AI & The Digital Society: n=1?

Meet the Minds Shaping the Future of AI

The Erasmus Data Summit 2025 brings together a distinguished roster of keynote speakers, panelists, and session leaders. These experts come from diverse fields — academia, industry, policymaking, and tech innovation — to share their insights on this year’s theme: AI & The Digital Society: n=1?

Expect to hear from professionals tackling topics like:

Ethical and inclusive AI practices.
Digital literacy for hyper-personalized societies.
Transformative applications of AI in healthcare, governance, and education.

Speakers

Vivianne Bendermacher is a leading tech expert and sought-after speaker in the field of digital transformation. As former editor-in-chief of VIVA and Kijk, and founder of Techionista, she is dedicated to increasing digital inclusion and promoting female talent in the technology sector. Her ability to make complex technological topics accessible to a broad audience makes her an influential voice in the Dutch tech ecosystem.

Felienne is a professor of Computer Science Education at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She also works as a high-school CS teacher one day a week at Lyceum Kralingen in the Codasium program. Felienne is the creator of the Hedy programming language, a gradual and multi-lingual programming language designed for teaching. She is the author of “The Programmer’s Brain“, a book that helps programmers understand how their brain works and how to use it more effectively. In 2021, Felienne was awarded the Dutch Prize for ICT research. She also has a weekly column on BNR, a Dutch radio station.

João Gonçalves is an Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Communication at Erasmus University Rotterdam. His research focuses on artificial intelligence, democracy, and the societal impacts of digitalization, addressing topics such as online hate speech and algorithmic discrimination. He developed the Erasmian Language Model (ELM), an open-source and sustainable alternative to ChatGPT. João has led significant projects, including the Horizon Europe SEISMEC initiative, funded with €10 million, and received a VENI grant worth €280,000 from the Dutch Research Council to study data quality in AI. His work has been published in leading journals like New Media & Society and Political Communication. João also co-leads the Digital Society theme in the SSH-Breed program and recently won the ESHCC Societal Engagement Award for his contributions to AI research.

Ilyaz Nasrullah is a prominent Dutch digital strategist and expert in digital technology, specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) and human-centered innovation. With a background in Media & Knowledge Engineering from TU Delft, he has advised startups, corporations, governments, and academic institutions on digital strategy and innovation. His work spans diverse areas such as AI, virtual and augmented reality, and the societal impact of technology. Known for his critical yet constructive perspective on technological advancements, Ilyaz emphasizes the importance of ensuring that innovation benefits everyone. He is also a columnist for Trouw, a supervisory board member at DEN (Digital Heritage Netherlands), and the creator of the podcast series Welkom in de AI-fabriek. Additionally, Ilyaz is an engaging speaker on topics like algorithmic decision-making and human-centered innovation.

Prof. dr. Gabriele Jacobs is Professor of Organizational Behavior and Culture at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (ESSB). As an expert in organizational change, leadership, and public safety, she currently leads the NWA project AI-MAPS on artificial intelligence in public safety. With an impressive career at Erasmus University Rotterdam, including her role as dean of Erasmus University College (2020-2022), she focuses on connecting academic research with societal challenges. Her work in international safety management, including the development of a MOOC with more than 29,000 participants worldwide, illustrates her commitment to making academic knowledge accessible to a broad audience.

Manon den Dunnen works as a Strategic Digital Specialist in the Science & Technology Team at the Strategy and Innovation Directorate of the police. The focus of her work is on the impact of new technology on the values of the constitutional state. Her areas of expertise are synthetic media (deepfakes, language models), metaverses, web3, and the internet of everything (IoT, digital twins).

After completing her vocational education in Fashion and Clothing, Miranda Saunders continued her studies at both undergraduate and university levels. Her career began at ABN AMRO, after which she held various positions at the municipality of Rotterdam. She progressed from client manager/social welfare worker to district team leader, manager, and strategic advisor. Currently, she works as program manager Digital Inclusion. In addition to her main role, Miranda serves as an external expert for Inholland University of Applied Sciences. She has a passion for debating and various sports activities that energize her.

