Join us for the masterclass "Why Perfect Forecasts Fail: Human Factors in AI-Assisted B2B Projects" with Rebecca Surtay, B2B Marketing and Key Account Management Executive, Export Leader, and Certified Transformational Coach.
Rebecca will share real-world cases from her experience managing export operations across eight countries, preparing complex tender documentation, and coordinating board-level budgeting for global organizations. She will reveal why precise AI forecasts often fail in B2B environments and provide practical tools to identify and mitigate the human factors that distort decision-making.
Date: September 17, 2025
Time: 14:00 (UTC+5)
Location: Online (link will be sent to those who register for the masterclass)
Masterclass program:
- Introduction (3-5 min)
Welcome. Problem statement: why do B2B projects miss deadlines and budgets despite accurate algorithms?
- Theory:5 Cognitive Biases That Corrupt B2B Forecasts (10 minutes)
- Overconfidence bias – why we trust our own projections too much.
- Confirmation bias – seeking data that confirms our existing beliefs.
- Anchoring – how the first number we see shapes everything else.
- Planning fallacy – systematic optimism in timelines and budgets.
- Survivorship bias – ignoring the projects that failed.
- Case Study: The Tender That Didn't Account for Human Factors (15 minutes)
- Legrand, Astana (2018–2020): AI forecast of 85% win probability.
- Actual outcome: loss.
- Root causes: overconfidence, confirmation bias, anchoring on past prices.
- What changed in the second cycle.
- Case Study: Export to 8 Countries – When AI Doesn't Understand Culture (10 minutes)
- Samsung (2014–2016): managing exports to eight countries.
- AI forecast: single strategy with standard KPIs.
- Actual outcome: 40% below forecast in three countries.
- Root causes: information gaps, cultural differences in data interpretation.
- Solution: human-in-the-loop protocol.
- Practical Toolkit (10 minutes)
- Checklist: "5 Questions Before Trusting an AI Forecast"
- Human-in-the-loop verification protocol (3 levels: data → team → external stakeholder)
- Debiasing practices: pre-mortem, reference class forecasting, red team method
- Closing & Q&A (10 minutes)
- Summary of key takeaways
- Live Q&A
- How AI and human-in-the-loop can coexist
- Closing remarks, feedback link
Rebecca Surtay
Rebecca Surtay
Rebecca Surtay is a B2B marketing and key account management executive, export leader, certified transformational coach, and public speaker with over ten years of experience at global corporations including Samsung, Legrand, and Metro Cash & Carry. Her professional journey is exceptional not only for its breadth but also for its depth.
While many professionals specialize narrowly, Rebecca has built a career that spans advanced computing, hands-on B2B leadership, and human-centered coaching. This rare combination of technical rigor, commercial execution, and psychological insight makes her uniquely qualified to address the complex challenges at the intersection of business, technology, and human behavior.
From Data to Leadership
Rebecca holds a Master's degree in Advanced Computing from the University of Stirling in the United Kingdom, earned as a graduate of the prestigious Bolashak International Scholarship of the President of Kazakhstan. This technical foundation – including expertise in SAP, Teradata ASQL, ACNielsen, GFK, MicroStrategy, and programming languages such as Java, HTML, C, and JavaScript – gives her a deep understanding of how data systems and algorithms work and, more importantly, where their limitations lie.
But Rebecca did not stay behind a screen. She took her analytical skills into the field. At Samsung, she managed home appliance exports to eight countries: Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. She developed marketing and budget plans approved at board level and coordinated foreign representatives across multiple jurisdictions.
At Legrand, she served first as Marketing Manager in Almaty and later as Key Account Manager in Astana. In these roles, she prepared complex tender documentation, managed key clients, accompanied them to manufacturing facilities in France and Italy, and performed financial calculations for multimillion-dollar projects.
At Metro Cash & Carry, she organized and ran the "Professional Pricing" project and participated in developing specialized pricing software. Earlier in her career, she worked as TGM Traders Manager Assistant, where she took part in creating and running business plans focused on optimization and profit.
Beyond Business: Coach, Speaker, and Lifelong Learner
Rebecca is a Certified Transformational Coach from Erickson Coach International and holds a Certificate in Psychology from Psychodemy (HSE University). She is a member of the CIS Speakers Association (CISSA 2022) and has completed programs in public speaking, personal branding, communication, and fashion presentation. She also works as a career guidance specialist on the Prof-Dialog platform.
To learn more about Rebecca's masterclass, "Why Perfect Forecasts Fail: Human Factors in AI-Assisted B2B Projects", please email us at info@nwa-award.com and we'll register you.
