Speakers

Stijn Bijnens, CEO of the Proximus Group, started his career by creating the network security company NetVision (renamed Ubizen later on). In 2008 he was appointed CEO of the Limburgse Reconversie Maatschappij (LRM). Before joining Proximus, he was the CEO of the Belgian ICT company Cegeka since 2019, where he managed to position the company to be one of the leading ICT companies in Belgium and Europe.

Fabrice De Windt is a senior executive with more than 25 years of experience in the IT and telecom industry. As Proximus NXT Lead, he drives the company's growth strategy, focusing on innovation for customers and on continuously enhancing how Proximus NXT operates and delivers value.

Stijn Ilsen is a satellite engineer at Redwire Space with over 20 years of experience in the European space industry. He played a key role in major missions, including PROBA 3, where he acted as Flight Director during its successful launch in December 2024. Combining deep technical expertise with real-world mission experience, he brings a unique perspective on innovation, leadership and the power of “moonshot thinking” to turn ambitious ideas into reality.

Tom Van de Weghe is a geopolitical and technology expert at VRT NWS, former correspondent in China and the United States, and a Stanford Research Fellow in artificial intelligence. Drawing on firsthand reporting from global power centers and conflict zones, he analyzes the intersection of geopolitics, AI, economic competition and technological sovereignty. His award-winning storytelling and sharp analysis help business leaders and policymakers understand how technology is reshaping the global balance of power.

Guillaume Bour leads Mistral AI's Go-to-Market strategy across Southern Europe, helping enterprises transform with AI. Focusing on delivering customer outcomes and scalable AI transformation, he partners with organizations to deploy Mistral's full AI stack from models to enterprise-grade AI solutions. Before Mistral AI, Guillaume built and scaled high-performing teams in fast-growing tech environments.

Anne-Marie Covemaecker leads Managed & Customized Services at Proximus NXT. With over 25 years of ICT experience, she has managed complex outsourcing, public sector transformation and strategic customer environments for organizations including the Belgian Federal Government, Flemish Government, NATO and Defence. As strong advocate of SIAM, she combines operational excellence with people-centric leadership, business insight and expertise in digital transformation, workforce evolution and talent development.

General Manager at Nipro Europe, John Gesquiere leads innovation and digital transformation initiatives that help shape the future of healthcare. With decades of experience across engineering, R&D, product management, and executive leadership, he combines technology vision with a sharp focus on customer value.

Jannes Labaere is CIO of Plopsa Group and a seasoned IT leader with extensive experience in digital transformation, IT strategy, and service management. He is passionate about turning complex challenges into practical solutions that create measurable business impact.

Since joining Fortinet in 2003, Filippo has played a key role in shaping the company's global technical strategy and customer engagement model across the Enterprise and Telecommunications sectors.
Filippo leads the CSE team, a group of highly knowledgeable, senior experts across all the product lines and business verticals, who are engaged with key customers in cutting edge projects internationally.
With over 25 years of experience in telecommunications, IT, and cyber security, Filippo brings deep technical expertise and a global perspective to his role. His position provides him with unique access to executive conversations across regions, enabling him to share critical insights into industry trends, emerging challenges, and shifting security priorities worldwide.

Frank Callewaert is a technology and thought leader who has over 30 years of experience at the CxO level in an international public sector context. He has been working at Microsoft for 26 years and is part of the company’s Technology Officers community. As a CTO, Frank connects Microsoft’s technology vision with the needs of government and enterprise customers. He anticipates technology trends for the European Union Institutions, Agencies, and Bodies, as well as the Belgian and Luxembourg Customers.

