning with detailed analysis and communication.

#ProjectManagement #BusinessAnalysis #PMBOK #Teamwork #Collaboration #ITProjects #BACommunity #ProjectSuccess #Leadership #StakeholderManagement

How to create Web3 products with $100M+ ARR? 💡
On May 20 at 18:00 (CET), Andersen is hosting an online meetup with Maxim Krasnov, Founder of Coinstruct.tech and a blockchain economist.

We will discuss:
— Web3 trends and prospects: which products generate $100M+ per year;
— How to choose blockchain infrastructure: Ethereum, Solana, TON, L1 vs L2;
— Smart contract frameworks: ERC-20, ERC-721, ERC-1155, ERC-4626 and their optimization;
— Assets in Web3 (FT and NFT);
— Business models & Go-to-market for a blockchain-based startup.
The meetup will be useful for: startup founders, CTOs, product managers, Web3 developers, investors, and everyone building blockchain projects.

🎟 Register here

⏰ Time: 18:00 (CET)
🕒 Duration: 1 hour
🗣 Language: English
💻 Online: We'll send the streaming link to the email provided during registration

See you!

✅ The AI Supply Chain: What Every Business Analyst Should Know

A recent paper from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS, No. 154) outlines a five-layered supply chain behind modern artificial intelligence systems. Understanding this structure is essential for anyone working with AI integration, risk management, or strategic tech procurement.

5️⃣ The five layers include:

1. Hardware – This is the computing foundation: GPUs, TPUs, and other specialized chips required for AI training. The market is highly concentrated, with Nvidia holding over 90% of the data center GPU market.
2. Cloud Infrastructure – Providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud dominate global access to AI-scale computing power. Switching between platforms is costly, reinforcing vendor lock-in and limiting competition.
3. Training Data – The “raw materials” of AI. With high-quality public data becoming scarce, large firms increasingly rely on proprietary data ecosystems. This gives big tech companies with extensive user data a structural advantage.
4. Foundation Models – These are the general-purpose large language models (LLMs) that underpin most AI applications. While over 300 models exist, just a few players (OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Meta) control the majority of market share due to high entry costs and strong first-mover advantages.
5. Applications – End-user tools like ChatGPT or Copilot represent the final stage. Even here, the market exhibits “winner-takes-most” dynamics, raising long-term questions about user choice and innovation paths.

The report warns that this concentration—especially in the hardware and cloud layers—poses systemic risks: reduced competition, heightened cybersecurity exposure, and dependencies that could affect financial and operational stability globally.

For organizations building AI strategies, these dynamics should be considered carefully. Who controls your inputs, infrastructure, and tools increasingly shapes not just performance and cost, but also resilience and strategic independence.

🔥 BIS concludes that addressing these risks will require both stronger regulation and greater international cooperation. But for now, the business community must navigate an ecosystem increasingly shaped by a small number of dominant players.

#ArtificialIntelligence #BusinessAnalysis
#AIInfrastructure

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