Steven van Belleghem

Today, AI feels like an unstoppable superpower for businesses.

Efficiency, productivity, cost savings — it’s everywhere.

But if we only focus on internal improvements, we risk becoming irrelevant to our customers faster than we think.

The forgotten side of AI: the customer.
While companies race to optimize their operations, AI is quietly reshaping customer behavior and expectations — profoundly and permanently.
Customers will search differently. They’ll expect instant, conversational service — ChatGPT-level responsiveness.
They will gravitate toward brands that feel easy, personal, and trustworthy — and abandon those that don’t.

The real mission isn’t just to work smarter inside our walls. It’s to use this moment to create new customer value — to stay deeply relevant in a world where expectations are changing at lightning speed.

We are living through a Customer Experience Renaissance.
New technologies.
New behaviors.
New expectations.
It’s time to fundamentally rethink how we build relationships with our customers.

This moment calls for bold, creative answers to four critical questions:

• How can we use AI to create the ultimate convenience — where engaging with us feels effortless?
• How can we use AI to create new value propositions — offering experiences and services customers didn’t even know they wanted?
• In a world where automation threatens to turn brands into commodities, how can we reignite the emotional power of our brand story?
• And most importantly: how can we prove to customers that we truly value their business — building trust and loyalty in an era of intelligent machines?

The companies that dare to rethink customer relationships today won’t just survive the AI revolution — they’ll lead it.

Having a great product and offering good service is a minimum requirement in today’s market space. It’s your ticket to ride, not your ticket to win. And the same can be said about digital convenience. Convenience is a commodity these days: if you have it, ‘fine’; if you don’t, it becomes a negative differentiator. Buying a quality product in a convenient way creates a strong transactional relationship but if you want to give your customers ‘an offer they can’t refuse’, you need to do more. In this keynote, Steven inspires you to become a ‘partner in life’ of your customers. A partner in life understands what people need and provides it at the right time in a completely personalized way. In addition to this strategy, more and more customers expect you to use your strengths to change the world for the better. The moment you can be a partner in life and create value for society on top of your minimum requirements, that’s when you’re presenting your customers with ‘an offer they can’t refuse’. This keynote will inspire you with examples from companies from all over the world who adopted this approach to make a difference for their clients.

There is a big paradox in the world of customer experience right now: every company has wonderful intentions to make their customers happy but in reality the quality of execution is often average to low. In many cases, the best intentions don’t progress beyond the PowerPoint presentation. Over the past twelve years, Steven has spoken extensively with thousands of CX professionals and his conclusion is that most companies are a ‘diamond in the rough’ in terms of customer experience: they want it so badly but they don’t succeed. In this brand-new keynote Steven explains how to transform that diamond in the rough into a shiny diamond. This is a story about infusing your organization with real Customer Culture. This narrative will help you understand why teams don’t act upon your request to become more customer centric; it will make you see how small changes make a huge difference and it will give you the right tools to install a customer culture throughout your organization.

There is an urgent need for an extreme transformation of the customer relationship. Customers live in a world of self-service, big data, customer automation and the integration of the online & offline world. Failing to implement the digital relationship puts your company’s future on the line. A successful digital transformation is key but it will not be enough. Due to the digital evolution, your customer relationship needs to change on a human level as well. The key challenges in this regard are both numerous and interesting: finding a balance in the relationship between man and machine, outlining the role of the human touch and using the power to connect people with people to maximum advantage. Steven guides you through his famous story ’When digital becomes human’. It’s a narrative about the combination of the digital and the human transformation in your customer strategy. This story takes you on a journey to the future. It is provocative, exciting and scary at the same time. Enjoy this amazing ride!

Artificial Intelligence has the power to change the customer relationship forever. We all believe tech is cool and shiny but our focus on the tech part can blind us to other aspects. In this keynote Steven demonstrates that not tech but customer benefits should be the guiding star in your decision making. Using AI to create faster than real time service, hyper personalized offerings and the highest convenience levels possible generate value for your organization. In this presentation you will find inspiration on how to get ready for that customer relationship of the day after tomorrow. You will hear concrete examples and anecdotes on how artificial intelligence really makes a difference for your customers.