The entire world is racing to bring the next generation of technology to market. In hardware, speed is not a detail, but a strategic advantage. Those who learn faster, develop faster and scale faster build a structural lead. But to what extent does our Belgian and broader European context allow this today?
In his keynote Speed, Focus & Excellence at Advanced Engineering, Tim Dieryckx, CEO of Voxdale, shares his vision on what Europe needs to remain relevant in a world where innovation is becoming faster, more international and more competitive.
As a civil engineer with an Executive MBA from Vlerick Business School and six years of CEO experience at Voxdale, Tim sees every day where European companies are strong, but also where they slow themselves down. The core of his message is clear: Europe must relearn how to think in terms of speed, focus and excellence.
“We strongly believe that the future of European companies lies in speed, focus and excellence. If you can run faster than the rest, you win. Focusing on your core and your goal is essential. And being excellent in one or two elements is often exactly where you make the difference.”
Not isolating, but rebuilding
The reality today, and likely for years to come, is that China is the factory of the world. According to Tim, discussions around made in Europe should therefore not evolve towards isolation, but should lead to a smart, structural rebuilding of European manufacturing, step by step. But that is not up to Voxdale.
“Europe should not pretend that we can disconnect ourselves from the rest of the world tomorrow. The reality is that China has built a large part of the global manufacturing capacity today. We must be realistic about that. So the right question is not how we isolate ourselves, but how we start building again.”
But for Tim, the most important question does not only lie with Europe as a political project, but also with companies themselves.
“As companies, we must look at how we can already learn faster today, build smarter and scale stronger. And for that, collaboration with regions where technology, supply chains and production expertise are already present today is crucial. Locally, but also in other regions. For speed, focus and excellence, collaboration is not a weakness, but a lever.”
That is also how Voxdale sees it. The company helps entrepreneurs and pioneers design and engineer hardware products, from the first sketch to scalable production.
“We help companies shape the right product, define the architecture clearly, engineer it in detail and think along about scalability towards production. Because a product is only truly a product if it can be produced at scale. That is where hardware starts for us: not just thinking of something smart, but already from the first sketch thinking about how it will eventually be built. And for that, it is unthinkable today to disconnect from China.”
From complex consumer electronics to medtech and deeptech: this combination of design, engineering and production-oriented thinking is exactly where Europe still needs to invest more strongly.
AI, physical AI and robotization are no longer an option
According to Tim, there are several technological evolutions that Europe must fully commit to if it wants to remain competitive: AI, physical AI and robotics.
“In all business processes, AI is no longer an option, it is a necessity. Companies that do not invest in it today will simply be too slow tomorrow. At Voxdale, we are becoming fully AI-native. Not only in how we design or engineer, but in how we operate as a company. AI touches every process. Those who do not strongly focus on it will simply fall behind.”
But Tim also points to a second, equally important movement: physical AI. Technology that not only thinks digitally, but also acts physically through machines, robotics, smart production environments and new hardware platforms.
“Physical AI, including robotics, will be crucial in almost all future technologies. If Europe does not build a strong position in this area, we will eventually lose not only production capacity, but also a large part of our relevance as an innovation region.”
We must dare to learn from abroad – also in mindset
It has long been known that Europe can learn from the United States. There, people think bigger, invest more aggressively and act faster. But according to Tim, China has become at least as relevant in this respect, and in some ways even more radical.
“In the US, we have seen a culture of big thinking for years. But today China has that at least just as strongly, maybe even more so. There you see a lot of drive, a lot of boldness and a lot of speed. They build connected systems, make decisions faster and move with an intensity that we often miss in Europe.”
According to him, this is not only about capital or scale, but also about mindset.
“When we talk to entrepreneurs in China or the US, it is striking how strongly they think globally from day one. They think bigger, faster and more ambitious. In Europe, we sometimes lack that long-term vision, that boldness and that global ambition. And sometimes entrepreneurs here are even pushed towards thinking smaller.”
That is exactly why he believes it is important to challenge entrepreneurs and engineers on mindset as well.
“If we as engineers, innovators and entrepreneurs want to remain relevant, we need to shift our mindset. Less local, less cautious, less fragmented. More global, more ambitious and thinking bigger.”
Dare to go to market faster
Another fundamental point in his keynote is that Europe often waits too long. Too often, a product must be fully perfect, technologically fully developed or recognized as “real innovation” before companies dare to bring it to market.
“In Europe, we sometimes tend to wait until everything is finished. Until the product is perfect. Until everyone is convinced. But the reality is that in many markets, you need to learn faster, test faster and launch faster.”
According to Tim, we can learn a lot from China, where companies often start from something existing, build an incremental improvement on top of it and then gradually deepen it step by step.
“In Europe, this is sometimes not even seen as innovation. While it is actually a very strong strategy. You learn to understand the market, you learn to understand your customer, you start selling, and from there you continue building towards deeper technology. That is not a weakness. That is smart entrepreneurship.”
For hardware, this is even more true according to him. Prototyping, testing, failing and adjusting are part of the process, but always with a clear focus on scalability.
“Upstairs we design, downstairs we build prototypes, test and fail. That is part of it. But the essence of hardware is not only in the prototype. It lies in the step towards production, and in thinking from the start about how to get there.”
Where Europe is strong, we must leverage it much more
At the same time, his story is far from pessimistic. According to Tim, Europe still has a number of clear strengths, and these must be leveraged much more strongly.
“As designers and engineers in Europe, we still have a strong advantage in how we start from the user. In translating needs into high-performing products. In quality. In thoughtful design. In deep engineering.”
This is exactly where a unique position lies for European companies: not trying to copy what others already do faster or cheaper, but fully building on that combination of user-centered design, strong engineering and top quality.
“Becoming again a larger part of the factory of the world is largely a political and economic long-term project. But the advantage we still have today in delivering top quality must be fully used and further strengthened.”
Voxdale sees this daily in its projects, from scalable consumer products to medical and high-end technological applications.
“Whether it concerns a highly complex product that must be assembled flawlessly at scale, a spin-off in nuclear medicine, a low-cost blood sampling device for home use together with the Institute of Tropical Medicine, or implant technology to combat migraines: time and again you see that the combination of speed, focus and excellence is decisive.”
Speed, Focus & Excellence
Tim’s keynote is therefore not a plea for panic, but for ambition. Not reacting defensively to the world, but learning again how to build with confidence, speed and conviction.
“Europe has everything it needs to remain relevant: talent, knowledge, engineering capacity and a strong sense of quality. But that is no longer enough. We need to become faster. Dare to focus more. Be excellent in what we are truly good at. And above all: believe again that we can build great things.”
Speed, Focus & Excellence is aimed at everyone active in product development, engineering and technological innovation who wants to reflect on how Europe can become faster and more effective again without losing its quality, but rather by strengthening it.
Speed, Focus & Excellence: Staying Competitive in a Turbelent World
Wednesday May 6
11:00 – 11:30
Main Stage
