Overview
Joris Claes is based in Ghent and has been chief executive of Spectr since March 2026. Since October 2013 he has also served as an interim executive at SEVENLEMON BOULEVARD, and from February 2022 to June 2026 he was an investment advisor at VantaMoon Investments Ltd. He was chief executive of Limecraft from June 2023 to September 2025.
Earlier he held operational and transformation roles across several organisations: chief commercial and operating officer at traicie in 2022, chief operating officer at Ovinto from 2020 to 2022, group chief technology officer at 4C from 2018 to 2020, transformation manager on site at the Vias institute from 2018 to 2019, business transformation consultant at BDO Belgium from 2014 to 2018, and director of a transformation implementation programme at Worldline Global from 2014 to 2016. At Partena HR he was marketing manager and then director of services between 2008 and 2013, having begun his career at The House of Marketing in 2000, where he rose from junior consultant to senior consultant.
Claes took an MBA in marketing management at Vlerick Business School in 1999 and 2000, following a licence in commercial sciences at EHSAL - Brussels and candidatures in applied economics at the University of Antwerp.
Career history
In the news
- Dank aan Schüco Nederland, BAM Nederland en BDO Belgium om elkaars ervaringen rond innovatie in bouw & infrastructuurwerken te delen tijdens deze sessie.
- By the end of the first week of school, the newness has started to fade. The school bag is no longer perfectly packed. The first routines are forming. Children begin to understand where to go, who to ask and what is expected of them. It is no longer about the first impression. It is about whether the new environment is starting to work. The same is true after a scale-up enters a new leadership phase. A new leadership appointment, a revised governance model or a broader leadership team can create a strong signal of intent. But after
- Your historian used to have one main job: reliably retrieve and store industrial data. Today, that data needs to do a lot more: feed cloud analytics, power predictive AI, create real-time visibility, …. That became pretty clear when we let our customers and partners shape the agenda during our recent meet-up with Canary. Between comparing architectures and discussing where industrial data is heading, a few things stood out: 1️⃣ 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. Around the table, we saw everything from
- The day after the first day of school may be the most interesting one. The initial tension has passed. The photo at the school gate has been taken. And then the real work begins: new routines, unfamiliar expectations and a different rhythm. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲-𝘂𝗽, 𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽. 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘊𝘌𝘖, 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦
- On the first day of school, parents walk their children to the gate. They provide direction. They make sure everything is packed. And then comes the important part: They let go. That is not distance born of indifference. It is trust within a clear framework. For founders, shareholders and boards, the transition into the next growth phase can feel similar. The business may have a strong product, loyal customers and clear market momentum. But it may now require a different kind of leadership: more rhythm, clearer roles and more
- The day before September 1 is often quieter than the day itself. The school bag is ready. New shoes. A lunchbox that has not yet been filled. And somewhere between practical preparation and a little anticipation sits a bigger question: 𝗜𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲? In my daily role, I recognise that moment. Not because a scale-up is the same as a school. But because transitions only work well when the preparation has happened before the first bell rings. For founders, boards and
- The hardest scaling decision is often not: Who should we hire next?” It is this: “𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗽𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲, 𝗼𝗿𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁?” After product-market fit, a company faces a different kind of test. Product-market fit proves that customers want what you offer. It does not prove that the organisation can deliver growth predictably, repeatedly and without relying on a small number of people holding everything together.
- A crisis CEO does not start with a new strategic plan. They start with a more uncomfortable question: “𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦?” When an organisation is under pressure, the instinct is often to act fast: launch a transformation programme, redraw the organisation chart, announce a new strategy. That can create motion. It does not necessarily create control. In the first weeks, a CEO’s task is not to have every answer. It is to restore one
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