Growth beyond transactionsGroei voorbij transacties

I don’t separate skilling from growth. Ik zie skilling niet los van groei.

Partner growth is not only a question of how many transactions move through an ecosystem. Part of my work has focused on what happens before the transaction: whether partners understand the technology deeply enough to recognise the opportunity, design the right solution and create genuine value for the customer. Partnergroei is niet alleen een kwestie van hoeveel transacties er door een ecosysteem stromen. Een deel van mijn werk richt zich op wat er vóór de transactie gebeurt: begrijpen partners de technologie diep genoeg om de kans te herkennen, de juiste oplossing te ontwerpen en echte waarde te leveren aan de klant?

In technology ecosystems, knowledge is part of the commercial engine. Better-skilled partners recognise more opportunities, position solutions with greater confidence and can apply the technology more meaningfully to the customer’s situation. Enablement is not what happens after the strategy. It is part of how the strategy becomes executable. In technologie-ecosystemen is kennis onderdeel van de commerciële motor. Beter-geskilde partners herkennen meer kansen, positioneren oplossingen met meer overtuiging en kunnen technologie betekenisvoller toepassen op de situatie van de klant. Enablement is niet wat er na de strategie gebeurt. Het is onderdeel van hoe de strategie uitvoerbaar wordt.

See the full argument, writing archive and case studies → Zie het volledige argument, het schrijfarchief en de case studies →

External voiceExterne stem

Daphne ziet skilling niet los van commerciële groei. Investeren in kennis helpt niet alleen de sales groeien, maar vergroot ook de waarde voor de klant.What I appreciate about Daphne's approach is that she does not see skilling as separate from commercial growth. Where sales often focuses primarily on increasing transactions, she sees investment in knowledge as a way to strengthen both the business and the value delivered to the customer. Greater knowledge means solutions can be applied more effectively and aligned more closely with the customer's situation.

Saskia Smetsers Partner ecosystem professional

Translated from Dutch. Origineel in het Nederlands.

Explore Partner Ecosystem work →Bekijk Partner Ecosystem werk →

Start hereBegin hier

Six entries into the same question.Zes ingangen naar dezelfde vraag.

Venture Lab

Digital Twin of Myself

How much of a human being can be represented as context before the representation starts changing the human?

OngoingOpen to collaboration
Humanity & Society

Mercy Without Permission

What happens when care, law and institutional responsibility collide?

In developmentPublishing enquiries
Creativity & Learning

Noor

How can children build curiosity, observation, reasoning and creative confidence — and what happens when we give ourselves permission to become curious again?

In developmentPublishing enquiries
Technology & AI

DeArbeidsmarkt.nl

Who gets to define someone's potential when an algorithm participates in the decision?

TestingOpen to collaboration
Humanity & Society

w.a.p.p.i.e.

What happens when language used to describe a group begins determining how that group is seen?

OngoingResearch only
Humanity & Society

Human Visibility in Algorithmic Systems

How do you remain recognisably yourself when platforms reward increasingly standardised forms of visibility?

OngoingSpeaking available
Explore by questionVerken per vraag

What kind of system are you looking at?Naar welk soort systeem kijk je?

ArchiveArchief

All public work.Al het publieke werk.

Project · 2026

The Wonderful World of Noor

Original children's creative learning and activity-book world built around Noor.

Creativity & LearningIn Development
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Book · 2026

Mercy Without Permission

Long-form investigative/literary work about care, responsibility and institut...

Humanity & SocietyIn Development
Find out more →Meer weten →
Article · 2026

Fear, Leadership and AI

A research-led essay and practical framework on fear, identity, responsibility and human agency during AI transformation.

Technology & AIPublished
Find out more →Meer weten →
Article · 2026

Love, Leadership and AI

A research-led essay arguing that AI makes love more structural in leadership: a disciplined commitment to the dignity, agency and flourishing of the people affected by technological decisions.

Technology & AIPublished
Find out more →Meer weten →
Experiment · 2026

Digital Twin of Myself

Concept for a private digital twin grounded in values, experience and decisio...

Technology & AIResearch
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Project · 2026

Short Fuse

Accessible action/reflection workbook designed around behaviour change and se...

