The new appointments and additional responsibilities are effective immediately, ahead of the big strategic plan reveal slated for 27 February
Proximus has announced “some evolutions in the internal governance of its activities in the Benelux and the composition of its senior management team (Proximus Leadership Squad)”. The appointments are with immediate effect, intended to help the operator double down on customer focus, its value proposition in B2B segments and better define its “strategic innovation path”.
Seckin Arikan, will continue to lead Proximus Global, reporting to the Group CEO Stijn Bijnens (pictured). Arikan was appointed in September, as was Bijnens.
Bijnens took up his role after the previous, long-serving, group CEO, Guillaume Boutin, left to become CEO of Vodafone Investments & Strategy, with a seat on Vodafone Group’s executive committee. Previously, since 2019, Bijnens was the CEO of the Belgian ICT company Cegeka.
Anne-Valérie Heuschen will become Group Secretary General, reporting to the CEO and supporting the Proximus Group Board. These changes will take effect immediately. The changes are in advance of Bijnens revealing the new strategic plan on 27 February.
B2B changes
Henceforth, the B2B organisation will cover the full portfolio – from telco to IT services – for all enterprise business activities. The team will serve the SMEs and Proximus NXT – that is, corporations & public market – segments across all Proximus’ entities in Benelux.
Fabrice De Windt will be responsible for Proximus NXT, reporting to Renaud Tilmans who will lead the overall B2B business and continue as a member of the Leadership Squad.
B2C leadership
Jim Casteele, B2C & AI Lead, will now also oversee “the transversal AI transformation program” to streamline all AI initiatives, strategy and process improvements to benefit customers.
Donatienne Goemans will join the Proximus Leadership Squad as Customer Operations Lead, underscoring the operator’s intention of providing optimal experience to customers across all segments.
Jeroen Verbruggen will also join the Leadership Squad, having been appointed IT Lead. He and his teams will support business units in engineering digital solutions across brands and segments. Verbruggen will also strengthen the security and performance of the company’s critical infrastructure.
No change
The other members of the Proximus Leadership Squad, for whom the scope and responsibilities remain unchanged, are: Ben Appel, Group Corporate Affairs Lead, Nicolas Gaertner, Group Finance Lead, Geert Standaert, Network Lead, including wholesale activities, and Jan Van Acoleyen, Group Human Capital Lead).
