Session 1- What Is the Impact of AI on Local Economies?

10:30 to 12:00 AM
Studio 4

This session will explore how AI is transforming local economies, labour markets and innovation ecosystems. It will look at the opportunities AI creates for productivity, entrepreneurship and public sector transformation, while also addressing the challenges it raises for employment, skills, inclusion and economic resilience.

By focusing on the economic dimension of AI, this session will help identify the conditions under which Brussels can strengthen its position as a competitive yet responsible AI hub.

Meet the speakers

  • Nicolas Van Zeebroeck

    MODERATOR

    Professor of digital economics and strategy at Solvay (ULB)

    Nicolas is a full-time professor at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (SBS-EM) at Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium, and currently serve as Adjunct to the President and Rector of the University for IT and digital matters. He also sit on Belgium’s High Council for Employment and serve as Senior Fellow at the Conference Board.

    His research and teaching cover the economics and strategy of innovation and digitalization. After several years of research on innovation and intellectual property, Nicolas now investigate how digital technology affects the performance and organization of firms and industries. His research has appeared in international journals such as Management Science, Research Policy, Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, Stanford Technology Law Review, Pattern Recognition, or Information Economics and Policy. Next to research and teaching, Nicolas was regularly interviewed on digital matters in national media and serve as a consultant and keynote speaker on digital strategy and transformation for private and public organizations.

    Since joining Solvay as a Professor in 2011, Nicolas has been academic director of its Master in Business Engineering (from 2011 to 2016) and its Advanced Master in Innovation and Strategic Management (from 2014 to 2016). He also led the EQUIS re-accreditation process of the School in 2013 and 2016.

  • Annick Hernot

    SPEAKER

    Chair of the Board of Directors of Beci, COO at AUDI BRUSSELS