Gerrie Smits – Speaker Bio
For about 15 years Gerrie served as a civil servant in London, where he ran two
companies. He is currently a program director at Antwerp Management School. Some of his
responsibilities at the school include overseeing the overall course strategy and
ensuring that students apply professional experts’ knowledge to their own
business case. Gerrie also wrote the book Blockchain is WTF (Wondrous Totally Fundamental).
The book contains information that is easy to understand and vital in unveiling
even the most difficult concepts about Blockchain.
Experience with Blockchain
He is a determined and passionate keynote speaker. His topics are mostly geared
towards helping people understand the core concepts of Blockchain. Gerrie
illustrates concepts of Blockchain using real-life objects, things that people can
easily relate to, which helps him bring abstract to life. For instance, the use of an
orange to help people understand more about Blockchain. He is non-techie whose
role is to help people understand the impact of business models on core concepts
like trust, reputation, governance and even the way people work and live together.
For the last 2.5 years, he has been offering consultancy services to organizations.
His prime motive is helping them understand the impact of Blockchain and its
digital aspect. He is fascinated by the impact of digital and technology on
organizations, products, communication as well as on the society. With over 20
years of experience in industries that got disrupted by the internet and in founding
a few startups, Gerrie gained hands-on experience that makes him standout in his
field of work. His clients include big corporates, start-ups, and government.
What He Believes in
Gerrie believes that the key towards solving modern-day business problems is to
focus relentlessly on people through digital transformation. Some of the useful
ways to bring people into the limelight include one-off inspiration talk, series of
workshops or brainstorms or through long-term strategy development project. He
also does coaching whereby he designs learning or educational programs that are
essential in helping people deal with the impact of digital on their organizations.