Jan Heijdra is the Field Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Security & AI at Cisco Benelux and Leading Cisco's Critical National Infrastructure team in The Netherlands . In this dual leadership capacity, Jan serves as a trusted executive advisor to C-level leadership, critical infrastructure operators, and enterprise architects navigating the convergence of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and regulatory transformation. With extensive expertise spanning Sovereign AI, AI Security & Governance and European digital resilience mandates (including the EU AI Act, NIS2, and the Cyber Resilience Act), Jan is at the forefront of a team designing resilient, future-ready architectures for Critical National Infrastructure (CNI). A prominent international keynote speaker and thought leader, Jan is renowned for translating complex architectural, geopolitical, and regulatory shifts into actionable commercial and technical strategies that protect innovation and ensure digital sovereignty.

Veerle Delerue is CIO at FOD Financiën / SPF Finances, where she leads the organisation’s digital transformation, technology strategy, and innovation initiatives. She is committed to harnessing technology to deliver secure, efficient, and citizen-centric public services while driving modernisation across the Belgian federal administration.

Raf Peeters is Cybersecurity Practice Lead at Proximus NXT. He leads a team of security specialists helping organisations enhance cyber resilience, manage evolving threats, and accelerate secure digital transformation. With deep expertise in cybersecurity strategy and managed security services, Raf is a recognised voice on cyber resilience and security innovation.

Hervé van Wayenberge is CIO/CTO at Delhaize Belgium & Luxembourg. He previously held senior security roles at Sibelga and Belfius Insurance. He brings extensive expertise in digital transformation, cyber resilience and technology leadership across retail, utilities and financial services.

Dirk Van Deuren is a Client Solutions Specialist at Dell Technologies BeLux, helping organizations modernize the workplace through innovative endpoint, device, and AI-enabled solutions. With extensive experience in digital workplace transformation and end-user computing, he advises customers on building secure, productive, and future-ready work environments.

Els Haentjens is Intelligent Networking Services Lead at Proximus NXT. With over 30 years of experience in telecom and ICT, she helps organizations transform network operations through AI, automation and AIOps, enabling smarter, more proactive and efficient managed services.

Sofien Ben Sassi is Practice Lead Workplace & Customer Engagement at Proximus NXT. He helps organisations modernise their customer interactions through cloud, AI, and omnichannel technologies. With more than a decade of experience in digital transformation, he makes complex innovations tangible and actionable. During the event, he will moderate the panel discussion on AI and its impact on customer engagement, bringing together practical insights, strategic perspectives, and technological expertise.

Katia Battheu is Customer Service Center Division Lead at Proximus, where she is responsible for the transformation and day-to-day management of the Customer Service Center organisation. With a strong focus on customer experience, innovation, digital transformation, and the future of work, she supports teams in embracing new technologies such as AI to empower both employees and customers. In addition, Katia serves as Chair of the Customer Contact & CX Forum, a network that brings together professionals from customer service, customer contact, and customer experience to exchange knowledge, share best practices, and inspire organisations around the future of customer interaction and customer experience. In her role as Chair, she fosters dialogue on innovation, digital transformation, and the human dimension of customer experience.

Stefaan De Backer is Head of Customer Experience & Contact Center at Argenta, where he leads the strategy and transformation of customer interactions. He focuses on enhancing service quality, driving digitalisation, and leveraging technology to improve both customer experience and operational efficiency. With extensive experience in customer journeys, operational excellence, and people leadership, he is committed to building modern, human-centred customer engagement models.

Jérémy Lambot is a Technology Innovation Lead at Ageas Group, driving the exploration, adoption, and scaling of emerging technologies, including AI, digital platforms, and quantum computing, across Ageas insurance entities in Europe and Asia. He focuses on defining strategic priorities, navigating emerging technology risks, and preparing the organization for future disruption. With strong expertise in digital transformation, data and AI strategy, and technology governance, he supports Ageas entities in building resilience and advancing their transition toward quantum-ready and quantum-safe environments.

Tom Engels is Proposition Lead at Proximus NXT Netherlands. With more than twenty years of experience within the organization, he has built extensive expertise in managed IT- infrastructure solutions and services. In his current role, Tom develops the portfolio strategy in multiple technology areas including secure connectivity, cybersecurity and quantum-safe networking. He translates emerging technologies and compliance requirements into practical solutions that support organizations in their digital transformation.

