Mieke De Ketelaere is Program Director Artificial Intelligence at IMEC. She holds a master degree in civil and industrial engineering and specialised on robotics and artificial intelligence during her studies. Over the last 25 years, she has worked for several multinationals on all aspects of data and analytics (IBM, Microsoft, SAP, SAS, etc). In the last years, she started to focus more on customer intelligence environments: from transactional CRM to advanced analytical customer insight and interactive marketing. She is specialized in helping customers in defining the steps to grow in maturity in customer experience, customer intimacy and customer lifecycle management. With her deep understanding of the new digital data streams (online, social, mobile, sensor, chatbots, etc) and her understanding of big data platforms, Mieke De Ketelaere is requested by different business schools as a guest speaker on the topic in the last 5 years. Recently, she created a series of knowledge exchanges on Artificial Intelligence, in order to demystify the hype around it and to focus on the real value it can bring to the business teams.

Xander is a young engineer fascinated by data science and machine learning. Through his thesis on brain-computer interfaces at Ugent, he first came into contact with the vast opportunities provided by data driven computer algorithms. After his Master of Science in electrical engineering, he took an extra master’s degree in business economics because he believe’s the combination of these two backgrounds forms an excellent outset for changing the world with bright ideas.

Xander is strongly convinced that intelligent, data driven algorithms will be a major source of technological progress in the coming decade. Moreover, he believes that combining these systems with upcoming trends such as virtual reality and better natural language processing forms a fascinating platform for advancing the human experience in ways that we cannot yet imagine.

Currently, he works as a machine learning engineer at ML6, where they enable companies to create state-of-the-art ML solutions to transform their businesses into technology flagships for the 21st century.

Xander regularly speaks at the nexxworks innovation bootcamps.

Gui Vohringer helps organizations reshape how they deliver value to their customers in an ever-changing digital world. He guides them in their transformation to become more client-focused, use innovation to drive their growth and prepares them to take the digital lead. He has 10+ years of experience as a strategic adviser, business transformation consultant and innovator in the trust & corporate services industry. He uses his skill as a master communicator to bridge the knowledge gap between technology and business and create a common understanding that fuels innovation.  Gui is a co-founder of Finos and The Blockchain Simulation.

Elke Geraerts is a professional keynote speaker and author of the bestseller books on mental resilience. Mentaal Kapitaal (Eng. Better Minds) appeared in 2015 and Het Nieuwe Mentaal at 2016.
Elke is also co-founder of the company Better Minds at Work. This international consultancy company focuses on increasing mental resilience, energy and productivity of employees and now consists of thirty psychologists, doctors and consultants.

As a doctor in psychology, Elke held various academic positions at universities of Harvard, St. Andrews, Maastricht and Rotterdam. In this way, she knows how to build a strong bridge between psychology and business.

Mike Pinder is a Senior Innovation Consultant & Expertise Lead at Board of Innovation. 

In his current role he is helping Fortune 500 companies all over the World to innovate like startups: from innovation strategy to design thinking, lean startup, through to business model innovation, corporate venturing and intrapreneurship. Programs include talent development, long-term innovation cultural transformation, capability building, design sprints, innovation accelerators, train-the-trainer... with cross-industry focus for both B2B and B2C clients such as General Electric (GE), AB-Inbev, ING Bank, Logitech, ZF, Engie, Sumitomo, Valmet, Bpost...

Nele Van Damme is co-founder and owner of Upgrade Estate. Upgrade Estate realizes and manages connective housing for students (Upkot) and young professionals (Upliving) in which sustainability, innovation, social engagement and a community-oriented approach are paramount. 

Nele will share her experience in motivating her team to start Day After Tomorrow projects. The team is focused on strategy, business concepts, innovation, community building, employee satisfaction, common sense and wilfulness.

Upgrade Estate was founded 20 years ago. Right now the company is active in 6 cities with more than 50 real estate projects and more than 5000 investors and tenants.

You can blow our minds by telling us what you have been up to and how you have been since our last experience!