Peter Hinssen

Keynote Speaker

Peter Hinssen's Biography

Peter Hinssen is a global keynote speaker, bestselling author, business school lecturer, LinkedIn Top Voice, serial entrepreneur, trusted board member, startup investor and the world’s leading innovation, technology and leadership expert. 

Pathological Optimist

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

Keynote Speaker & Lecturer

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, HP, SAS, Microsoft, Gartner, Danone, HSBC, London Business School, Sanofi, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and many more. He also lectures at renowned business schools like the London Business School and the MIT Sloan School of Management. 

Bestselling Author

Peter is the author of five bestselling business books. 'The Phoenix and The Unicorn' (2020) is a book about Phoenixes: 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.

Serial Entrepreneur

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 helps inspire and connect organizations to thrive in the Never Normal. 

Board Member

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

Keynote & Masterclass Details:  

The Never Normal

We’re at a crossroads. Certainly since the COVID-19 crisis but even before that, we have been evolving into a world with many new types of disruptions. There’s this potent cocktail of global platforms, information, intelligence, and automation that is accelerating the pace of change. But technology is no longer the biggest driver of disruption. What’s coming at us is ecological, biological, societal and geopolitical in nature and this is just the beginning.

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.

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.

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.

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? 

Innovation Strategy Masterclass

The world is more fluid and unpredictable than ever, presenting business leaders with many economic, geopolitical, societal and ecological challenges. Some see these Never Normal evolutions as a threat, but our Executive Masterclass by world leading innovation experts Peter Hinssen and Pascal Coppens has been designed to help you see possibilities:

How can you turn these Never Normal challenges into innovative business strategies?

What can companies learn from both Western and Chinese innovation?