Unlock expert insights into workplace curiosity, culture, and the future of work. Discover proven strategies to navigate change, foster individual growth, and drive organisational success.
Belgium
Europe
Core Intelligence Domain: Leadership & Workplace Culture
Location: Antwerp, Belgium | Languages: English, Dutch, French
Representation: Represented globally by PSpeakers Global Intelligence
Stefaan van Hooydonk is a global authority on workplace curiosity and corporate learning, possessing an unparalleled track record of architecting knowledge ecosystems for the world’s most innovative Fortune 500 companies. As the Founder of the Global Curiosity Institute, he leverages his proprietary frameworks to transform organisational DNA, ensuring that curiosity becomes a measurable, strategic asset rather than a mere cultural buzzword. Through his visionary leadership, he enables multinational enterprises to foster cognitive flexibility, drive disruptive innovation, and maintain strategic foresight in an era of unprecedented digital and economic transformation.
Before dedicating his focus entirely to the research and application of workplace curiosity, Stefaan served as the Chief Learning Officer (CLO) and in senior executive L&D roles for a formidable roster of global titans, including Cognizant, Philips, Nokia, Flipkart, and Agfa. In these high-stakes executive roles, he was responsible for the continuous upskilling and intellectual development of hundreds of thousands of employees across diverse global markets. His tenure in these positions allowed him to engineer large-scale cultural transformations, implementing learning frameworks that aligned directly with shifting corporate strategies and emerging market demands.
His deep understanding of corporate learning dynamics led him to identify a critical gap in modern business: the steady decline of institutional curiosity. This realisation prompted the foundation of the Global Curiosity Institute, an organisation dedicated to researching the intersection of curiosity, innovation, and psychological safety in the workplace. Today, he advises boards and executive committees worldwide on how to operationalise curiosity to safeguard against obsolescence.
Stefaan is the celebrated author of The Workplace Curiosity Manifesto, a seminal work that challenges leaders to intentionally design environments where asking questions is valued as highly as providing answers. His proprietary diagnostic tools allow companies to measure their baseline curiosity, identifying operational bottlenecks and cultural barriers that stifle innovation.
As a highly sought-after keynote speaker represented by PSpeakers Global Intelligence, Stefaan delivers transformative insights tailored to C-suite executives, HR leaders, and innovation teams. His keynote presentations are heavily data-driven, blending academic rigour with decades of frontline corporate experience.
Stefaan has proven an excellent speaker choice at the events I chair. He is clearly deeply knowledgeable about workplace curiosity and is able to share his expertise in an engaging way with his audience. He backs this up with his global experience as a Chief Learning Officer in large corporations, which provides real gravitas and credibility. There's no doubt that Stefaan is providing leading thinking and practice in this field and I have no hesitation in recommending him."
“Dear Stefaan, I have just viewed the recorded version of the session about Curiosity. I was overwhelmed by its color and preciseness. Many of the aspects that were brought forward are on our agenda, and the research you presented gives us confidence that we are on the right track. Also, the simplicity you used in describing forces, behaviors, etc. really appealed to me. And the Individual/Team/Organization perspectives align well with the way we understand Lifelong learning in the company context. This session is really valuable for us. Thank you so much for making the effort!”
“It was wonderful meeting you again Stefaan! Your session was the most insightful at the London Learning Technologies 2022 conference.”
“Super thanks for a truly inspiring, enriching, and thought-provoking session!”
“In an uncertain and complex world your ability to learn is in my opinion the only sustainable competitive advantage. In his ground breaking book ‘the workplace curiosity manifesto’ Stefaan van Hooydonk states that the #1 driver for individuals, teams and organizations to boost their ability to learn is to become more curious. How? Well it all starts with asking more questions. We have invited Stefaan for multiple client events and each time the participants strengthened their muscles to be curious, gained new insights and walked a way with a lot of inspiration to make the world more curious. And that’s exactly what we need at this moment in time.”
"We had Stefaan from Global Curiosity Institute to give a key note at our conference PLM Road Map and PDT Europe in Gothenburg October 2022. It was a conference for professionals in the Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) domain with more than 160 attendees with a theme centered around the need for Digital Transformation. Stefaan kicked off day 2 with a truly inspiring presentation about Curiosity and injected a lot of energy into the conference. Perfect for the start of day 2. This start made us all energetic and you could see and hear that it was very appreciated. In addition, the feedback on site and in forums like Linkedin, was very positive and had all of think about how we can follow Stefaan’s recommendation to be more curious both as individuals and organisations. Thanks Stefaan for your great contribution."
“Thank you Stefaan for your inspirational story and provide us with a lot of insights and let us challenge our own curiosity. It was an energetic start for a great day for our team!”
"We asked Stefaan for our GoodHabitz Event about workplace curiosity as we thought he would be the perfect fit for HR and L&D professionals. And we were completely right! Our audience was inspired by Stefaan’s insights, triggered by his questions, and went home with brand new ideas on how to motivate colleagues to stay curious and to keep learning. We would definitely recommend Stefaan for any future events."
"Stefaan van Hooydonk delivered a session on leveraging curiosity in the workplace to drive employee performance and productivity at our inaugural learning and development ATD conference in Kuwait. It was a very insightful and thought-provoking session, the audience were engaged in interesting discussion with Stefaan and interacted with him through out by asking many questions. Stefaan’s opening session was a great value-add to our conference, and the top-rated by the audience. I look forward to collaborating with him for ATD’s future projects."
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