Peter Hinssen Keynote Speaker

Author of "The Phoenix and the Unicorn"
Lecturer at the London Business School
Innovation strategist and LinkedIn Top Voice

Peter Hinssen's Biography

Peter Hinssen likes to describe himself as a pathological optimist. He firmly believes that companies can and should build a better, brighter and bolder Day After Tomorrow.

Peter is the author of five bestselling business books. ‘The Phoenix and The Unicorn‘ (2020) is a book about companies that are able to rethink themselves in cycles, just like the mythical bird. ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ (2017) is about the benefits of long-term thinking in times of radical innovation. ‘The Network Always Wins’ (2014) explains how and why companies have no choice but to become a network when the outside world has evolved into one. In ‘The New Normal’ (2010), Peter writes about how companies should explore the limits of the digital world, and what happens when technology just becomes ‘normal’. ‘Business/IT Fusion’ (2008) is a guide about how to solve the conflict between business and IT.

For more than fifteen years, Peter led a life of technology start-ups. His first company e-COM was acquired by Alcatel-Lucent, his second, Streamcase, by Belgacom, and Across Technology by Delaware Consulting. His third venture (Porthus) was quoted on the stock exchange in 2006 and acquired by Descartes. Between start-ups, he has been an Entrepreneur in Residence with McKinsey & Company, with a focus on digital and technology strategy. Peter’s current company nexxworks inspires and connects organizations so that they can thrive in the Never Normal.

Peter is a top-ranked and world-class speaker on technological evolution, innovation strategy and adaptive leadership. He brings his content with a unique combination of depth, clarity, positivity, and a dry sense of humor.

Peter has collaborated with Fortune 1000 companies and leading brands like Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Accenture, LVMH, Hermes, HP, Microsoft, Bloomberg, Gartner, Danone, Chanel, LinkedIn, HSBC, Airbus, Sanofi, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Honeywell, SAS and many more. He also lectures at renowned business schools like the London Business School and the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Peter is a multiple board advisor at leading companies like Belfius, Mediahuis and Ergon Capital on subjects related to innovation and technology.

The Era of Augmented Intelligence

Everybody is talking about AI, but the discussion tends to center around the two extremes of hype or doomism. In this keynote filled with practical examples and cases, Peter Hinssen wants to demystify AI in order to provide his audience with a profound and nuanced story of both the challenges and the immense potential of this technology. These are the 4 pillars of his presentation:

Evolution of Artificial Intelligence - From Then to Tomorrow

Application of AI - Realities and Responsibilities

Implementing AI - Leveraging Power and Getting Started

Phoenix Potential - Transforming with the Power of AI

In this uniquely topical keynote, Peter starts by outlining the disruptive journey of Artificial Intelligence (AI) from its inception to the dawn of generative AI and beyond. He delves into some historical milestones, the resurgence of neural networks, and the advancements in machine learning and deep learning that have set the stage for the current era of AI. He also emphasizes the applications and implications of generative AI across various sectors, forecasting future innovations that promise to redefine the field.

Addressing the realities of AI, Peter debunks common myths, setting realistic expectations for AI's capabilities and limitations. He highlights the challenges of interpretability, biases, and privacy concerns in AI applications, advocating for responsible use through effective governance and ethical frameworks. This segment of his keynote underscores the critical balance between innovation and ethical considerations in leveraging AI's potential.

In guiding businesses on implementing AI, Peter provides a practical roadmap for leveraging AI to enhance operations, improve decision-making, and gain a competitive edge. He discusses assessing organizational readiness, selecting the right AI technologies, and fostering an AI-centric culture. The focus is on the strategic integration of AI, emphasizing data quality, model acquisition and overcoming operational and cultural challenges to foster innovation and growth.

Concluding with the transformative power of AI in this Never Normal era of constant change, Peter inspires businesses to embrace AI as a catalyst for radical innovation and continuous improvement. Through case studies of phoenix companies that have successfully leveraged AI, he illustrates its role in driving innovation, optimizing operations, and identifying market trends. In doing so, he encourages businesses to harness AI's potential, turning their current challenges into opportunities for innovation and growth.

AI Unveiled: moving beyond the hype in East and West

In the rapidly evolving landscape of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the discourse tends to fluctuate between extremes: hype versus doomism and West versus East (China in particular). This joint keynote - featuring innovation strategy and tech expert Peter Hinssen and China keynote speaker Pascal Coppens - seeks to navigate beyond these binaries, offering a nuanced but profound exploration of AI's transformative potential as well as its challenges.

Peter Hinssen sets the scene, taking his audience on a journey from AI's early days to the cutting-edge era of generative AI. He presents realistic expectations for AI's capabilities and limitations, while highlighting its transformative impact across sectors and the need for responsible implementation. He also offers a strategic roadmap for businesses to integrate AI, emphasizing the importance of organizational readiness, ethical use amidst growing concerns of interpretability, bias and privacy, and fostering an AI-centric culture. Through practical case stories from Walmart, JPMorgan, McKinsey and more Peter illustrates how AI can drive innovation, enhance operations, and secure a competitive advantage. His message is clear: AI is not just a technological advancement but a catalyst for radical change, empowering Phoenix businesses to rise in this Never Normal era of constant change, with newfound strength and innovation. His vision encourages leaders to view AI as an opportunity for growth, leveraging its capabilities to navigate the future confidently.

