“Trust, no limiting ego, and ‘smart simplicity’ form the foundation of our culture.”

(This interview is translated from a Bloovi Interview. Dutch original version can be found here.)

It sounds simple, but for Nico, this conviction forms the foundation of his business vision. A vision that, in ten years, has led to a thriving company with 150 employees and offices in Belgium and the Netherlands. A company where people and culture are the fertile ground in which success flourishes. And he expresses this company culture in what sounds like a law of physics: V² × KIA ÷ E.

When did you decide to start your own company?

“My professional journey began at a scale-up that grew from seven to forty employees before being acquired by Deloitte. After that acquisition, I moved to Deloitte, and after working there for two years, I decided to take my own path. I learned a lot at both companies, but it was time to create my own story.”

“At my first employer, we built very strong data models, but I missed the link with business. At Deloitte, I saw that great stories were often presented on slides and concepts were defined, but the translation into real-world execution was often lacking. I wondered whether entrepreneurship could be done differently and if I could start a company that combined the best of both worlds.”

“From the very beginning, the idea was to mobilize companies and governments to see data as a true raw material. Only if you mine it intelligently as an organization can you successfully execute digital transformations and AI projects, thereby creating value for the business: reaching the right customers faster, simplifying and automating operational processes, or forecasting complex business drivers to provide more certainty. But this was not my only motivation. Another very important reason for starting my own company was the ability to choose who I surrounded myself with. And that remains my strategy to this day. The people you gather around you largely determine how far you can go.”

The success of an organization is often determined by its people and culture. Can you explain why these two factors are so crucial?

“What sets Datashift apart from many other companies is indeed our unique company culture. We didn’t theoretically design our culture in advance. The formula was only distilled four years after the company was founded when we had about twenty to twenty-five employees, and we brought in an external perspective to reflect on who we had already become.”

“I express it in a formula: V² × KIA ÷ E. The two V's stand for a drive to move forward, but with trust. The KIA represents camaraderie, impact, and accountability. And the E? No obstructive ego.”

“Camaraderie is different from friendship. Friendship is almost unconditional, whereas camaraderie is the feeling that you are stronger together in achieving a mission. Impact is about making real changes for clients. We need to give them what they need, which is not always the same as what they ask for. We must dare to show that leadership. Accountability applies to everyone in the company. You get a lot of freedom here because you can’t hold people accountable if they don’t have the space to act.”

“And then the E, no obstructive ego. Of course, everyone has an ego. An ego is not forbidden, but it should not influence your decisions. I am very, very firm on that.”

Culture is people, not ping-pong tables

When asked how he attracts the right people, Nico responds decisively: “For me, culture is not a ping-pong table, but the combination of people and how they behave.”

“Our recruitment process is very rigorous: candidates go through at least three interviews. Our people conducting the first interview are trained to assess whether someone fits our organization and culture. And also to dare to say no if they simply don’t feel the match. The questions they ask themselves are: Do you see this person fitting in with us? Can you imagine spending three hours at a bar with this person and having a good time? Would you want to work with this person? Creating and maintaining a culture is primarily about bringing the right people on board.”

“In the second round, both technical and soft skills are evaluated. The third round focuses on practical placement: which team does the person fit into, and what context do they need for long-term success?”

“This approach pays off. Our first employee has been here for more than nine years. Our second employee is still here. So is our fourth.”

Fostering a sense of community

Datashift does not follow a hierarchical top-down approach. In their philosophy, which puts culture and people at the centre, a team network with shared responsibilities seemed more appropriate to Nico Huybrechts.

“There is no strict hierarchy; the communication lines are very short. People are usually not happy when they hide away. However, I don’t expect everyone to take on the same responsibilities. To treat everyone fairly and achieve high performance as a group, you have to dare to approach talent individually. ‘Everyone equal’ is not our goal because everyone is different. That means we dare to differentiate: sometimes, a consultant with three years of experience takes on a project management role at a client because they already have that capability. Why wait unnecessarily for a few more years before giving someone the title and function of project manager?”

“There is one caveat. If someone does not take initiative but performs well at clients, we won’t fire them. However, their career will evolve more slowly because they are not building on what we expect from our team members, which is to take initiative.”

“We dare to make tough decisions, such as when employees no longer fit within the company. That is necessary. Good leaders are those who dare to make unpopular decisions, even when not everything is certain and clear.”

“At the same time, we don’t just cast employees aside. We are not an ‘up or out’ organization. Our company evolves; we are not the same as eight or nine years ago. People who have built the company deserve recognition, and that history is invaluable. They know the organization and our culture like no one else. I believe in mutual respect, which also means acknowledging each other’s history and showing gratitude.”

“Building a strong team also means fostering connection. We have formal team meetings, often combined with an event. We have Domain Performance Reviews, Cross-Domain Meetings, and Quarterly Team Meetings. These are necessary to steer the company, but that’s not where the magic happens. That happens more often in informal settings like the annual Data Trip, Final Fridays, Data Sport, Data Ski, etc. Last year, for example, fourteen of us participated in Climbing for Life in the Ardennes for two days. We even help employees prepare for these sporting challenges.”

“All this, combined with full transparency about company results. Everyone knows our strategic direction, our billability, and our revenue. Until recently, EBITDA was not explicitly shared because I believe information should be actionable. EBITDA is not easy to interpret. But now we do share it. Our shareholder structure is now open, and EBITDA is relevant to a large part of our team.”

