Co-founder of nine companies and Group CIO of House of HR since 2016, Wilbert Ingels brings an entrepreneur’s perspective to digital transformation. His challenge has been to preserve local business ownership and entrepreneurship while creating the security, cost efficiency and the capacity for innovation.
House of HR comprises around 50 companies operating through more than 700 offices across ten European countries. With annual revenue of approximately €3.5 billion and more than 5,000 internal employees, the group specialises in talent solutions and engineering and consulting. Its “Happy Rebels” culture places entrepreneurship at the heart of the business.
When Wilbert Ingels joined, the technology landscape was fragmented: 100+ applications supported core processes, legacy systems limited integration, and companies repeatedly invested in similar solutions. Shared governance, infrastructure, application and security foundations were lacking. The question was how to build group-wide capabilities while retaining the local knowledge, entrepreneurship and initiative on which the business depended.
A federated model was chosen. Infrastructure, identity and security became shared foundations, while local companies retained responsibility for their markets, brands and business outcomes. Reusable products are developed collectively and configured to local needs, with PowerHouses participating in priorities and roadmaps.
Two shared service companies support this approach. House of IT Support operates infrastructure and security, House of Invest develops products, integrations and data solutions, and AI capabilities. Common project gates, a preferred-technology framework, an acquisition integration blueprint and a four-tier digital maturity model provide structure. Local business leaders commit to their own targets and own the results.
Reuse is central to the model. Prodigy, the group’s recruitment blueprint and automation layer built on Salesforce, is live in all main entities. Competence centres help connect shared development with local practice.
The AI strategy follows four tracks:
• developing new AI-related services and business opportunities
• embedding AI in shared products
• enabling local creation of reusable agents through our own developed agent platform Botanica
• supporting locally led AI initiatives
And there is a 5th track: House of AI tests a brand new recruitment model in which a recruiter works with an extensive set of specialized agents while retaining responsibility for decisions and relationships.
Wilbert Ingels is also very open about the lessons. Early experiments (Google Glass and Alexa failed in adoption) demonstrated the importance of technology maturity, business ownership and adoption. Today, deployment is ahead of consistent adoption and demonstrable financial returns.
Wilbert Ingels is a cheerful marathon runner (he’s already completed nine) and is clearly fully committed to the cause of House of HR.