Pascal Coppens will present China as a compelling case study of how a nation's strategic investment in AI can redefine global standards of innovation and technology, while zooming in on what business leaders can learn from that. In 2015, China set its sights on becoming the global AI leader by 2030—a vision rapidly becoming reality as evidenced by the pioneering AI technologies of TikTok, Baidu's autonomous vehicles, and Ant Financial's payment systems. The US response, restricting China's access to AI resources in 2020, only underscored China's leading position in the AI race. With the rise of Generative AI, China surged ahead, supported by proactive government policies and achieving over 250 large language models (mostly B2B) by 2023, including Baidu's 'Ernie bot'. Pascal dives into China's transformation into a global AI innovation hub within just eight years. Through compelling stories from giants like Baidu, Huawei, and Ant Group, he'll explore how China is reshaping the landscapes of work, service, creation, and more—offering profound insights and scalable models for the global stage. China's journey illustrates not just technological advancement but a strategic playbook for leveraging AI to redefine industries and innovate at unprecedented scales.

The Phoenix and the Unicorn

Unicorn start-ups are brilliant. But, let’s be honest, very few of us will start one, become one, or work for one. Most of us are connected to large companies that often struggle to keep themselves relevant for the ever-changing customer. That’s why this keynote is about a creature that’s just as magical but perhaps offers a more realistic inspiration: the Phoenix. These are the companies that – just like this mythical bird – are able to rethink themselves in cycles: time and time again they rise from the ashes of the old, and come out stronger than ever before. They are the Walmarts, the Volvos, the Disneys, the Apples, the Microsofts, the Ping Ans, the Assa Abloys and AT&Ts of this world.

This keynote is about understanding what is happening in a world of constant change. It’s about observing and trying to learn from the Unicorns. But primarily, it tells the story of how companies can ACT on their Day After Tomorrow, and how they can apply innovation as an antidote to a radically changing environment. It doesn’t just zoom in on WHAT you need to do in order to innovate, but also on HOW you can make innovation a reality in your organization.

From the deceivingly simple Hourglass model, to the types of innovation, company culture, organizational disruption, platforms, customer experience, organizational structure and many inspiring innovation cases: if you are working in a traditional business or market, this keynote will help you reinvent yourself like a Phoenix.

Never Normal Masterclass

The world is more unpredictable than ever, presenting business leaders with many economic, geopolitical, societal and ecological challenges. Some see these Never Normal evolutions as a threat, but this Executive Masterclass with Peter Hinssen and CX and company culture expert Steven Van Belleghem has been designed to help you see possibilities, from two sides:

How can you turn these challenges into innovative business strategies?

How can you design a culture that actively puts customers and their needs at the core of your company?

1. Innovation strategy

Innovation strategy and tech expert Peter Hinssen will help you uncover how your company can embrace this era of constant change and turn it into a competitive advantage, by:

Fostering a Day After Tomorrow (long term oriented) mindset

Building a Never Normal-proof innovation strategy

Readjusting your leadership, culture and organizational structures

Understanding and leveraging geopolitical risks and opportunities

Becoming immune to disruption

Reinventing your company like a Phoenix

2. Customer culture and strategy

Every company wants to be customer centric, yet few seem to succeed. Customer Experience expert Steven Van Belleghem will help you build an “Offer you can’t refuse” for your customers by redesigning your culture in an active way, by:

Fostering a positive mindset through the ‘Top Gun Effect’

Expanding your ‘Circle of Influence’

Becoming a ‘Partner in Life’ for your customers

Building real CX credibility towards your team

Developing the ‘Customer Flywheel’

Driving ‘Effective Empathy’

Combining the power of technology with a deeply human approach

The Never Normal Masterclass is available in 3 formats:

Turbo: an in-depth one day crash course, including all the topics described above.

Supercharged: a more collaborative two day program, including tailored workshops.

Condensed: a highly concentrated half day online course, containing all the necessary basics.

He helps organisations build a better “Day After Tomorrow” by translating technological evolution into long-term innovation strategy and adaptive leadership decisions.
He brings founder-level credibility from building multiple technology start-ups through acquisition and scale, giving leaders practical lessons on reinvention, growth and execution in the Never Normal.
He equips executives to design organisations that thrive in networked markets through his bestselling work on becoming faster, more connected and more customer-responsive.
He combines entrepreneurial experience with board-level advisory work, helping leadership teams stress-test priorities, investment choices and operating models as disruption accelerates.
He delivers world-class keynotes with depth, clarity and optimism, leaving audiences with a concrete playbook for turning uncertainty into momentum.