Ruben Verkuijl

Ruben, great to have you! Ruben Verkuijl, CEO of Kayak and also knowledge partner of the Leaders in Finance HR Event. Would please introduce yourself? 
Great to be here! I’m Ruben Verkuijl, founder and CEO of Kayak – a staffing and technology company that operates in finance and healthcare. I’ve been building companies since studying Business Administration at Erasmus University in 2007. What drives me is creating things that help people and businesses move forward – whether it’s through recruitment, staffing, or now more and more: through technology and AI.

You are an entrepreneur – tell us about your business and also how you look at HR in your role?
Kayak started as a staffing company, but we’re now evolving into a broader platform that includes kayak.jobs – an AI-powered job-matching engine. In our business, people are everything. That’s why HR – or better said, people & culture – plays such a central role. As a founder, I don’t just look at HR as operations or compliance, but as the core engine of transformation. Especially now, with AI changing the future of work, HR leaders have a unique role to play in helping organizations and people adapt.

During the event you will be a speaker at the AI panel – how are you currently applying AI in your field of expertise? 
We’re actively experimenting with AI to improve how we match talent with opportunities. Also we’ve already implemented two AI applications into our processes for about 1 year. At kayak.jobs, we use AI to scrape, structure and understand job data from across the web, and match it with candidates based on much more than keywords. Personally, I also use AI as a daily thinking partner – for ideation, prototyping and even coding. I’m not a technical founder by training, but tools like GPT, Claude and Cursor have made it possible for me to build real software – and that’s a game changer.

What is your message to HR leaders when it comes to AI?
Experiment. Just start. Read less, do more. The future of work is being shaped right now, and the best way to help your organization and your people is by trying things out yourself. Play with tools. Set up internal experiments. Make AI a team sport. As HR leaders, you don’t need to have all the answers – but you do need to lead the way. Because doing nothing is not a neutral choice. It’s falling behind. And honestly: if I can experiment with AI – without a tech background – then anyone can.

When will the HR event be a success for you? What are you most looking forward to? 
It’s already a success if HR leaders walk away with a sense of urgency and inspiration. If even a few decide to start experimenting, testing and building with AI in their teams – that would be amazing. I’m looking forward to the real conversations: about fears, possibilities, and the leadership it takes to bring people along in this transformation. This is not just about technology – it’s about culture, mindset and action.