Gwénaëlle Hervé is Digital Sovereignty Lead at Proximus NXT, responsible for the strategy, development, and commercialization of digital sovereign solutions. She leads a team developing innovative sovereign digital services in collaboration with leading Global and European technology partners. Working at the intersection of business, technology, and partnerships, she helps organizations adopt secure, compliant, and sovereign cloud and AI solutions while shaping the future of trusted digital infrastructure across the Benelux.

Olaf Wallaart is a Lead Data Scientist at CM.com, where he works on HALO, CM.com's agentic AI platform, helping organizations move beyond AI pilots to systems that actually hold up in production. With a background in data science and natural language processing, he brings a hands-on, technical perspective to how businesses turn customer data into real-time, personalized interactions. Olaf regularly speaks on agentic AI, data strategy and AI literacy, drawing on his experience helping CM.com's own teams and its customers move past the hype and get real use cases into production. He is particularly focused on the gap between what AI promises and what most organizations are actually equipped to execute today, and on what it takes to close that gap.

Femke Vandoninck is the HR lead of Proximus NXT in Belgium with +20 years of experience in HR within the Proximus Group. She helps the Proximus NXT management teams with their talent strategies and execution and makes sure that in this people driven organization the right skills are available to deliver value to our customers.

Kristof Spriet is Smart Network Portfolio Lead at Proximus NXT, where he and his team analyse market developments and customer needs to define the strategy for secure, resilient and future-proof enterprise connectivity. With more than 20 years of experience across network engineering, solution design and product management, he helps shape the evolution of enterprise connectivity, from fixed networks to 5G fixed wireless access integrated into SD-WAN . Kristof connects that strategy with technology and operational reality, turning complex developments into networking solutions that can be delivered and managed at scale. His work on quantum-safe SD-WAN reflects his practical approach to preparing networks for what comes next.

Colonel Karl Samyn is a senior Belgian Defence officer and the Director CIS Material Management, responsible for the planning, acquisition, support, and lifecycle management of Defence communication and information systems. A graduate telecommunications engineer from the Royal Military Academy (148th Polytechnique Promotion), he has more than 25 years of experience in mission-critical ICT, secure communications, and defence networks.

TBA

As a 5G Business Development Manager, Jurgen is known for translating complex technological evolutions into tangible business opportunities.

Samir El Makrini is Sales Director Manufacturing & Transport /Logistics at Proximus NXT and an active contributor to Agoria's OT cybersecurity community and workgroup. Passionate about industrial cybersecurity and digital transformation, he works closely with organisations to secure critical operational environments and drive greater cyber resilience. At Think NXT, Samir will moderate the panel discussion on OT Security, bringing both industry expertise and a broad perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing operational technology today.

Bojan Spasić leads the cybersecurity programme at Sirris, the collective innovation centre for Belgian tech industry, helping Belgian technology and manufacturing companies strengthen their cyber-resilience, secure their infrastructure, and comply with strict European regulations.

Dimitri Brems is an ICT Program Manager at Het Facilitair Bedrijf (HFB), a central service agency within the Flemish Government. He drives large-scale ICT infrastructure, networking, and connectivity initiatives that help create a future-proof, sustainable, and inspiring work environment for public sector employees. With extensive experience in enterprise networking, infrastructure modernisation, and cybersecurity, Dimitri focuses on building secure and resilient digital environments that support public services and critical building operations. Working at the intersection of technology, infrastructure, and operational needs, he collaborates with stakeholders and technology partners to turn strategic ambitions into practical solutions.

Zsolt Portik-Szabo is a Senior Product Lead focused on digital identity, AI risk scoring, and fraud prevention. Leveraging more than 10 years of experience across telecommunications, enterprise technology, and strategic data partnerships, he builds products and alliances that protect global organizations against online fraud and abuse.