Karlijn van den Berg

Karlijn van den Berg, Head of Talent at ABN AMRO, wonderful to have you with us at the Leaders in Finance HR Event 2026. To start, could you introduce yourself and share a bit more about your role at ABN AMRO?

Of course. I’m Karlijn van den Berg, and I’ve spent my entire career at ABN AMRO in a variety of roles. Five years ago, I moved into HR, where I now lead the talent portfolio, including employer branding, leadership development, and talent and succession management.

You work closely with talent and career development on a daily basis. In your view, what has fundamentally changed in what people expect from work and from their employers compared to a few years ago?

Employees today look more to organizations for guidance on career opportunities and development. Especially younger employees want clearer career paths, more feedback, and more support in understanding what they need to grow. At the same time, in a large organization like ABN AMRO, careers cannot be fully mapped out in advance, so it remains a shared responsibility between employee and employer.

And how do you go about that? I can imagine that, with the number of employees you have, you cannot create individual career paths for everyone. So how do you deal with this shift in what people are asking for?

We focus on what we call “career navigation.” Instead of one fixed path, we help employees explore multiple possible routes. We provide tools, coaching, and conversations that help people better understand their strengths, motivations, and opportunities within the organization.

We also offer initiatives such as temporary “smart jobs,” where employees can explore different roles for a few months, and an internal coaching network that supports career development across the bank.

Your session at the Leaders in Finance HR Event will focus on designing careers that matter. What does a meaningful career look like today, especially for the younger generations you mentioned earlier?

People today think much more consciously about what motivates them and what gives them purpose. Many employees, across generations, want work that contributes to something bigger than themselves, whether within the organization or in society.

At the same time, job security remains important, especially in uncertain economic times. That balance between meaningful work and stability is a key theme. At ABN AMRO, we therefore invest strongly in personal and leadership development, helping people better understand themselves and shape careers that fit their ambitions and values.

Another major development is AI. Organizations are transforming rapidly and technology is changing the way we work. How do you ensure that careers still feel personal and human rather than transactional?

AI is transforming the financial sector at an incredible pace, and at ABN AMRO we see it as a core capability that helps shape the future of banking. At the same time, we believe it is essential to implement AI responsibly, with a strong focus on trust, accountability, and human value. Technology should strengthen people’s work, not replace the human aspect of it.

Our approach is very practical and focused on use cases that genuinely add value for both clients and colleagues. AI helps us improve customer experience, strengthen risk management, and make processes smarter and more efficient. But especially in a client-oriented organization like ours, human interaction and judgment remain incredibly important.

What really makes the difference is how our people embrace and apply AI in their daily work. That is why we invest heavily in AI literacy, safe tooling, and upskilling initiatives, so colleagues feel confident using these technologies responsibly. In practice, AI is changing the nature of work. Some tasks become more automated, while other skills and roles become more important. Ai will make some jobs disappear, but it will also create many new jobs. We just don’t know which (kind) yet.

For us, this is really about future-proofing careers and helping people grow alongside technological developments. I actually think AI creates a lot of opportunity: it gives people more space to focus on the human capabilities that truly make the difference.

Listening to you, I hear many interesting dilemmas emerge. Questions around balancing guidance with freedom, or technology with human connection. I know those are topics you also want to address during the event.

Looking ahead to the Leaders in Finance HR Event, what are you hoping to take away from the day? And what kinds of conversations are you looking forward to?

What I value most at these events is being challenged by different perspectives. I enjoy exchanging ideas with peers, both within and outside the financial sector, and learning how others approach similar dilemmas.

I expect there will be a strong sense of recognition around the challenges we all face in HR today. I hope to learn, connect, and contribute to meaningful conversations with fellow HR leaders in the financial sector.

That is exactly what we are aiming for. Karlijn van den Berg, thank you very much for your time, and we look forward to seeing you on stage on the 18th.