VIP Evening 2026: Artificial intelligence, reshaping policy and jobs

You can take a look at more photos from the evening here, watch our ‘after movie’, and find even more material with our speakers and members in the complete event playlist.

This year, two high-impact keynotes cut through the hype around artificial intelligence to focus on what truly matters. Professor Lode Lauwaert, Philosopher of Technology at KU Leuven, opened by looking into whether calls to ban highly intelligent AI are sound policy or misplaced fear, weighing strategic and existential risks against the cost of falling behind. “Should we ban superintelligence?” he questioned. With highly intelligent AI, including superintelligence and artificial general intelligence (AGI), on the verge of becoming the biggest digital disruption yet, some experts are already calling for a global ban on the technology. Is this sensible policy or pure panic? What are the strategic and existential risks, as well as the unprecedented advantages for first-movers. What is the price of slowing down, and the cost of falling behind?

Lieven Van Nieuwenhuyze, Chief Digital Officer at House of HR and guest lecturer at Antwerp Management School, then highlighted how small, practical AI tools are already reshaping jobs and careers, and can in fact have a disproportionate impact. Using live demonstrations of real tools, he showed how everyday copilots, generative systems and decision-support applications are already altering how work is done. His presentation confronted the central tension shaping the future of work: automation or augmentation? And it dove into how the same AI capability can eliminate tasks in one role, radically amplify productivity in another, or redefine skill requirements altogether. Finally, Lieven explored the utopian and dystopian narratives surrounding AI and employment, drawing on recent academic research to separate evidence from hype, within a grounded, engaging perspective on how AI is truly reshaping careers, not someday, but now.

We wrapped up the presentations with a snapshot of what to expect from Beltug in the coming year. CEO Danielle Jacobs discussed some of the initiatives Beltug introduced in 2025, and what we have in the works for 2026. With over 3000 members from 540+ organisations, our members are a virtual treasury of knowledge, and Beltug is committed to co-creating tools that deliver true value.

Among others, we will continue to focus on legal & regulatory. Through our collaboration with our sister CIO organisations Cigref (France), CIO Platform Nederland and VOICE (Germany) we engaged with the EU Commissioner for Tech Sovereignty. Furthermore, to meet the growing demand for peer-to-peer discussions, we are launching new initiatives on Microsoft, public tendering and vendor management.