Executive Transformation · AI Adoption · Strategic Program Leadership · Corporate Development

Turning AI ambition into transformation, execution and growth.

I help organisations translate strategy into execution, through executive transformation, AI adoption and complex strategic programmes: the use cases, operating models, data and AI infrastructure and adoption trajectories that create value. Strategy put to work, not another deck.

Available for fractional, interim and advisory mandates
AI adoption and transformation · Strategic program leadership · Venture growth · Use cases and data/AI operating models · Executive working sessions and alignment
Discuss a mandate LinkedIn
or email willem@ventureplanner.nl
Willem Knaap
Willem Knaap in conversation on camera
In conversationon camera
In conversationon camera
Willem Knaap moderating a panel at Food4Future in Bilbao
ModeratingFood4Future, Bilbao
ModeratingFood4Future, Bilbao
Willem Knaap speaking on stage at the FT TNW Conference
SpeakingFT · TNW
SpeakingFT · TNW Conference
Willem Knaap in a working session with founders
Working sessionwith founders
Working sessionwith founders
0
years of experience
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programs and ventures
0
stages
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regulated sectors
Experience across
KickstartAIRabobankINGPeaks.comStartupbootcampAhold DelhaizeKLMNSAegonVan Lanschot KempenKraft HeinzMondelezShellUnileverEIT FoodFMEDutch Ministry of Economic AffairsDutch Ministry of the InteriorDutch Ministry of Justice and SecurityDutch National PoliceLUMC KickstartAIRabobankINGPeaks.comStartupbootcampAhold DelhaizeKLMNSAegonVan Lanschot KempenKraft HeinzMondelezShellUnileverEIT FoodFMEDutch Ministry of Economic AffairsDutch Ministry of the InteriorDutch Ministry of Justice and SecurityDutch National PoliceLUMC
01What I do

A senior operator who turns ambition into execution.

Technology rarely decides the outcome. People, incentives, ownership, trust and execution do. That is why the work below ultimately comes back to one thing: making complex technology land in practice.

01 · AI Adoption and Scaling

From pilots to production.

Problem
AI initiatives stall between experiment, policy and the reality of the organisation.
I do
I design the adoption architecture: framework, governance, use-case selection, capabilities, decision-making and change needed for scale.
Outcome
Use cases that scale, with measurable value and a path to production.
02 · Venture Growth and GTM

From product to traction.

Problem
Strong technology, but a fragmented commercial motion.
I do
I sharpen positioning, ICP, enterprise GTM, partnerships and investor narrative.
Outcome
A venture that closes deals and grows in a scalable way, rather than one that keeps pitching.
03 · Corporate Development

Building the route to scale.

Problem
Partnerships and venture moves get stuck in decision-making, governance or internal processes.
I do
I structure partnership strategy, operating models and decision rights so commercial opportunities do not stay stuck.
Outcome
Deals and partnerships that move forward, not just announcements that fade.
04 · Public-Private Program Design

Where government and enterprise meet.

Problem
Public-private AI ambition often moves faster than governance, funding and execution capacity.
I do
I design programs, governance and partner architecture across ministries, public organisations, partners and corporates.
Outcome
Programs that move from intent to instruments, funding, use cases and execution.
05 · Additional Domains
Commercialising complex
technology.

Where deep technology meets the market.

Adjacent work across sustainability compliance and data infrastructure, including Digital Product Passport and CSRD readiness. Relevant where technology, regulation and commercial reality all have to land at once.

02How I work

How I work inside a mandate.

Strategy is usually not the hardest part. What decides the outcome is the operating system underneath it: who owns what, how decisions get made, and the rhythm that turns intent into delivery.

01

Assess and frame

I start from where the organisation actually is: the ambition, constraints, stakeholders, interests and where value can genuinely sit. Sometimes from a blank page, sometimes in the middle of the chaos.

02

Design the operating model

Objectives, governance, decision rights and roles, with the data and AI landscape underneath. The structure that makes delivery possible.

03

Select the use cases

Choose where value is real and provable. Define and prioritise the use cases, so time, money and attention go to what matters, not to oversized solutions without a business case.

04

Build, test and align

Build frameworks, ways of working and first deliverables around a clear goal. Programs run on people, so I align interests, ownership, decision-making and timing while the work is being built.

05

Adopt, scale and embed

From pilot to production, embedded in teams with feedback loops, clear ownership and a careful handover.

06

Learn, change, adapt

Every project, program and pilot teaches the organisation something. I make sure that learning is captured, embedded and put to work, instead of lost when the work ends.

Every engagement runs as a clearly defined assignment, with agreed objectives, governance and deliverables. I work independently, bring my own methodologies and tooling, and focus on building lasting capability inside the organisation.

My methodology

The TMM6 Framework

Complex transformations require more than project management. TMM6 is how I run them: trust, mandate and momentum, combined with governance, executive alignment and structured delivery to accelerate complex transformations.

