Belgium produces world-class engineers, ambitious founders and breakthrough technology. But according to TechWolf founders Andreas De Neve and Jeroen Van Hautte, too many companies still underestimate how far they can go.
What started as a student project in Ghent is now one of Belgium’s most ambitious AI scale-ups, with major international clients, millions in revenue and teams across London and the US. ClubWAW! and club Yaka! members got a candid inside look at the mindset shifts, hard lessons and AI insights behind that growth.
To sum up the evening: global ambition is not a consequence of success. It is often the starting point required to achieve it.
Ambition is not optional if you want to scale globally
For TechWolf CEO Andreas De Neve, scaling internationally started with a mindset shift. In the US, customers, investors and talent expect founders to think much bigger than most European entrepreneurs typically do.
TechWolf evolved from a student project in Ghent into a global AI company by embracing that ambition early, despite years of difficult implementations and enterprise sales cycles.
One key lesson stood out: Belgium is an exceptional place to build technology and engineering teams, but international growth requires local sales presence and global thinking from day one.
If you are not wildly ambitious, your expansion will fail.
Andreas De Neve, CEO of TechWolf
AI changes organisations faster than they can adapt
For entrepreneurs and business leaders in the room, Jeroen Van Hautte’s message was clear: companies cannot approach AI passively. The biggest risk is not experimenting too early, but moving too slowly while technology evolves around you.
At TechWolf, teams are encouraged to test, build and learn with AI every day. But experimentation only works when combined with strong quality control, self-awareness and the willingness to rethink how people work.
His lesson learned: AI transformation starts inside your own organisation long before it changes your market.
Raise the ceiling first. Show people what is possible. Then you can start raising the floor across the organisation.
Jeroen Van Hautte, CTO of TechWolf
What we take away from this session
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Belgian companies often think too small
According to TechWolf, global ambition is not arrogance. It is a requirement if you want to attract top talent, investors and enterprise customers internationally.
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Enterprise traction changes everything
The hardest phase is convincing the first customers when no market category fully exists yet. Once enough credible companies buy in, growth accelerates much faster.
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AI adoption is still in its very early stages
Most organisations underestimate both the speed of AI evolution and the organisational changes required to truly benefit from it.
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Engineering culture becomes even more important in the AI era
AI increases leverage, but also risk. Companies that combine speed with strong quality control and mature teams will have a major advantage.
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Belgium remains a powerful place to build technology
The founders repeatedly highlighted Belgium’s engineering talent, work ethic and international mindset as major competitive strengths for building global companies.