Mathieu Laurence

Laurence Mathieu (1970), CEO of NRB, stands as one of the few female chief executives at the helm of a top-tier Belgian ICT company. With a 30-year career spanning Hewlett Packard and Inetum-Realdolmen, she is now steering NRB through a pivotal era of AI adoption and digital independence.

Mathieu’s mandate at NRB involves consolidating the company’s position as a key player in the Belgian and European tech ecosystem. Her strategy focuses on ‘digital sovereignty’, advocating for AI and infrastructure solutions that guarantee data protection and align with democratic values. Her background includes a global transformation role at HPE and serving as COO at Inetum-Realdolmen, experiences that have honed her ability to manage large-scale organizational shifts. At every stage of her career, Laurence has demonstrated her ability to transform complexity into opportunity and support organizations in their digital transition, while keeping people at the center.

A central theme in her leadership is the ‘de-siloing’ of the sector. Mathieu actively builds bridges between the corporate world, startups, and academia, evidenced by NRB’s partnerships with UCL, ULiège, and BeCode. She promotes a vision of technology that serves ‘sustainable progress’, rejecting innovation for innovation’s sake in favor of solutions that create tangible value for citizens and organizations. NRB forganizes numerous events aimed at teenagers and young adults (Tech Teens, Connect&Chill, etc.).

Laurence Mathieu is vice president at Agoria Digital Industries, where she contributes to strategic discussions on the future of digital technology in Belgium. In 2023, Laurence Mathieu had already made it into the top 5 of ICT Woman of the Year: a clear recognition of her influence and impact on the sector. She is regularly invited to speak at conferences, panels, and think tanks, in which Laurence Mathieu shares her vision on digital transformation, AI, technological sovereignty, and humanistic leadership.