Overview
Laurent Hublet is an economist, philosopher, and Belgian politician born in Brussels in 1983. He holds degrees in commercial engineering and economics from Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, a degree in philosophy, and an MBA from Columbia Business School. He co-founded BeCentral, the digital campus at Brussels Central Station hosting 60 tech schools, startups, and NGOs, and served as its executive director until 2023. Prior to BeCentral, from 2014 to 2018 he was an advisor in the cabinet of Alexander De Croo, the minister in charge of the Digital Belgium project. In February 2026 he was designated to become Brussels Minister for Economy, Employment, and Digital Economy.
Career history
- Advisor to Alexander De Croo2014-2018minister, Digital Belgium
- Co-founded BeCentral2017Brussels digital campus
- Until 2023Executive Director, BeCentral
- Designated Brussels Minister for Economy, Employment, and Digital Economy2026
- FounderBeCentral
Insights & ideas
The through-line
Across five months of governing Brussels, Laurent Hublet keeps returning to one idea: that entrepreneurial urgency, not caution, is what a city government needs. He frames his own move from business into politics as a deliberate risk, not an accident, and repeatedly measures his ministry's work against a promise he made himself and voters at the moment he took the oath: "y aller à fond" [5][6]. That posture has not shifted since February; if anything it has hardened into a governing method, showing up in how he staffs institutions, funds transitions, and talks about AI and climate as tests of whether Brussels moves fast enough.
The other constant is that he treats economic and social policy as inseparable. Digital sovereignty, disability care, diversity labels and climate spending are all presented not as separate portfolios but as pieces of the same project: making Brussels work for the people who live there.
On entrepreneurial urgency and who leads
Hublet describes his own appointment as improbable and treats speed as a moral obligation once in office: "Je suis entrepreneur. Je ne m'attendais pas à devenir ministre" [5][6], followed immediately by "Nous n'avons pas une seconde à perdre. Nous n'avons pas le luxe de faire des mauvais choix" [5][6]. That same logic drives his approach to appointments: he wants "des entrepreneurs prêts à mouiller le maillot" running Brussels's economic tools [1], and he insists that even administrative recruitment, such as the search for Actiris's new director general, be "ambitieuse et rigoureuse" through parallel French- and Dutch-speaking selection committees [9].
On digital and AI sovereignty
Hublet's framing of sovereignty is explicitly relational rather than defensive: "Digital Sovereignty is about partnerships & scale. About people & places" [2]. After the G7-adjacent AI summit in Lille, he sharpened this into an urgency claim: "l'intelligence artificielle n'est plus un sujet d'avenir; c'est un enjeu immédiat de souveraineté, de développement socio-économique et de transformation de nos territoires" [7]. He backs this with a stark local stake, noting that in Brussels "près de 80% des emplois s
Media & appearances
- Les Engagés - Mouvement participatifYouTubeLaurent Hublet: "Let's make Brussels win!"Laurent Hublet discusses his background as a Brussels-born entrepreneur and co-founder of Bicentral, a digital campus located in Brussels Central Station, as well as his launch of IM Brussels, a citizen engagement initiative that consulted residents across Brussels's 19 communes about their concerns before sharing findings with political parties.
- TEDx TalksYouTubeWas wikipedia born in Brussels? | Laurent Hublet | TEDxBrussels
- Kobe van ReppelenYouTube#244 - Laurent Hublet
In the news
- Les métiers en pénurie dans un marché de niche… ou comment faire preuve de créativité pour attirer les talents que l’on recherche ! Dans le secteur aéronautique, certains métiers sont particulièrement difficiles à pourvoir. Face à ces défis, une conviction nous anime à la SABCA : plutôt que de chercher uniquement des talents déjà formés, créons les opportunités de les former et de les faire grandir. C’est dans cette optique que nous avons lancé, en 2026, deux parcours de formation-emploi en collaboration avec Technicity.brussels,
- Last week I had the honor of curating the content for the FinTech session during the Flanders Technology & Innovation Festival, organised by the amazing team at GLUON BXL. A special thanks to all the speakers Claire Munck (BeAngels), Stijn (Stan) Christiaens (Collibra), Aline Muylaert (Go Vocal), Michael V. (Monizze), Quentin Colmant (Qover), Muriel Bernard (BeCentral), Pepijn Mores (Prismos), Charles Van den Bogaert (iBanFirst), Louis Vanheurck de Tornaco (dups), minister Laurent Hublet (Government of the Brussels-Capital Region),
- Have you ever heard the sound of AI ❓ It roars like a jet engine! I could hear it in Ghent, visiting Aikido Security’s office: a server packed with Nvidia chips, running at full power, using AI to test how well a system stands up to cyberattacks. The engineer showing me around, Selim Decamps, comes from Mons and was hired after selling his company to Aikido. Yet, what struck me much more than the "sound of AI", was the level of ambition at Aikido: your vision of building a world-class champion in AI & cybersecurity in only a few
- Local taxes from Brussels' communes are out of control, causing the exodus of companies out of the Brussels Capital Region. Companies and entrepreneurs are partners of the communes to develop employment and the local economy. Let's have a more constructive dialogue. Beci Trends-Tendances Caroline Aelvoet Alain Heureux Edouard Cambier Jean de Renesse Lisa ISNARD Boris Dilliès Laurent Hublet Philippe Close Michèle Didden Bernard Rummens Tom CLAERBOUT Fabrice Moerman Brieuc Janssens de Varebeke https://lnkd.in/e8Pxwkqk
- L'an dernier, une grève nationale a annulé sa venue et cette année un grès est annoncée aussi.(Classique belge 🇧🇪) Cette année, Sandrine Dixson-Declève sera bien sur la scène du Tapio Day. À mon sens, la personne la plus inspirante que j'ai pu voir sur scène. Elle viendra parler du coût de l'inaction : l'éléphant dans la pièce qu'on continue de négliger. Elle ne sera pas seule : → @Laurent Hublet, sur la transition des entreprises bruxelloises, et sur celles qui n'auront plus accès aux subsides en cette fin 2026. → Serge Zaka,
- Local taxes from Brussels' communes are out of control, causing the exodus of companies out of the Brussels Capital Region. Companies and entrepreneurs are partners of the communes to develop employment and the local economy. Let's have a more constructive dialogue. Beci Trends-Tendances Caroline Aelvoet Alain Heureux Edouard Cambier Jean de Renesse Lisa ISNARD Boris Dilliès Laurent Hublet Philippe Close Michèle Didden Bernard Rummens Tom CLAERBOUT Fabrice Moerman Brieuc Janssens de Varebeke
- Me retrouver hier soir à BeCentral, le QG de mes startups sociétales, à un événement organisé par l'AILouvain - Alumni Ingénieurs Louvain, dont je fais partie, autour d'un panel avec mon Ami Laurent Hublet sur la souveraineté numérique et avec l'outil d'interaction avec le public qu'est Wooclap, y retrouver Roald Sieberath, Laurence Guiot et mon associé Daniel Verougstraete, j'avais une impression d'être au bon endroit au bon moment. Merci à Sophie Préaux et à Nathalie Debaty pour l'organisation de cet événement.
- 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗳𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 & 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗵𝘂𝗯? At FTI Brussels 2026, conversations explored how we put AI into practice, build trust in digital services and create the conditions for companies to grow. From payments and investment to smarter public services, a common thread emerged: progress depends on strong foundations, collaboration and the ambition to think beyond the next milestone. Thank you to everyone who joined us at
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