The framework is continuously developed and validated in practice. Part of that is the TMM6 app: not a survey, but an LLM-driven engine that turns your input into concrete advice, while the model validates itself and learns from every interaction: a self-improving loop. More at tmm6.ai.

03Selected work

A track record on the harder problems.

Now · Venture Planners Group

Founder and Managing Partner

Executive and advisory mandates for technology ventures, including Machine2Learn and proba.earth. Focus on AI, sustainability, Digital Product Passport, CSRD, GTM and the commercialisation of complex technology.

Executive mandates · GTM · Partnerships
Now · GlassMedicalAI

Strategic Advisor

Advisory role on commercial strategy, partnerships and enterprise adoption in medical AI.

Advisory · MedTech · AI
Now · mintBlue

Strategic Advisor

Advisory role on positioning, enterprise adoption and partnerships in data infrastructure and verifiable data.

Advisory · Data · Infrastructure
KickstartAI

Director Strategic AI Programs & Partnerships

Design and execution of public-private AI adoption programs with founding partners Ahold Delhaize, ING, KLM and NS, and public organisations in the Netherlands. Author of the KickstartAI Adoption Framework and Adoption Canvas.

Public-private · Government · Enterprise
Rabobank

Head of Open Innovation · Senior Venture Builder

Development of innovation governance, portfolio management and the Data4Food program. Co-founder of Peaks.com and involved in venture building, fintech innovation and multidisciplinary teams.

Governance · Venture building · Fintech
ING

Senior Venture Builder

Venture building within ING’s innovation organisation, developing and validating new ventures and propositions.

Venture building · Banking · Innovation
Startupbootcamp · Innoleaps

Program leadership at the corporate and venture interface

Acceleration, corporate venturing and innovation programs with founders, investors and international ecosystems across food, energy and technology.

Corporates · Founders · Ecosystems
04Perspective

Where perspective becomes execution.

History is context. The better you understand where something comes from, the sharper you can see what it can become. That is how I look at art and music, and ultimately also how I look at organisations, programs and AI.

Where I learned to look

Art teaches observation

I have gone to museums since I was a child. I grew up around ateliers, second-hand bookshops and exhibitions, with a father who is an art historian, and now pass that on to my own children.

In front of a work, I look at composition, material, craft, choices and omissions. Those things say something about the work and about the maker. I read a project, team or organisation in a similar way: not only what is there, but why it came to be, what is missing, and what it would take to move it forward.

Museums, ateliers and places that shaped how I look: Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Rijksmuseum, Vatican Museums, Tate Modern, Galleria Borghese and Kunstsammlung NRW01Art
What I listen for

Music teaches movement

Music works the same way for me. I do not only hear the song. I listen to the writing, composition, voice, performance, production and the influences underneath it.

From Vivaldi and Robert Johnson, through Charlie Parker, Elvis, The Beatles and Hendrix, to Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Nirvana, Coldplay, Kendrick Lamar and David Guetta: almost nothing comes from nowhere. Where a movement starts often tells you where it can still go.

Sometimes it is simply about enjoying craft and originality. Sometimes it is about recognising when something is genuinely new, for a large audience or for a small community. That same attention is what I bring to work: influence, timing, context and execution.

Music as cultural evolution: Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Kendrick Lamar, Coldplay, The Beatles, Robert Johnson, Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix02Music
Craft turns perspective into execution

None of this is decoration. Art and music keep me sharp on the things my work runs on: reading context, forming a point of view, recognising craft and making something actually work.

Ideas are not enough. Strategy is not enough either. The value is in understanding where something comes from, seeing what it can become, and then building it in the real world: organisations, programs, ventures and AI adoption.

05Mandates

Engagement models.

Selective work, typically two to three days a week; full-time negotiable depending on scope.

01

Fractional Executive / Interim Director

Ongoing senior leadership on a fractional basis, typically two to three days a week, or as interim director, always on a clearly defined mandate.

02

Executive Strategy Workshop & Discovery

Executive alignment around complex transformation and AI, with rapid assessment of opportunities, governance, risks and roadmap.

03

Executive Programme Leadership

Directing complex strategic programmes with multiple stakeholders, across business, technology and governance, on a clearly defined mandate with agreed outcomes.

04

AI Adoption Programs

Design and delivery of enterprise and public-private AI adoption programs, frameworks, governance and adoption trajectories.

05

Corporate Development & Innovation

Supporting organisations in growth, partnerships, innovation and ecosystem development.

06

Executive Advisory

Trusted advisor to boards, executive teams and founders on transformation, AI adoption and strategic execution.

Selective availability for senior fractional, interim and advisory mandates, typically two to three days a week. Full-time is negotiable depending on scope, always as a clearly defined assignment.
Discuss a mandate
06Get in touch

Want to move an AI, technology or venture strategy from intent to adoption? Let's talk.

One short conversation usually makes clear whether there is something to build together.

willem@ventureplanner.nl WhatsApp LinkedIn