“In 2024, I gave employees the opportunity to invest. Eighty-one percent of the people who were here a year ago invested. That really moved me. It’s an enormous sign of trust and gives us all the energy to keep pushing forward together.”

You work in a role-based manner to stay sharp and discover talents. Tell us more.

"That's right. A striking aspect of Datashift is that no one has a strictly defined role. Consultants are encouraged to be involved in marketing, recruitment, and business development alongside their technical expertise. This way, we pass on the DNA of V² × KIA ÷ E to everyone. We are a network organization, so you shouldn't isolate people on their own little islands and then ignore them. Einzelgängers can never function in our network."

"That’s a broad responsibility and not always easy for technical profiles who prefer to stay within their expertise. However, we don’t expect technical profiles to do everything. Some are involved in recruiting, others develop technical tests. It’s a shared responsibility – it's up to us to understand everyone’s personality."

"Role-based work requires flexibility and the courage to deal with the unknown. Technical profiles love being challenged within their expertise. Well, this approach also pushes them out of their comfort zones in areas like recruiting and marketing. This often helps young employees discover talents within themselves that would never emerge in a traditional organization."

"By working with roles instead of fixed functions, people stay sharp. It prevents them from falling into a 'rut' and operating on autopilot. Clients deserve better. People deserve better."

What name would you give your culture?

"We have a strong sense of pragmatism and a no-nonsense approach to making complex things as simple as possible. I believe people tend to seek out too much complexity, while the real skill is in keeping things simple. I remember a compliment from one of our first clients: 'Smart simplicity.' This term perfectly sums up how Datashift operates—intelligent enough to understand complex problems, yet pragmatic enough to simplify them."

What kind of leader are you?

"As a leader, I combine rationality with empathy. I am disciplined myself and believe that without effort, you cannot progress. Consistently working hard and giving your best is essential at every level. I am a decisive person and will make the right decision rationally without ignoring the impact on people. That is not the same as always doing what is best for everyone—that's simply not possible."

"I notice that the combination of business-mindedness and humanity is not always easy to grasp. If someone is in my heart, they stay there. I can imagine that for some people, it takes a while to figure out exactly where they stand with me, but once they do, they feel completely at home."

"Even as we grow rapidly, I refuse to become complacent—self-satisfied, so to speak. Things that aren’t good enough still irritate me. You should never accept that things are 'just good enough.' You have to keep surprising your clients, just like in any relationship. We have some clients who have relied on us as their trusted data partner for seven or eight years. We want to keep surprising them—not because we know their environment well, but because we are simply the best partner for them."

When asked about his ultimate goal, Nico responds:

"Preparing companies and governments (read: our society) to successfully ride the next wave of productivity driven by AI. Data is the essential raw material for this. Everyone talks about AI and its power, but they seem to forget that without reliable input, all you have are nice words with no impact on a company’s P&L or our Gross National Product. We help ensure that businesses and governments remain relevant and can thrive in an era where even knowledge work will become highly automated."

How does your culture translate into collaboration with clients?

"In a world where data and AI evolve rapidly, we differentiate ourselves by separating hype from reality. We deeply understand our clients’ contexts—limited budgets, scarce resources, specific technology stacks, potential resistance. You must grasp that context well to drive real change. Our culture strongly contributes to that."

"There is a strong drive within us to move forward by building trust. That is an essential part of who we are. Through this 'urge ahead' and our drive to truly take action, we are only satisfied when we achieve the impact our client is seeking. Understanding the client’s world and setting is crucial to achieving their underlying objectives."

"This translates into impressive customer loyalty: 80% of our clients, measured over two years, remain clients. And that’s despite the fact that we rarely have long-term contracts. Plenty of people have expertise. But here at Datashift, our experts aren’t too proud to roll up their sleeves and handle the less glamorous work. Our clients can count on us to achieve their objectives."

"Our focus is not on pushing our own agenda but on helping realize our clients' strategies. We challenge them. We sometimes take a contrarian stance if needed. But always with one goal in mind—helping them execute their business strategy."

Do clients quickly trust you with their data?

"One topic that concerns me is the sometimes lax attitude toward data security. We earn clients’ trust quickly, but I find that many of them take security too lightly. Disgruntled employees can cause significant damage by mishandling data."

"There is a real lack of investment in security and privacy. No one likes investing in these things—until something goes terribly wrong or makes the news. Then, suddenly, everyone throws massive amounts of money at containing the damage. Specifically, data anonymization is underutilized. If I were a CIO, it would be one of my first investments."

"If you could anonymize data at scale, you could democratize it much more. You could allow many more people access because the risk of misuse would be greatly reduced. Currently, very few people have access, which limits the value you can extract from the data."

What are your growth plans?

"Over the next five years, Datashift aims to grow toward 300 employees. This growth will come from expanding abroad, starting with the Netherlands and then targeting Northwestern Europe. This could also happen through acquisitions—we plan to make one or two highly targeted acquisitions. That said, I mainly want to grow under our own power. I feel there is still a lot of potential in that. Additionally, we are looking into productizing some of our services, especially around GenAI, to move toward a more recurring revenue model."

"In the short term, we want to build a community. To achieve this, we have brought in Leslie Cottenje. The challenge is that data and AI teams at clients often struggle to step outside their internal bubble and engage with customers. This means communication with clients is often reactive. But you don’t build relationships through purely reactive communication. The goal of the community is to foster conversations between the data and AI world and the business side."

"This will take shape through high-quality roundtables with carefully selected participants and later through a larger event. I secretly hope that we can scale this community development into a framework or methodology."