DAILY PROGRAM
Erik Kiekens
"You are responsible for making your dream come true!"
Traveling around the world, how do I make my dream come true?
Erik Kiekens (b. 1959) is a self-employed chemist. He learned to sail during his student years and bought his first boat in 1986. He now has about 40 years of sailing experience. In 2017 he set off on a trip around the world on his boat Dr NO.
Against the background of a compelling travel story, he investigates in the book "Everything is good in my world" which factors have held him back for decades from realizing his dream, and why he was finally able to take the step. He discovers how this adventure permanently changes his view of himself, love and the world.
Brigitte Ballings
Leader: Never be held hostage by yourself again...
The terms vulnerability and strong leadership seem somewhat incompatible. After all, vulnerability is often seen as a weakness. This view of leadership comes from traditional ideas, beliefs and values instilled during our childhood.
Through personal examples and others from her coaching sessions, Brigitte Ballings shows that it is possible to transcend the traditional image of the leader, manager or team leader and recognize the benefits of a human and "secure base" leadership.
What if a leader, by being human and daring to be vulnerable, contributes to both his own well-being and that of his employees?
https://www.facebook.com/brigitteballingscoaching/
https://www.facebook.com/safehavenforleaders/
Raoul Maris
"I put people-oriented at the center of everything I do and undertake."
Plea for (interior) architecture to start from people, not from stones.
In a world where burnout is rampant and employers have great difficulty attracting and retaining talent, we are all starting to pay more attention to people's needs and feelings. HR teams are working overtime and an oversupply of coaches tries to make or keep people 'happy'. But there's an angle we're not looking at.
A blind spot that can nevertheless have an enormous impact on the experience and well-being of employees, visitors, customers, patients, in short: people.
We are talking about architecture and interior design. Empathetically designed spaces can contribute to stress reduction, feelings of welcome and appreciation, job satisfaction, social connection, and so on. Time to explore the power of human-centered architecture.
Wouter Verschelden
You regularly see the story of Icarus recurring in politics
Transparency and better understanding are our goal, “to see through and understand”: 'perspice et intellege'.
Walter Van Steenbrugge
Time for the masks to come off.
Walter Van Steenbrugge is a national and international criminal lawyer who has been a champion of fundamental human rights for three decades. Both for victims and perpetrators of crimes. He goes to extremes in every case. His credo is to treat every case as if it concerns himself or one of his intimates.
BUSINESSLUNCH
Thomas Guenter
"It wasn't until I got my first paycheck that I really learned how to manage money"
Step-by-step plan for asset building
Did you know…
... you can invest in diversified stock market products with a historical net return of more than 10% per year, while having to pay almost no costs and taxes?
... there are short-term bonds with net returns of more than 3% per year on which you do not have to pay taxes (0% withholding tax)?
... you can benefit several times from reduced registration duties in Flanders when purchasing real estate (3% registration duties several times)?
There's a good chance not. Much of what you read about finance is wrong or irrelevant. Thomas Guenter reduces wealth accumulation to its essence and in this keynote he explains a practical step-by-step plan for wealth accumulation, with many concrete tips and tricks to put your money to work.
Thomas Guenter combined his commercial engineering and law studies at Ghent University and worked as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). As the founder of Finhouse, he advises some of the richest families in Belgium and helps hundreds of entrepreneurs and families with their finances every year.
Since last year, he has regularly shared financial tips and tricks on social media. In one year he became one of the best-known financial experts in Belgium, with more than 100,000 followers on social media. Thomas is known for making complex subjects understandable.
Thomas's first book 'Personal finance with Thomas Guenter' will be published later this year. Through the publisher's webshop, JCI members can enjoy a 10% discount and free shipping when using the discount code NCN2024: https://rb.gy/cmi2fx
His book can also be ordered here:
• Standaard Boekhandel: http://bit.ly/3Y804lR
• Bol.com: https://rb.gy/r1tehh
• FNAC: https://tidd.ly/3yo0iec
PANEL AI & ART
Benny Lauwers
"AI does not lack potential as a technology. But just as AI's succes depends on many variables, so does its failure."
Artificial Intelligence: between Myth and Reality
In today's technology landscape, Artificial Intelligence has become indispendable. You've problably already asked yourself the question: is AI a trend, a revolutionary technique, or simply a predictable step in technological progress? Benny Lauwers, author of the book "The good, The Bad and The Practical: AI for Doeners" (NL), co-founder of industrial AI Expert VIU More and founder of AI implementation specialist Applicaite, guides you through the dynamic world of AI. Discover how modest initiatives can now result in significant progress for our society and your business.
Yes, AI projects can fail, but with an understanding of the causes, this can be prevented. Crucial succes factors and best practices will therefore be thoroughly highlighted. Concrete exemples will show that AI, both now and in the future, will be an essential partner for everyone.
https://www.thegoodthebadandthepractical.ai
Pascal Deseure
AI is your Swiss army knife in the digital world!
I live and work according to the principle of the three E's: Empathy, Empowerment, Excellence = E³
Use empathy to empower people so they can achieve excellence.