Pauline Arts is an innovative and connecting force with a strategic yet practical approach. As Innovation Manager at RWS Digicampus, Pauline plays a crucial role in supporting digital innovations within Rijkswaterstaat. She is passionately involved in strategic thinking about the deployment of new technology and supporting the innovation process. With her team, she facilitates real change by exploring and applying new information technology possibilities, from innovation to implementation.RWS Digicampus aims to support innovations based on digital technologies. Pauline and her team connect strategic directions in Information Services and digitalization with operational applications within Rijkswaterstaat. They ensure focus within the ambitious goals of digital innovations and support the entire innovation process, from idea to implementation, with a significant focus on Data & Information Services components.With her enthusiasm and expertise, Pauline Arts contributes to the digital transformation of Rijkswaterstaat and continues to strive for tangible results that optimize service delivery to society.

Prof. dr. Peter van der Spek is Head of the Department of Pathology & Clinical Bioinformatics at Erasmus Medical Center. As a leading expert in bioinformatics and systems biology, he focuses on applying data science and artificial intelligence in healthcare. His research combines clinical data analysis with molecular diagnostics to enable personalized treatments. Through his pioneering work in medical data integration and analysis, he contributes to the development of precision medicine and the digital transformation of healthcare.

Iman Alipour is the co-founder and CEO of BlueGen.ai, a spin-off company from TU Delft that has developed a patented platform for generating synthetic data. With extensive entrepreneurial experience in data-driven companies, Alipour was chosen to lead BlueGen.ai due to his expertise. He is passionate about creating opportunities for data sharing and collaboration that were previously impossible due to privacy constraints. Under his leadership, BlueGen.ai focuses on providing privacy-safe synthetic data solutions for sectors such as healthcare, finance, government, and the software industry. Alipour is committed to advancing data innovation while maintaining strong data privacy standards

Hanneke Luth is a strategic advisor on privacy and information security, with extensive experience consulting organizations in the Dutch public sector, non-profit and telecom industry. Since 2020, she serves as Data Protection Officer at Erasmus MC, the Netherlands' largest academic hospital, where she focuses on the complex challenges of handling sensitive personal data in healthcare, research, and education. In this role, she also advises on national legislation to facilitate health research while protecting individual privacy rights.

Armin is a customer-obsessed digital leader focused on achieving exceptional business outcomes through team empowerment and shared vision. He is passionate about organizational transformation, using design thinking and co-creation to organize teams around customer needs. Through servant leadership and a focus on emerging technologies, he challenges the status quo to drive innovation. He believes in enabling teams to reach ambitious goals and outperform industry standards through strong partnerships and collaborative approaches.

Anne-Kathrin Klesse obtained her doctorate at Maastricht University and worked as an assistant professor of Marketing at Tilburg University before joining Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University in October 2016. As a visiting researcher, she regularly spent time at Stanford Graduate School of Business.In her research, she studies consumer judgment and decision-making, focusing on how technology influences human behavior. She investigates the impact of different device interfaces on decision-making and studies human beliefs around AI and algorithms. Due to her expertise, she was appointed academic director of the Psychology of AI lab at ECDA.Her research, awarded with a VENI grant, has been published in leading marketing journals. She serves on the editorial boards of IJRM and JM, is PhD program coordinator, and coordinates the Behavioral Experts track in the BA/IBA program.

Prof. Bapna holds the Curtis L. Carlson Chair in Business Analytics and Information Systems at the Carlson School of Management and directs the Analytics for Good Institute and Carlson Analytics Lab. An award-winning expert in analytics, AI/ML, and digital transformation, he has received multiple distinguished awards including the INFORMS ISS Distinguished Fellow award. His latest book "THRIVE: Maximizing Well-being in an Age of AI" (MIT Press, 2024) complements his extensive research in online behavior, AI innovations, and information systems economics. As co-founder of the MS-Business Analytics program, he leads the Carlson Analytics Lab, bridging industry-academia partnerships in AI and ML applications.Bapna's expertise extends to executive education, where he trains business leaders in leveraging analytics and digital transformation for competitive advantage.

Dr. Marcel van Oosterhout is Executive Director at the Erasmus Centre for Data Analytics at Erasmus University Rotterdam. He specializes in data analytics, artificial intelligence, and immersive technologies, focusing on their applications in sustainable urban development and education. Marcel obtained his PhD in Business Agility and Information Technology in Service Organizations from Erasmus University. With over 25 years of experience in project management, applied research, and executive training programs, he is dedicated to digital transformation. He is passionate about leveraging digitalization to address societal challenges, such as the energy transition and the development of smart, sustainable cities.

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