Denis Gorteman: Making AI Work Inside D’Ieteren

During our Silicon Valley tour, we sat down with Denis Gorteman, CEO of D’Ieteren, for a conversation with our moderator, Timothy Papandreou.

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After a week of visits and meetings with some of the most forward-looking companies in the Valley, Denis reflected on what this experience means for his company and for leadership in general.

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The real challenge of AI

Denis explained that compared to previous technological revolutions, the investment needed for AI is relatively small. “The impact on the organization is going to be huge,” he said.  

What struck him most was that the challenge isn’t the technology itself, but how you embed it into the culture of a company and the way it interacts with customers.

Culture change starts with leadership

He noted that D’Ieteren is already strong in operations and delivery, and the teams are very capable of adapting to customer needs. But AI requires something more. “Here this learning mindset is the cultural change,” he said.  

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Denis pointed to the 20/80 rule at Google as an example of how companies create space for experimentation.

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For a more hierarchical structure like D’Ieteren’s, this represents a big shift. Importantly, he added, it isn’t the people in the field who need to drive this change. “The most important cultural change may need to come from the management. It will start at our level.”

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From threat to opportunity

Looking back at 2016, Denis recalled that D’Ieteren had been reacting defensively to disruption. “It was a defensive move and we had to react to a threat, multiple threats coming here,” he remembered. AI, he admitted, initially looked like another threat.

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But today his perspective has completely shifted. “It’s a huge opportunity,” he said. For those who embrace it, Denis believes AI can create true leverage over the competition.

Governance and priorities

When it comes to putting this into practice, Denis sees governance as the first priority. “The first thing we need to agree about is really a governance model,” he explained. The second, in his view, is to agree on clear priorities.  

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Rather than trying to do everything at once, he wants to start with two major platforms — one focused on the customer and another focused internally — and then learn from those before scaling across the company.

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He added that it shouldn’t just be management driving the change. “It’s our employees and colleagues who need to grasp it and replicate it themselves. We need to be there to inspire, not to control.”

Lessons from the Valley

Reflecting on the tour itself, Denis highlighted the quality and openness of the people he met. “You have to meet people who have this open mindset and who are excited to share — but also who don’t hide the facts,” he said.  

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The variety also stood out to him. Seeing large corporations, small start-ups, and everything in between gave him a much fuller view of how organizations are living through this technological shift.

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He also emphasized the importance of reflection. With such full days, Denis appreciated having time to process what he had heard and discuss it with peers. “Having someone who can help us get the juice out of it, and then inviting us to have the conversation between ourselves, is very valuable,” he noted.

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if you’re interested in designing a tailor-made program for your leadership team,

👉 Reach out and we’ll figure out what that could look like, together.

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