AI For Finance

Michaël Van Droogenbroeck is a journalist at VRT, the Flemish Public Broadcasting Company. He follows financial, economic and political news. He is also the author of books on money and finance.

Your Castle in the Cloud: Secure Walls, Open Gates?

Martin Butler is the MBA Director and Professor in Digital Business at Vlerick Business School in Belgium, and a visiting professor at the American University in Cairo, University of Galway in Ireland, and Stellenbosch University in South Africa. His expertise lies at the intersection of digital transformation, AI, Digital Resilience and helping organisations unlock business value through technology. He develops courses in AI and digital technologies, delivers AI keynotes, and advises organisations on building digital resilience.

Martin has published more than 15 articles in accredited journals and conference proceedings, regularly contributes insights to business and technology media, and has presented his work at numerous academic and practitioner conferences around the world. He serves on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Enterprise Information Systems and continues to play an active role in shaping the discourse on digital business practices and education.

Even the best protected organisations may be exposed through unseen vulnerabilities.In this masterclass, we explore how your castle, no matter how secure, may still have wide open gates showing the latest evolutions and cyber positioning framework to provide a diagnostic opportunity and practical path forward.

AI Won’t Lead—You Must: The Leadership Challenge of Our Time

Ann Caluwaerts brings over 35 years of leadership experience across Business & Innovation, HR, Strategy, Communications, Corporate Affairs, and Transformation. She has held executive roles at Telenet and BT, serving as a member of their executive teams. Ann currently holds board mandates at Imec, Cofinimmo, ECS, and Bpost, and serves on the advisory board of the Flemish government for Innovation as well as the STEM Platform.

Renowned for her combination of technological expertise and human-centric leadership, Ann is widely recognized as a purpose-driven leader. Her experience enables her to deliver inspiring keynotes on leadership and technology. .Ann holds a Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering from KU Leuven and has completed executive education programs at institutions such as INSEAD, Columbia University, and London Business School.

We are entering an era where machines can automate tasks, generate content, and even make decisions—but they still can’t replace human judgment, ethical leadership, or emotional intelligence. And yet, as the capabilities of AI expand, so too does the pressure on leaders to understand and guide its impact. Today, more than 75% of AI transformations fail—not because the technology isn’t ready, but because leadership isn’t. Leaders often fail to ask the right questions, to align AI with real business challenges, and to bring their people along in the journey.

In short: AI is not just a technological revolution—it is the greatest leadership challenge of our time. In this inspiring keynote, Ann Caluwaerts will explore:

•The strategic questions CFOs must ask in an AI-shaped world

•How AI implementation can be aligned with vision and strategy to deliver value

•How to create a culture where innovation, performance and integrity coexist

•Why trust is the foundation of every successful transformation

Because here’s the truth: employees will never trust AI if they don’t trust their leaders. In an age of machines, it’s human leadership that will matter more than ever to deliver true value out of your AI transformation

AI: From Science Fiction to Everyday Life

Rudy Aernoudt is an experienced Professor Corporate Finance and European policy and has an outstanding International and European experience (MIT, OECD, European commission, European Council and European Social and Economic Committee). He, what is unique, occupied Chief of Staff (Director of Cabinet) positions at different governance levels (Europe, Belgium, Flanders, Wallonia). He was Secretary-General for Economy, Science and Innovation, director-general of OLPC (one laptop per child, spinoff MIT) and curator TEDx Brussels. He is professor Corporate Finance at the universities of Ghent, Nancy and professor geopolitics, macro-economy and monetary policy at the BMI - MBA program (1st ranked MBA in Europe, founded by HEC Paris and Louvain Management School).

He holds Masters (triple cum laude) in Thomistic Philosophy (University of Leuven), in Industrial and Monetary Economy (University of Leuven) and in European economy (college of Europe).

Co-founder of EBAN, the European Business Angels Network, founder of FREE (the Foundation for the Research on Education and Entrepreneurship), founder of Growth Academy for Enterprises, European Chair of the WBAF (World Business Angel Forum) and Vice-President of the WCSA (World Complexity Science Academy), co-founder of SID (www.sidnetwork.eu) and member of the European foresight task-force.

Besides, he is columnist (FD Magazine, Made In, CXO and Trends) and author of several books (45+) and papers (500+) on corporate finance, ethics, geopolitics and economics. He published in Journals such as Small Business economics, Journal of Entrepreneurial Culture, Venture Capital & Ekonomiaz. His handbooks 'Financial Management in Practice' (third edition, 2023, Intersentia Cambridge)) and ‘Entrepreneurship, a mindset (Athenapublishers, 2024), both published by are widely used both in academic and business world. He expressed his vision on the future of Belgium is his book ‘Flandre, Wallonia, je t’aime moi non plus (2006) a bestseller, and in ‘Corona crisis: an electroshock for Belgium?’ (in French & Dutch) and on Europe is his book ‘Europe: Towards a new impetus post-Brexit’ (2023).

He received several awards such as the price for democracy Aron-Condorcet, the price for political mood Belgium, architect of the best regional entrepreneurship plan Europe, the WBAIF world-award for advancing the agenda for Business Angels worldwide and the life achievement award from EBAN. He was elected by the Wall Street Journal as "the hero for European entrepreneurship” and considered as the father of the business angels in Europe.

What once belonged to the realm of science fiction has become our daily reality. Therefore, as the world grows increasingly complex, relying on the past to forecast the future becomes less effective. This is why alternative approaches, such as scenario thinking, are essential. In this keynote, Rudy Aernoudt will explain how to identify when scenario thinking is necessary and how to enhance readiness for the future. Furthermore, he will highlight the growing importance of ethical considerations in every business model.