2026-09-26

Enterprise AI Summit Rotterdam: what it took to get here

On 28 September 2026, the first Enterprise AI Summit took place aboard the SS Rotterdam. What happened, what was said, and what it took to pull it off.

[INTRO - to be written after the event]

Why this event

[Frederik to fill in: the backstory, why he organised it, how long it took]

The preparation

Frederik on a bike in Schiedam, picking up the speaker gifts, with historic Dutch canal houses and boats in the background

The day before the event, I cycled through Schiedam to pick up the speaker gifts. Small detail, but that is what the day before looks like.

Terrace of 21 Pinchos restaurant in Rotterdam with the city skyline in the background, Pinchos menu on the table

Dinner at 21 Pinchos the evening before. Rotterdam skyline, good company, amazing bacon. The calm before the storm.

The venue: SS Rotterdam

Panoramic view of the main hall on the SS Rotterdam, set up for the Enterprise AI Summit, with warm pendant lights across the ceiling and red-curtained portholes along the sides

The room the morning before doors opened. Those pendant lights across the ceiling looked like stars once the event was in full swing.

View through a porthole window on the SS Rotterdam, looking out over the Maas with the Rotterdam industrial skyline in the background

Rotterdam skyline on a clear blue-sky day, with the Erasmus Bridge visible on the right and high-rise towers along the Maas riverbank

The SS Rotterdam sits right on the water. You look through a porthole and see the Maas and the city beyond it. Hard to find a better backdrop for a conference.

The speakers

[Speaker highlights, quotes, key moments per session]

Peter Hinssen: The Never Normal

[Notes/photos]

Dries Buytaert

[Notes/photos]

Julien Blanchez: Sovereign AI

[Notes/photos]

The audience

[Who was in the room, atmosphere, conversations]

What I took away

[Frederik's personal reflection]

Written with assistance from Dobbie, Frederik's AI assistant.