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For nexxworks, AI is not a future topic, it is the defining present. The Day After Tomorrow is already here, and it runs on artificial intelligence. This topic goes beyond hype: it gives leaders a clear-eyed view of how AI is restructuring industries, eliminating roles, creating new ones, and fundamentally rewiring competitive advantage. Our speakers bridge the gap between technical reality and strategic action, from Mieke De Ketelaere’s rigorous AI literacy to Pascal Coppens’ deep understanding of how China is using AI at scale, and Maarten Verschuere’s provocative take on what it means when AI starts replacing not just tasks, but decision-makers.

As automation accelerates, the most urgent question in every boardroom is not “what will AI do?” but “what will people do?” This topic confronts the human side of the technology wave head-on. It covers the future of work, organisational culture, psychological safety, and the skills that make humans irreplaceable. Frederik Anseel brings the science of organisational behaviour; Jitske De Kramer reframes culture as the ultimate competitive edge; Roeland Dietvorst unpacks the neuroscience of decision-making and how our brains respond to change. Ken Hughes and Nienke Bloem anchor this in the customer relationship, the last truly human interface in an increasingly automated world.

nexxworks has always looked beyond Belgium and Europe, its experiences in Silicon Valley, Tokyo, Dubai, Seoul and Shenzhen are a signature part of its offering. This topic reflects that global lens. The world is being redrawn by a technology cold war between the US and China, by the weaponisation of supply chains, and by the rise of new power centres. For business leaders, ignoring this is no longer an option. Pascal Coppens and Moonie Zhu are among Europe’s foremost interpreters of China’s technological rise, a story that is simultaneously a threat, an inspiration and a mirror. Peter Hinssen connects the geopolitical picture directly to technology strategy and what it means for European companies navigating between two superpowers.

nexxworks was built on the conviction that businesses need to actively work on the next version of themselves , not as a side project, but as a core discipline. This topic is where that conviction becomes actionable. It moves audiences from “we need to change” to “here’s how we change.” Steven Van Belleghem brings his pragmatic, case-driven lens on customer-centric reinvention. Mark Gallagher translates Formula 1’s relentless performance culture into business strategy. Dado Van Peteghem connects digital transformation with organisational agility. Roeland Dietvorst adds the behavioural science angle, understanding why humans resist reinvention, and how to overcome it.

The Day After Tomorrow requires a different kind of leader , one who is comfortable with ambiguity, capable of long-horizon thinking, and able to inspire teams through sustained uncertainty. This is nexxworks’ answer to the leadership development question: not competency frameworks, but mindset shifts. Shane Mc Leod is the most compelling proof point , a coach who transformed Belgium’s hockey team from 15th in the world to Olympic champions through radical culture change and psychological resilience. Cedric Dumont challenges audiences with the idea that discomfort is not a problem to be solved but a capacity to be developed. Ann Wauters and Carolien Van Den Bosch bring elite sport’s lessons on team cohesion and peak performance under pressure.

The new battleground for differentiaton, loyalty and growth.
When every product can be copied and every price can be matched, the experience becomes the brand. nexxworks has long argued that customer centricity is not a department, it is a company-wide obsession. This topic brings that argument to life with speakers who have spent careers proving it. Steven Van Belleghem is Europe’s most compelling voice on the future of customer relationships — what it means to be genuinely helpful, radically relevant, and impossible to replace. Nienke Bloem brings the rigour of CX measurement and the empathy of human-centred design. Ken Hughes unpacks the psychology of the modern consumer, whose expectations are shaped by the best experience they have ever had, anywhere. Together they make the case that marketing and CX are no longer support functions — they are the growth engine.

The Day After Tomorrow is not just digital, it is also green. nexxworks increasingly brings sustainability into its strategic narrative, not as a compliance topic but as a fundamental redesign challenge. The companies that will lead in 2030 and beyond are those that have figured out how to make purpose and profit reinforce each other. Stefaan Vandist is nexxworks’ most focused voice on this theme. Rik Vera connects sustainability to the broader industrial transformation agenda. Mieke De Ketelaere explores how AI and data can become tools for sustainable decision-making. Nancy Rademaker grounds it in customer behaviour, because ultimately, sustainable business starts with what people choose to buy, and why.

The original insight behind nexxworks,that change is not linear but exponential, and that companies must build the discipline to think in Day After Tomorrow terms, sits at the heart of this topic. Where most organisations manage today and plan for tomorrow, nexxworks trains leaders to dedicate real time and real resources to what comes after. Peter Hinssen’s “Never Normal” framework and Rik Vera’s manufacturing-grounded disruption narrative both speak to a world where stability is the anomaly, not the norm. Cedric Dumont adds a visceral dimension: physical discomfort and extreme challenge as a metaphor for embracing what feels impossible until it isn’t.