About
Belgian entrepreneur, author, mentor and strategic advisor with more than 30 years of experience in technology entrepreneurship, knowledge management, legaltech, AI, governance and innovation.
A career, one theme
Hans has built and supported companies at the intersection of knowledge, technology and business transformation. His work combines the practical reality of entrepreneurship with deep strategic thinking about how organizations learn, decide, grow, govern and adapt.
This perspective now comes together in his work around:
01 · Author
Hans is the author of The 360° Entrepreneur trilogy and the upcoming The 360° Enterprise trilogy. The last 20 years he already published two books: Learning to swim in information and Knowledge-centric management.
“It is your re-use and application that creates value to you, your organization, and eventually the world.”
02 · Entrepreneur & Builder
Hans has initiated and supported ventures in knowledge management, legaltech, AI, growth architecture, publishing, mentorship and electric urban mobility.
He believes credibility comes not only from thinking, but from building.
03 · Mentor, Advisor & Investor
Hans supports entrepreneurs, boards and SME leaders through mentorship, advisory roles and occasional strategic investments. He is particularly drawn to impactful SMEs where his experience can add value beyond capital.
04 · Ecosystem Contributor
Entrepreneurship and innovation do not grow in isolation. As president of the board at ie-net, Hans helped integrate two competing engineering associations into one stronger professional platform — a role that required governance maturity, diplomacy and strategic alignment.
Bio
Hans Van Heghe is an engineer by education and an entrepreneur by practice.
He holds a Master in Applied Sciences with a specialization in automation and robotics from KUL / Groep T, complemented by business administration training at UAMS and the Scale-up Master Class at Vlerick.
His career started in industrial automation at Texas Instruments and Delaware Computing, followed by product and project management roles in speech technology at Lernout & Hauspie / Stentor and business development and product unit leadership at FICS Group.
He later became managing director of Write!, active in translation and technical communication, before founding Knowliah in 1999. Over 25 years, he led Knowliah as founder, CEO and president, combining strategic leadership with product, technology, finance and commercial responsibility.
Today, through Management & Innovation, Hans works as advisor, lecturer, independent board member and executive interim manager for technology-driven organizations, with a strong focus on SaaS, digital scale-ups, AI, knowledge-centric management, governance and business development.
His mandates and ecosystem roles include board and community work in Project Management Belgium, Salve Strategii, ie-net and Agoria Digital, where he contributed to professional communities in project management, strategy, engineering and the digital sector.
Hans is fluent in Dutch, English and French, with notions of German, Spanish and Italian.
Profile
Hans is a strategic system thinker who combines engineering discipline, entrepreneurial resilience and a strong human understanding of organizations.
He is driven by the conviction that almost everything can be improved — products, processes, organizations, markets, knowledge flows and even the way leaders think about their own role.
His personal values are clear: ethics, sustainability, diversity, honesty, responsibility, end-user focus and output-driven execution.
He believes in saying what you do, doing what you say, allowing mistakes and learning from them. He is known for approaching problems from the other side, making 180° turns when needed, and simplifying complex systems without ignoring the human behaviour behind them.
Hans brings high energy when there is a meaningful challenge: creating new products, building ventures, restoring strategic clarity, aligning stakeholders, helping organizations adapt, or turning knowledge and technology into measurable business value.
He combines long-term vision with operational realism. He is not interested in innovation as theatre. He is interested in innovation that works, scales, creates value and respects the people who must carry it.
His profile is therefore not that of a traditional consultant.
He is a builder, challenger, mentor and board-level sparring partner for leaders who want sharper thinking, stronger governance and more strategic momentum.
Hans sees the whole system.
“Entrepreneurship is not only about building a company.
It is about becoming capable of carrying the company you are building.”
For books, advisory, board mandates, speaking, mentorship or investment discussions.