Koen Verhaert
CEO
Koen Verhaert is the son of Paul Verhaert, our founder. Koen started at Verhaert in the mid-nineties after graduating Product Innovation at AIVE in Eindhoven, the Netherlands and following an MBA at EHSAL, Brussels. Initially as mechanical designer, later project manager and business developer for technology transfer. He took over the leadership of the company in 2006.
What do you feel is the biggest
strength of our company right
now?
With now doubt our strength situates in the extraordinary group of people and competences we have in our group. This allows us to help our customers in highly complex multi-disciplinary strategic innovation challenges, but also to go in the depth and get things working. This is what our customers call concrete ideation. Furthermore there’s our culture and methodology (RICE) that provides the framework for this multi-disciplinary collaboration. Together it makes us an integrated product innovation group.
The challenge of leading a market as dynamic as ours, is that you always have to reinvent yourself, push best practices to a next level and break existing walls and biases.
What are you the most proud of
regarding the company?
As one of the pioneers in product innovation services in Belgium we’ve always been leading our market. This for over 50 years. The challenge of leading a market as dynamic as ours, is that you always have to reinvent yourself, push best practices to a next level and break existing walls and biases. That’s what we did. By doing so we play a crucial role in the innovation capacity of our region.
What are your outside interests?
That’s about my 3 fantastic ladies at home 🙂 They keep me humble. I have a great passion in sailing, both on small sport boats as on sailing yachts. The sea forces you foresee the unforeseen, but also to accept that things come as they come. For those who’re not familiar with sailing: have a look at the television series ‘Over De Oceaan’ on channel 4. For me being on board results in instant de-stressing. Furthermore I have a passion for modern architecture and arts, and I’m an active painter myself.
What motivates you to do your
best at your job?
People! Helping others is what motivates me the most. When colleagues are satisfied with the proposed solutions or services, it gives me a sense of purpose and satisfaction. In this way, I take pride in my work. Besides that, I also enjoy getting to know people. The work culture at Verhaert encourages social interaction, which also has a positive impact on its environment. There isn’t a day that I don’t see smiles or hear laughter at work.
Interested in becoming working at Verhaert like Koen?