Interview with ideaDJ Ramon Vullings

‍1. We’re still at the beginning of a new decade – which technologies will have the most disruptive impact?
AR & AI is what I see as key disruptive technologies which will have major impact on many sectors and processes. AR as this information layer (digital twins, B.I.M.s, …) will get such incredible new use cases and AI as we’re just at the very very beginning of digital assistance, let alone ‘true’ artificial intelligence! ‍

2. What advice can you give companies and entrepreneurs to keep up?
Play! Play with new technologies, discover the strong points and (current) weaknesses in the newest technologies to be able to determine the right time to fully embrace them.

‍3. At DIGITAL DEMO DAY you will not only present the program on the mainstage but also give us a keynote on “Remixing ideas: The platform economy entering the industrial internet” - could you give us a short preview on what’s happening there?
Sure, as we see in so many industries, the ease & usability of B2C solutions is entering the B2B space. That’s also how iPhones and iPads became so widely popular in the B2B segments. The same goes for the industrial internet, the solutions which allow for least friction and best integration will gain most share of the wider system. It’s fascinating to see how the industry is slowly gearing towards some standards in terms of APIs and security.‍

4. Are industry platforms the end of the German Mittelstand?
Many people are a bit afraid that we may see something similar as what is happeing in retail, local retailers in many (smaller) city centres are having a tough time to compete with the large on-line platforms, yet at the same time it’s now also possible to serve a global market from virtually anywhere. This will finally come down to specialism and delivery capacity.

5. What are you looking forward to the most at DIGITAL DEMO DAY?
Playing with the latest technology! And meeting old & new friends in the (german) start-up scene. 

6. What new projects are you working on right now?
Currently I’m writing my new book: ‘the ideaDJ strategy’, besides my keynotes, this is my main focus. My current book: ‘not invented here: cross-industry innovation’ is focussed more on ‘the methodology to learn from other sectors, where my new book will focus more on the attitude and leadership, so the person making these ‘beautiful combinations’. Besides writing I have some longer running projects where we take business leaders to other companies from other sectors to transfer lessons over, these are always great trips!

7. Who inspires you?
So many people… just to name a few: Ben Thompson (Stratechery) has a very keen eye on the link between strategy & technology. Austin Kleon, is a writer/artist who wrote the book ‘Steal like an Artist’ on attitude he puts my thoughts into words (and pictures) and finally Hans Kokhuis, my good friend and mentor who keeps challenging my thinking & acting. Hans also has a beautiful way to ‘show me what I already knew, yet somehow forgot’ …

8. What’s your soundtrack for the 2020s?
Definitely a (re)mix… as ideaDJ I mix ideas so for music it’s probably a mix between ‘Faithless & U2’ this now probably dates me … so let’s call it an AI generated sound based on my on-line profile … there’s a new start-up idea!