Artie Debidien, EVP/CIO Consumer Wholesale Enterprise at KPN, was one of the speakers at the international virtual conference CIONEXT on April 26. Hendrik Deckers meets her in the office of the Dutch telecom KPN to interview about her broad educational experience, views on innovation, and how she developed as a digital leader.

“KPN will always go for sustainable innovation,” says Artie, “and everyone should be part of it — it’s a dance floor wherein you ask everyone to dance.” The focus on teamwork and common passing through mistakes and failures distinguishes her approach to leadership and innovation. 

From the interview, we learned that with every innovative enterprise comes a scale of risks and new value where the latter needs to be justified. AI is a true needle-shifter, being known for the fears about security and privacy it produces in the wider public. Artie believes AI will not percolate into business at an apocalyptic tempo and the benefits it brings will be distributed at a safe pace. “You need to drive the change” is her answer and she stresses the talent people bring into continuous innovation.

How is Agile working at a company with a 1000 people in IT? How does KPN innovate on a daily basis? And finally, why did Artie change from a lion to an elephant in her fascinating, diverse career? Watch the full Leadership Deep Dive interview with Artie Debidien to find the answers and perhaps discover why always shooting for the moon is a worthy tactic.