Humanity & SocietyIn Development
Find out more →Meer weten →
Project · 2026

daphneiris.com

Personal knowledge, publishing and commerce platform connecting technology, h...

Creativity & LearningIn Development
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Research · 2026

Technology. Humanity. Creativity.

The connecting thesis of daphneiris.com: technology as what systems make possible, humanity as what systems must not erase, creativity as what people can still imagine and make, with human agency as the principle that holds them together. This page is being developed into a full manifesto; the underlying arguments already sit inside AI & Human Agency, Responsible Technology & Digital Human Rights, and the leadership essays.

Humanity & SocietyResearch
Find out more →Meer weten →
Research · 2026

Responsible Technology & Digital Human Rights

A research and professional theme exploring what happens when technology begins to affect rights, opportunities, relationships and institutional power. My interest is not simply whether technology is safe, accurate or compliant. Those questions matter. But a system can be technically robust and still be deployed for the wrong purpose. It can satisfy a transparency obligation while remaining practically impossible to challenge. It can contain a human-in-the-loop who has neither the time nor authority to disagree. It can improve an organisation's risk posture while transferring risk to the person with the least power. Responsible technology therefore requires a wider question: what does this system allow one actor to do to another, and what protections exist when that power is exercised badly?

Humanity & SocietyOngoing
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Research · 2026

AI & Human Agency

A living research stream about the relationship between artificial intelligence and the human capacity to think, choose, question, create, change and take responsibility. AI does not simply increase or decrease human agency; it redistributes it.

Technology & AIOngoing
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Public Speaking · 2026

Copaco Cloud Partner Day — Pairi Daiza

International speaking engagement for Belgian technology partners at Copaco's Partner Day in Pairi Daiza.

Technology & AIPublished
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Media Appearance · 2026

People Work Technology Café — Agentic AI

Talk-show appearance discussing Agentic AI, Copilot adoption and AI developments in Dutch organisations.

Technology & AIPublished
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Community Leadership · 2026

Microsoft Community Iftar

Microsoft partner-community iftar designed around connection, reflection, professional community and shared purpose.

Humanity & SocietyPublished
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Public Speaking · 2026

Pax8 / TCC Partner Event

Scheduled partner ecosystem engagement involving Pax8 / TCC.

Technology & AIScheduled
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Keynote · 2025

Hack4Her — Women in Technology

Keynote at Hack4Her at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, a women-centred technology event.

Technology & AIPublished
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Public Speaking · 2025

People Work Technology Café — Microsoft & MSP Ecosystem

Live discussion on Microsoft, MSPs, cloud and developments in the technology partner ecosystem.

Technology & AIPublished
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Podcast · 2025

Salesbazen — Visibility and Personal Branding for Success

Long-form Salesbazen conversation on authentic visibility, personal branding, trust, storytelling and technology's social responsibility.

Humanity & SocietyPublished
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Public Speaking · 2023

A New Vision on IT Talent

Microsoft and four skilling partners brought partners, customers and alternative technology talent together to rethink how organisations recognise and recruit IT talent.

Humanity & SocietyPublished
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Media Appearance · 2022

Cloud Expo Radio — New Business Radio

Radio guest during Cloud Expo's live New Business Radio broadcast from Houten.

Technology & AIPublished
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Public Speaking · 2021

HSO Women in Tech / International Women's Day

Speaking engagement connected to HSO's Women in Tech / International Women's Day programming.

Humanity & SocietyPublished
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Project · 2020

w.a.p.p.i.e.

Cultural archive and storytelling project using photography, street history a...

Humanity & SocietyOngoing
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Public Speaking / Interview · 2020

From social selling to useful public work

A 2020 social-selling conversation revisited as a 2026 reflection on visibility, usefulness, boundaries, digital relationships and public work.

Humanity & SocietyPublished
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Essay · 2013

Economic Botany: Tabernanthe Iboga

2013 research essay on Tabernanthe iboga covering taxonomy, African cultural use, ibogaine pharmacology, global legal status, and therapeutic applications for addiction treatment, informed by founding the Iboga Foundation.

Humanity & SocietyPublished
Find out more →Meer weten →