After my work with BYD and JLR, I and a colleague founded Nüwa in Nanjing China in 2019 to meet the growing demand for digital, AI-driven avatars. We started modestly, with simple AI for telemarketing Digital Avatars, but our breakthrough came in 2020, when we developed the first 3D news anchor for Xinhua News. During COVID, the adoption and innovation of AI-human interactions accelerated, allowing us to create advanced Meta Humans for banks. Today we are working on LLM-driven metahumans for the Saudi Ministry of Health, who accompany patients in hospitals and confirm appointments.
Carlo van Tichelen
“Only those who dare to walk, can leave a footprint.”
ART-ificial: The way art can make the future
We can be proud on beïng efficient
We can be proud on globalisation
We can be proud on peace today
But how can we create a spirit for the future,
with more detail, more spirit and drive for happiness ?
I’m convinced that generative techniques,
combined with high tech production
and inspired leaders, can make the future…
In my entertraining on AI
this JCI, senator, ITF trainer and world award winner
will inspire you with art, technology and prompts
to change the world into a better place
Ommery De Zutter
"There's beauty in surrender"
Creating alternative realities inspired by architecture, religion and philosophical ideas.
Ommery De Zutter is a contemporary digital artist based in Belgium who explores the digital domain. Using the computer and 3D visualization software, he unravels the possibilities offered by the digital space and explores new aesthetics within these digital tools.
The inspiration for his works comes mainly from architecture, religion and philosophical concepts. We recommend studying the artworks yourself to gain a full understanding of the themes.
The works of art show and express the enormous scope of possibilities in the current circumstances. They ask whether there will still be such a thing as a shared sense of time, materiality, place, identity, hierarchy and language as these digital tools are further adopted by society.
In the search for a shared reality amid these disruptive movements, the artworks help us, themselves and you to make new connections.
ONDERNEMERSPANEL
Olivier Van Duüren
“As an individual, as a team, or as a company, everyone has that difficult balance of how much attention should I spend on performing today, but I also have to focus on tomorrow.”
Transform to invent the future and perform to execute the present.
To stay afloat, companies and governments need to find a way to transform while performing. They need to run their organisations to bring value today and reinvent their businesses to bring value tomorrow. They want agility and speed and they need everyone on board. They need to execute the present and invent the future. Transforming while Performing is the new normal. The million-dollar question is how do you find that balance between transforming and performing?
Olivier Van Duüren is an international speaker, trendsensemaker, executive whisperer, transformer, active investor, and author. After twenty-two years at Microsoft internationally, Olivier left to start The Dualarity, a book and a business that helps organizations transform while performing. He teaches at Zigurat Business School (University of Barcelona). Additionally, he is an active investor at 9.5 Ventures, building tailor-made startups for companies, and he serves as a board member/advisor for various companies. He is a co-founder of the Visual Senseformers and co-author of his second book Transforming while Performing.
https://www.facebook.com/olivier.vanduuren.9
https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliviervanduuren/
Bart Van Proeyen
"It's not big enough if it doesn't scare you to death"
Entrepreneurship: you learn by doing
Bart will take us through his story about the evolution of KWARTS, the SaaS company he founded in 2016 and sold to Signum Life Science in 2023, which focuses on the Norwegian Market. KWARTS remains a high-performance AI platform that supports pharmaceutical companies to boost their commercial activity. Bart has ensured that KWARTS has developed from a niche consultancy firm into a SaaS business product, by using bootstrapping, co-payments by the industry, innovation subsidies and external investments, steady growth and collaborations with partners such as Deloitte.
Bart will guide us through his own perspective on this journey, where it quickly becomes clear that JCI Fellows have played an instrumental role in the various steps along the way.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartvanproeyen/
Bart De Waele
“I don't view life as a linear path, but as a jungle in which you swing from vine to vine”
Technology helps us live longer and be happy.
Bart De Waele, CEO of digital communications agency Duke & Grace, does not view life as a marathon that he has to complete. “I don't focus on the finish. I hope I can be happy at any age. And I am convinced that technology will play an increasingly important role in this in the long term.”
https://www.linkedin.com/in/netlash/
Jelle Van De Velde
"Without friction, no shine"
Entrepreneurship, successes and failures
Jelle started his career at Artevelde Hogeschool but soon decided to become an entrepreneur. After two succesfull exists, he is now already investing in his third company. He started his first company company when Steve Jobs was waving around the first Iphone ever. He was triggered and believed that "that Ipod with phone function" was going to conquer the world. His company grew rapidly and after 5 years it was acquired by Cartamundi from Turnhout. Not long after that he started his second company focusing on digital healthcare and prevention. Shortly after, this company again was acquired by a family office and was baptized the name Leadlife. At leadlife, he is still active as CEO. Meanwhile, Jelle is yet again investing in his third company with a focus on conversational user interfaces.
He will bring us his (life)lessons in entrepreneurship, this from a very honest and transparant, vulnerable way. About trial and error, working hard and crashing harder, value creation and team dynamics, about health and ambition, giving money to get to work and so much more.