Plato AI

Plato (operated by DM Technologies GmbH, Berlin) develops AI-native software for wholesale distributors, positioned as a sales intelligence add-on that connects to a distributor's existing ERP system and adds an AI analysis and automation layer rather than a standalone dashboard. The platform structures historical transaction and master data held in legacy ERP systems and turns it into proactive workflows: churn alerts for declining or lapsed accounts, up- and cross-selling recommendations, next-best-action suggestions, automated quote and order creation, generative-AI email sequences, chat-based search of customer and product data, and data cleaning and enrichment from external sources.

Secondary modules cover mobile/cloud access to ERP functions for field sales, shared inside/field sales collaboration with note and task functions, and a digital product catalogue with product images and error-tolerant search intended to help new employees navigate large assortments. The company states it works with common ERP systems in the DACH distribution sector, integrates via a high-security VPN with minimal data access, hosts data on ISO/IEC 27001-certified servers in Germany, and maintains a product privacy policy plus AI and cyber insurance. Plato positions itself as building an "AI operating system" for distribution, with planned expansion of the product into customer service and procurement.

The company is led by co-founders Benedikt Nolte (CEO, business development and financing; previously McKinsey, Cherry Ventures), Matthias Heinrich Morales (CPO; previously Rocket Internet and Roland Berger) and Oliver Birch (CTO; serial founder, computer science at Cambridge, previously investor at Octopus Ventures), supported by a team covering data/AI, backend, frontend, design and ERP integration, and an advisory/angel group drawn from Microsoft, NVIDIA, Workday, Personio, Celonis, Forto, sennder, Xentral, Procuros and scireum, among others.