Degroof Petercam’s Entrepreneurs Summit

Vlaamse Ondernemers Top 2023
For four years now, Degroof Petercam has been organizing the Flemish Entrepreneurs Summit. In that time, the event has become a tradition that business leaders are keen to attend.

During the most recent Flemish Entrepreneurs Summit, three experts entered into a debate on "Industry 4.0 & AI", a topic that is currently causing commotion, and raises many questions in the business world. The purpose of this event was to explain its usefulness, consequences and practical application.

Partners speaking

An Nowé
An Nowé
Professor and Head of AI Lab VUB
With the recent launch of many applications that introduce artificial intelligence to the general public - think, for example, of the rise of ChatGPT - there is suddenly a real hype around AI. However, the algorithms are not new: the AI lab at VUB was already established in 1983. Those who want to implement AI in their companies would be wise to first start with a small group of employees, focusing on a very concrete problem in their own organization. The big difficulty is that you have to make two translations: first you have to successfully translate your dilemma into a mathematical problem, and then you have to apply its solution - that is, the algorithm - in practice.
Evert Bulcke
Evert Bulcke
CEO Rombit
Currently, we are experiencing the fourth generation of industrialization. After digitization, automation and the cloud, self-learning applications are now in full development. I think we will have to question our current income from labor model as in the future value will be created in an automated way. This evolution is already happening and will affect all sectors, of that I am convinced. Applications such as fintechs, Advocate on the Go, and you name it, will increasingly displace traditional labor. We are also going to see real robots emerge that exhibit intelligent behavior and are able to take over human tasks. Not tomorrow, but already within say five to 10 years.