Data & AI Advisory for Boards and Data Leaders

Who I work with

Supervisory boards and executive teams who approve, challenge and oversee data and AI decisions: an AI strategy, an investment case, an operating model change, or whether the organization is ready for the EU AI Act. They carry the accountability, but rarely have an independent view on what they're approving.

Data and AI leaders who are measured on results, but don't control what those results depend on: a data foundation nobody owns, an organization that isn't set up to decide, and a mandate that stops where the real problems start.

Most of my work sits between the two: making sure what gets approved can actually be delivered, and that what delivery needs actually gets decided.

When organizations call me

• A data or AI leader is expected to show results fast, on a foundation that was never built for it.
• AI pilots prove their value, but don't reach production because nobody is in a position to say yes.
• The board asks what the data and AI investments have delivered, and nobody can give a straight answer.
• The organization is moving to a federated model, and it has to work across markets, brands or business units without each one reinventing the basics.
• An audit or a data incident has shown that ownership was never really assigned.
• The EU AI Act applies, and nobody can say with confidence which systems it touches. That's usually a sign the AI portfolio isn't visible for any other purpose either.

What an engagement delivers

• A clear view of where you stand across strategy, organization, data and AI, and which gaps actually block progress.
• A data and AI agenda tied to business value: which initiatives to fund, scale or stop, and what each one needs from the organization to succeed.
• A target operating model with decision rights, ownership and roles assigned to people, not boxes on a chart.
• Data foundations prioritized by business need: data domains, critical data elements and quality expectations, each with an owner.
• AI governance that speeds up delivery: a risk-tiered model with a named decision-maker at every level, and one assessment path instead of separate reviews by legal, security, data and architecture.
• Regulatory compliance (e.g., EU AI Act, GDPR) that runs on that same governance, not beside it: an AI inventory that stays current, a risk classification for every system, and the obligations that follow from your role as provider or deployer, worked out with your legal team.

Board sessions

For supervisory boards, their committees and executive teams who want an independent test of a data or AI decision before they approve it: does the case hold, can the organization deliver it, and will it still stand once delivery starts?

Most boards work with me as a standing sparring partner for the board or one of its committees, so data and AI questions get tested as they come up rather than only when a decision is due. A single session ahead of the meeting where a specific decision is on the agenda is a good way to start. Either way, I work alongside your internal experts and any consultancies involved, adding an independent view, not replacing theirs.

The questions are simple. The value is in recognizing a weak answer and knowing which follow-up question to ask. I've seen these decisions from three sides of the table: taking data and AI proposals to ExCo and the board, steering the consultancy work behind supervisory board sessions, and delivering what was approved.

Consulting & interim

Some organizations need more than advice: someone to put it into practice. For those, I take on longer assignments in data and AI transformation, from redesigning the operating model to getting AI from pilot into production, as well as fractional or interim data and AI leadership. Always with a clear goal and a defined end point.

How I work

• Scoped around an outcome. Every engagement starts with what has to be true at the end. Scope and price are agreed upfront.
• Built to hand over. The goal is an organization that can run it without me.
• Business, legal and technology at the same table. The hard problems sit where they meet, and none of them can solve those alone.
• Independent. No software to sell and no delivery team to keep busy, so the advice doesn't depend on what gets bought next.

Why me

I've done this from the inside, not just advised on it. For more than eleven years at Ahold Delhaize, I led the enterprise data strategy and built data management and AI governance across 17 brands in 9 countries. I didn't hand it over and move on; I stayed to see what worked, what didn't, and why. That's the experience I bring: advice from someone who has had to make it work. More about my background →

Start with a conversation

Book a 30-minute introduction call [Dutch | English]. No pitch, no deck, just a conversation about what you're working on and whether I can help. You can also reach me at info@roelwillems.com.