SparkOptimus

🌐 With (Gen) AI developments happening at an unprecedented speed, businesses are required to rapidly roll out new technologies.   However, many rush into large technology investments without fully understanding the practical potential, often leading to a subpar experience and slower outputs. In a recent webinar, our Senior Partner Michiel Bos shared key insights to prevent common pitfalls: 🚀 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀: By providing specific support where needed, local teams can test Gen AI initiatives faster to prove its value before scaling. 🥇 𝗔𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿-𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵: Focus on understanding customers' needs and behaviors at every step to align the technology with real-world demands, rather than pushing tech for the sake of innovation. 🔧 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮���𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Ensure clear ownership of global-local coordination, focusing on streamlining processes at the operational level. More insights like this? Stay tuned for our next webinar at https://lnkd.in/e8Gdr4FC ⭐

2025 is marked by rapid innovation in AI, requiring businesses to swiftly adapt to stay competitive. We're excited to announce this year's edition of our annual Generative AI Benchmark - the essential resource for understanding how companies are unlocking real-world impact through Gen AI. 🌟 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂? By contributing just 5 minutes of your time to complete our survey, you'll receive:  𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗚𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 (available at the end of May), featuring valuable insights, best practices, key challenges, and proven use cases from industry leaders.  𝗔 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 benchmarking your company's performance against competitors in your industry. 📌 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿:  Over 50 global participants joined last year’s benchmark, including frontrunners like Netflix, Heineken, Microsoft, Just Eat Takeaway, Vodafone, Rabobank, and Nestlé. ● 30% of participating companies successfully scaled one or more Gen AI use cases. Key success factors are rigorous change management, proactive involvement of compliance & legal teams, and rapid testing of use cases.  ● About 50% of tested use cases delivered significant value, including reducing operational costs, increasing time efficiency, and enhancing customer retention across various departments.  Take the survey here: https://lnkd.in/eDm9ftdd, and feel free to forward this to your colleagues! 

🌍 This #EarthDay, we’re highlighting how fast-learning organizations turn #sustainability goals into real, tangible impact. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 👉 https://ow.ly/qwi850VEYrW

🚀 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆: 𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗜 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮 This week, 20 supervisory board members from organizations including Coolblue, Heijmans, Randstad, Lemonade, and HAL Investments joined us for the second edition of our Supervisory Board Member sessions on #GenerativeAI. Together with our Practice Lead Data & AI Matti van Engelen and Co-Founder Alexandra Jankovich, we explored how leadership can move from experimentation to execution - while navigating compliance, innovation speed, and risk. 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝘄: ✅ #AI is climbing the strategic agenda - with board members now pushing the pace ✅ Use cases are maturing, but scaling still stalls without strong leadership signals ✅ #GenAI is no longer “nice to know” - it’s a board-level imperative A big thank-you to all participants for the sharp questions, honest exchanges, and forward-thinking mindset. Want to explore how to embed Gen AI in your strategy - responsibly and at scale? 𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁!

𝗔𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝘂𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴! 🙌🎉 On Friday, Sparkies again rolled up their sleeves for our annual Day of Giving and gave their time, energy, and heart to some truly special causes. Together with VluchtelingenWerk Nederland, we welcomed a group of refugees for an inspiring visit to the Stedelijk Museum. In Heemstede, we joined the Rangers of Stichting MEERGroen for a hands-on day of sustainable forestry efforts. At Cordaan Eben Haezer, we brought the fun with a lively game of bingo and served up lunch to a group of cheerful seniors. Meanwhile, another team headed to the Centrum Kijkduin to help tidy the façade, tend the garden, and enjoy conversations with local residents. To wrap it all up, our teams came together at the office for a well-earned Italian dinner - lovingly prepped and served by our very own Sparkie volunteers. 🍝❤️ 𝗔 𝗵𝘂𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲! #SparkOptimusDayofGiving #Amsterdam #Community #MakingaDifference #BCorp #GivingBack #Volunteering

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗚𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝘂𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱𝗮𝘆 💡 Last week we welcomed a group of 15 bright Master’s students to our Amsterdam office for a full day of insights, interaction, and a taste of life as a Sparkie. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮? 𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: ✨ A Gen AI masterclass - complete with live demos 🌱 Examples of previous sustainability, digital, and AI projects 🧠 A team case challenge, with pitches to our jury 🌞 And to wrap it all up: sunny drinks to swap stories and questions with Sparkies Big thanks to everyone who joined us - it was a pleasure to meet the next generation of talent. We hope you left inspired, just like we did! 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳? Join our Case Training Day on June 6th – apply here: https://ow.ly/TtTu50Vwsbe

How SHV Energy’s Digital & Transformation Academy is empowering global leaders to drive local transformation: https://ow.ly/29aO50VwxVC

✨ 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗲𝘀! 🎉 We're thrilled to celebrate the well-deserved promotions of seven outstanding Sparkies: Paul Nollen, Micol M. Agliati, Rutger Nordemann, Simon van Heijst, Justus B., Steven Leest, and Emile Röell! They all have reached another milestone in their careers at SparkOptimus, and we couldn’t be more proud of their achievements! We’re looking forward to seeing them continue their incredible work within our teams and alongside our clients. Here's to their continued success and growth! 🥂

How Opella used #GenAI to speed up product launches and stay ahead in global markets. 👉 https://ow.ly/zqqj50Vt6Is

🚀 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 Last week, we hosted a roundtable with C-level leaders in #assetmanagement to explore how digital and #AI can be embedded at the heart of the business - in a controlled manner while untangling legacy IT, taking along employees, and keeping the shop open. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀: ☑ The shift is on: from stable markets to volatility, from manual work to AI-fueled operations. #Digital and AI are no longer optional, they’re becoming the core of how asset managers deliver value. ☑ Many organizations struggle to go beyond isolated use cases. Real impact (like 50x efficiency gains on repetitive legal activities) comes when AI is embedded in core processes. ☑ Cultural change is crucial. Early employee engagement, leadership commitment, and safe experimentation make transformation stick. ☑ Achmea Investment Management proves that bold action pays off. By working ‘future back’ and investing in people early, they’re showing how to make AI transformations work ☑ Want to get started? 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁. Start small, but be strategic. Four ingredients that consistently lead to success, based on SparkOptimus' 1,000+ transformations: 1) adopt a user-centric approach, 2) focus on transforming core processes, 3) fix the basics in people and technology fundaments, and 4) take systematic leadership action. A big thank-you to Maureen Schlejen-Peeters MBA (CEO Achmea IM) and Henriëtte Hoving (Partner SparkOptimus) for sparking a great discussion on how to move from ambition to execution! Curious how to move beyond AI pilots and drive real change in your organization? 𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁.