DSA is a Berlin-based consultancy and training company. We work at the front end of innovation — helping senior leaders define the right problems, validate the right solutions, and build the internal systems to make structured decision-making a permanent capability, not a one-off engagement.
We started DSA after seeing the same pattern repeat across industries. Smart teams. Talented leaders. Strong execution capability. But no reliable system for deciding what to build — and why.
Projects failing in the messy middle — between ambition and alignment, between AI strategy and AI execution, between the pilot that launched and the organisation that couldn’t absorb it.
So we focused on designing the collaboration itself.
Structured decision systems that work under pressure, transfer to internal teams, and compound over time.
That work started with Problem Framing and Design Sprints.
In the AI era, it expanded into AI Problem Framing, AI Workflow Sprints, and the AI Lab — a full operating model for organisations that need to decide which AI bets are worth building, and stop the ones that aren’t.
We help organizations make high-stakes decisions faster — and with better evidence.
We work in two modes:
The methodology is rigorous enough that Google asked DSA to teach it.
In 2018, Google invited us to teach Problem Framing to their internal Design Sprint Academy. The organization that invented the Design Sprint trusted DSA to upgrade how their own teams define problems.
We built AI Problem Framing before the market had a name for it.
When AI started moving from experimentation to enterprise, most organisations had no structured way to decide which AI opportunities were worth pursuing. DSA designed AI Problem Framing to fill that gap — before clients were asking for it.
We built the AI Workflow Sprint for the same reason.
Most teams were bolting AI onto existing workflows and discovering the problem at deployment. DSA built a method for redesigning the work around AI capabilities first — and validating it with employees before a single line of code was written.
Turner Construction — two years ago, when AI transformation had no playbook.
When most organisations were still figuring out what AI meant for them, DSA went into Turner Construction and built an AI operating model from the ground up. The result: 400+ custom AI applications built by Turner’s own employees, 70,000+ hours of annual capacity unlocked, and an internal AI Lab that runs without DSA today. That engagement became the foundation for the AI Lab methodology.
We use two core methods. Independently powerful. Together, a full decision-to-validation system.
Problem Framing
Use this when the challenge is still fuzzy—when stakeholders disagree, priorities are unclear, or teams are jumping into solutions too early. In one focused day, we align cross-functional teams on what problem is worth solving, who it matters to, and why now. The output is a clear problem definition and recommendation leadership can commit to.
Design Sprint
Use this when you need evidence before you build. In four days, cross-functional teams move from problem to tested prototype—making decisions, prototyping fast, and testing with real users. The output is validated learning on what works, what doesn’t, and why—before you invest months of delivery time.
There are plenty of consultancies, training providers, and facilitators out there.
Few design decision systems.
Our workshops follow structured, step-by-step formats—not open-ended brainstorms. Every exercise, artifact, and decision point is designed for consistency and repeatability—so teams can apply the system across multiple challenges.
We anchor decisions in customer insight, business data, and explicit assumptions—not stakeholder politics. Our frameworks separate what’s known from what’s guessed, surface blind spots early, and make trade-offs visible.
Whether we facilitate or train, the goal is the same: help your organization own the process. We provide playbooks, toolkits, and templates so teams can run the work internally—without needing external support every time.
