Steven Van Belleghem
Customer experience keynote speaker and author; co-founder of nexxworks
A decade on AI and customer relationships
Steven Van Belleghem is a Belgian keynote speaker and author who works on the future of customer experience[1]. He holds a master's degree in applied economics from Ghent University[2]. He is an adjunct professor of marketing at Vlerick Business School and a guest speaker at London Business School[2].
His central question is what happens to customer relationships when AI can do everything faster, cheaper and more accurately than any human[1]. He writes that he has researched and written about how AI would reshape the way companies connect with customers since 2014, years before ChatGPT[1].
He says he has given more than 1,500 keynotes in over 50 countries[1]. He names Disney, Google, Salesforce, Mastercard, Heineken, Booking.com, Coca-Cola, Volvo and Unilever among the organisations he has spoken for[1].
Books on the future of customers
Vlerick reports that his books have sold more than 150,000 copies and have been translated into seven languages[2]. They include The Conversation Manager, The Conversation Company and When Digital Becomes Human[2][3].
His book Customers the Day After Tomorrow is about customer relations in a world of artificial intelligence, automation and bots[3]. nexxworks lists it with the line "Winning customers in a world of AI, bots and automation"[4]. Another book, The Offer You Can't Refuse, argues that the future of customer experience is about digital, empathy and taking responsibility[4]. A Diamond in the Rough starts from what he calls the big paradox of customer experience: companies mean to make customers happy, but their execution is often average to low[4].
He has also written Dutch-language fiction, including the novel Hoogverraad, set in 2048[3].
Deep Loyalty
His latest book, Deep Loyalty, is due in October 2026[1]. It asks what happens to loyalty when AI makes every brand perfect[5]. The book describes a world where AI eliminates friction, automates relationships and makes switching effortless[5].
Deep Loyalty sets out three levels of loyalty: transactional, transformational and deep[5]. It covers why frictionless experiences are becoming a commodity, and how AI agents are changing buying behaviour and brand loyalty[5]. It also gives a model for moving an organisation from transactional to transformational to deep loyalty[5].
His argument is that when AI makes perfect service the baseline, companies can no longer win by being better[1]. "They can only win by being more meaningful," he writes[1]. In his view, the differentiator will shift from performance to connection, meaning value that customers truly care about[1].
nexxworks, investments and earlier views
Van Belleghem is a co-founder of nexxworks, which runs inspiration tours and executive programmes on the future of customer experience[1][2]. Vlerick lists him as co-founder of the social media agency Snackbytes too[2]. As an investor he is involved in the digital agency Intracto and the AI scale-up Hello Customer, and he sits on the board of Plan International[2].
In an earlier interview with Engage Customer he said he was enthusiastic about AI but did not believe it would be the ultimate differentiator for organisations[6]. Technology quickly becomes a commodity, he said, and the true distinguishing factor will be an organisation's customer culture[6].
His website sums up his focus in one line: "I am obsessed with customer experience in the age of Artificial Intelligence."[7]
Known for
- Author of Customers the Day After Tomorrow and When Digital Becomes Human
- Deep Loyalty (2026), on loyalty when AI makes service perfect
- More than 1,500 keynotes on customer experience
- Co-founder of nexxworks
Sources
- Steven Van Belleghem: About — checked 8 Nov 2026
- Vlerick Business School: Steven Van Belleghem, Adjunct Professor of Marketing — checked 8 Nov 2026
- Steven Van Belleghem: Books — checked 8 Nov 2026
- nexxworks: Steven Van Belleghem speaker page — checked 8 Nov 2026
- Steven Van Belleghem: Deep Loyalty — checked 8 Nov 2026
- Engage Customer: Steven Van Belleghem interview — checked 8 Nov 2026
- Steven Van Belleghem: home page — checked 8 Nov 2026