When digitization strikes an industry, changes come faster than most traditional players can prepare for. Yet, with all unpredictability that comes along with disruption there are some fixed rules that one can prepare for. This makes mobility a real example of an industry in the midst of disruption. Carlo van de Weijer will highlight the most important future trends within mobility, from uberization to self-driving vehicles and electrification. Yet mainly as an example of how disruption can strike, and how to deal with a future that is harder to predict than ever before. 

In this session participants will learn how we will move around in the future, and, perhaps more important, why we will do so.  

The mobility industry is in full disruption with loads of new technologies filling the headlines. The car has evolved from a mechanical device into a “data producing embedded software platform”, and the internet is quickly linking the supply and demand to effectively fulfil our transport needs. Self-driving vehicles, electrification, drones, hyperloops, sustainable aviation fuels, electric scooters: the entire hype cycle can be filled with new predicted breakthroughs.  

Just like every industry that is confronted with disruption, the changes come faster than most traditional players can prepare for with an outcome that is harder to predict. Yet, with all unpredictability that comes along with disruption there are some fixed rules that one can prepare for when combining the potential of technology development with the predictable needs of people. 

The expected rapid change in technology towards cheaper, safer, greener and far better vehicles and services will redefine a lot of traditional dogmas in the mobility area. Carlo van de Weijer will distinguish the sense from thenonsense on the mobility developments and picture how we travel and remain connected in the future. With some clear lessons for other industries.  

Machines will, sooner or later, have higher calculation power than humans, which in principle also could make them smarter as we are. What do such smart and powerful machines mean for society, for work, for our added value as human beings? Can we have feelings for robots? Can robots have feelings for us? And what do we have to do to prevent things going out of hand? In any case we cannot deny the fact that we will be joined by thinking machines. Carlo van de Weijer gives examples of the impact of robotics for industry, mobility, health and other segments and tries to retrieve some lessons from examples in the real world that can make you prepare for the world still to come. 

Automation seems to be sweeping through companies relentlessly, canceling out obsolete jobs and creating new types of jobs. Some future predictions show “lights-out”-factories where resources flow in on the one side and products come out on the other side, costing marginally more than the resources themselves. Will Artificial Intelligence create a similar wave of job replacement in the knowledge industry and, unlike earlier waves, create massive unemployment? Or will this fear again come untrue and will we again find new jobs that today haven’t even been invented yet?  

How can we prepare for that and how should we educate the future generation for such an indistinct future? In any case, technological development will also directly affect the way we lead organizations. In a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world, traditional control-and-command management appears to be replaced by more value- and purpose-driven leadership. With a high level of empowerment and self-steering where the factors that matter most are the hardest to measure.  

For managerial professionals at every level of their career, this session will help to get insight in the different way that human resources will function in an organization where artificial intelligence resources are essential co-workers, and what leadership is required for such a new reality. 

In this session, participants will gain insight into how our energy system is undergoing one of the most fundamental transitions in history — from scarcity to abundance. While headlines often focus on problems and limits, this talk offers a fact-based and optimistic pathway forward. 

Energy has always been the engine behind human progress, and access to cheap, clean, and abundant energy will define the coming decades. Yet, the road to net-zero is not without major challenges: inadequate grids, surging demand for critical materials, political inertia, and flawed economic incentives. 

Still, just like in other sectors, technological innovation offers the key. From exponential growth in renewables and storage to smarter grids and systemic energy solutions, the transition is not only feasible — it is inevitable. Participants will leave with a refreshed understanding of what’s broken in the current energy debate, what solutions are already emerging, and how to think about energy policy, economics, and equity in a world rapidly moving toward abundance. 

Carlo van de Weijer will how to reframe energy not as a crisis to manage, but as an opportunity to unlock the next level of global development — with some clear takeaways for policymakers, engineers, investors, and anyone shaping the future. 

The attraction of urbanized areas, and more specific cities seems is a world-wide trend that seems not to be stopped. In parallel with this trend we see the number of smart city projects explode. Most commonly, a smart city is defined as an urban area that uses different types of electronic data collection sensors to supply information which is used to manage assets and resources efficiently. But in the meantime, the exponential growth of data retrieved by private parties appears to be much faster and often leaves city initiatives in its shadow. Real smart cities therefore cooperate with private companies and citizens to make the maximum out of the huge potential of technological development. Carlo van de Weijer shares his experience in smart cities and mobility to picture the most important trends in urbanization. What exactly is a smart city doing in practice? Does it require a specific infrastructure? Or should we rather aim for stupid cities to end up with a smarter society? 

Automation seems to be sweeping through companies relentlessly, canceling out obsolete jobs, creating new types of jobs. Industry 4.0 promises factories where resources come in the one side and products come out on the other side, costing marginally more than the resources themselves. Will Artificial Intelligence create a next wave of job replacement, and unlike earlier waves create massive unemployment, or will this fear again come untrue and will we again find new jobs that today haven’t even been invented yet? How can we prepare for that and how should we educate the future generation for such an indistinct future? Carlo van de Weijer will present the trends and give guidelines on how the future of work might look. What Jobs are secure and what jobs are destined to be replace, and how much should we care and how should we prepare? 

Technological disruption is affecting every part of our lives; every business, every industry, our society, our personal lives. It also directly affects the way we lead organizations. In a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world, traditional control-and-command management seem to be quickly replaced by value and purpose-driven leadership. With a high level of empowerment and self-steering and a clear sense that the most important stuff is hardest to measure. Although there is certainly a dependence on what industry you are in, or what phase of life your company is in, the purpose-led exponential leadership will clearly gain ground. Carlo van de Weijer shares his experience in executive positions in both large corporate environments as well as exponential companies, and from the student teams and start-ups he helped setting up. He will highlight the details that make the difference. To achieve this new type of leadership we need pioneers, change makers, game changers – people who embrace change and see it as an opportunity to grow and make a difference. But without losing contact with everyday reality