Women in Tech

25.10.2019

Exclusive Lunch with Vice-President of Digital Sales IBM Asia Pacific

On 18 October, WUAS welcomed Rianne van Veldhuizen, Vice-President of Digital Sales IBM Asia Pacific, to its Amsterdam campus for an executive luncheon with Wittenborg students, distinguished guests and members of the Women in Tech NL network. Rianne shared her thoughts on successful business leadership, drawing on her 18 years of managerial experience. She described a number of personal factors that contributed to her capacity to lead diverse teams successfully and to help her clients realise their goals.

Members of the audience jumped at the opportunity to engage with the speaker and pose questions related to her personal and professional development. Rianne spoke about the importance of finding mentors in one's professional network and remaining open to new challenges in a professional setting. After her talk, Rianne joined the audience for lunch and some personal interaction with a number of our students.

The response to this event was overwhelmingly positive. Students made the most of the opportunity by networking with audience members including city managers and local entrepreneurs. Wittenborg MBA student Olusegun Adeoye remarked that this was the best event he had attended thus far at the Wittenborg Amsterdam Campus.

Our thanks to Rianne for an insightful discussion on what it means to be a leader in the tech industry. Hopefully, this marks the first of many future collaborations with Women in Tech.