Peter Van Hees

Innovation Manager @ KBC Bank & Verzekeringen

Keynote / Fast Forward into the future… to a world where everything, everything is different!

13:30, Auditorium – Peter Van Hees

The inspiring presentations are all around us… from “black swans”, “digital transformation”, to the definition of the “new normal”.

As human beings we have arrived in the era of ever accelerating transformation, with dramatic changes that are happening faster and faster: from prehistoric loner to globetrotting social smartphone addict, and the next mixed reality trend is already smiling upon us.

Speculating about the future is a very exciting activity: no fortune tellers and crystal ball, but guiding our thoughts using ‘science facts’: a healthy doses of realism combined which current trends, technological advances, medical breakthroughs and other facts.

On the basis of a long list of concepts we fast forward through a timeline of future history. The purpose of the presentation is simple: inspire everyone with insights into the countless opportunities that the future will bring us.

Are you ready for this roller coaster?

Biography /

The simple question “what’s your current job role?” receives an creative multi-dimensional answer: “Sorcerer of Innovation, Artificial Intelligence Alchemists, Trend Watcher, Keynote Speaker & … Proud Product Owner of KBC K’Ching”.

In essence Peter is an Innovation Manager: a Business Analyst focused on the implementation of innovative projects. In his work, he is challenged to actively launch products and services that address and reflect the new and upcoming expectations of customer:

As Sorcerer of Innovation, he is focused on researching what customers want before they do. The goal is to understand which experiments have the potential to be applied more widely to improve the financial and insurance services of customers.
As Artificial Intelligence Alchemists, he is actively working on experiments that include Artificial Intelligence algorithms, Mixed Reality, and Cognitive Services. The goal is to understand the limitation (maturity) of new technology; this includes writing the lines of alpha code to assembly the first prototypes.
As Trend Watcher and Keynote Speaker he passionately shares innovative insights; trying to map the upcoming trends into an envisioned future. As an (extremely) early adoptor, he is actively leading the change management process with his future casting presentations.

In his career, Peter has moved from ICT roles into Business responsibilities. The technical background and insight he has gained, combined with strong business and communications skill, have resulted in multiple job responsibilities: from Architect to Project and Engagement Manager, Business Analyst and finally into the Innovation Manager role.

Peter had the privilege to work for several industry leading companies; including KBC, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, AB Inbev (Interbrew) and Proximus (Belgacom).