Ilze Cools combines a keen business sense with people-centered leadership and decisiveness. With a degree from the Higher School of Hotel Management, a career start in recruitment, and extensive experience in telecommunications and IT, she brings a broad perspective to her work. By listening carefully, making clear decisions, and providing direction, she — as the Director of IT/CIO of Dura Vermeer — and her team have achieved a major digital transformation in just three years. That is why she has been nominated for the CIO of the Year Award.

What is the biggest challenge your organization is facing?
“We want to build smarter, more productively, and more sustainably, together with our clients and supply chain partners. At the same time, our projects are becoming more complex, and skilled professionals are in short supply. This calls for better utilization of our people, resources, and knowledge. We have a lot of data; the challenge is to translate that into insights and concrete improvements in our work. Our ambition is to use technology to address the issues that matter on the construction site and within our organization.

With my team, I facilitate that ambition through technology. I can come up with all sorts of technical ideas, but they must align with the needs of the business. That’s why we act as sparring partners and make choices that add practical value. Dura Vermeer has been in existence for over 170 years. To remain successful in the future, we must continue to evolve and leverage the possibilities of technology. We work with BIM [building information modeling, ed.] and collaborate with Autodesk, Microsoft, and other partners. The next step is to better connect and utilize our large volumes of data.

“A modern CIO provides direction for both technology and change. My role is increasingly focused on change management and adoption.”

Through our “Van Zoeken naar Vinden” program, we’re working on cleaning up, structuring, and archiving information. We then aim to use AI to make that knowledge more easily accessible. When employees find that they can locate the right information more quickly, it also encourages adoption.”

How would you describe your leadership style?
“My style is characterized by building connections, earning trust, and a focus on results. I believe that sustainable change only succeeds when people understand why that change is necessary and feel a sense of ownership over the solution. That’s why I pay close attention to communication, engagement, and collaboration. Technology can make many things possible, but ultimately, it’s the people who make a transformation successful.

By explaining technology in language they understand, you get people on board. Change requires leadership: providing direction, leading by example, and guiding people together with the business and HR teams.

By listening carefully and asking questions, I gain better insights and can make more informed decisions and provide direction. Of course, I make mistakes too. When that happens, I take responsibility, am open about it, and make adjustments.”

The role of the CIO is also changing. How do you see this?
“A modern-day CIO provides direction for both technology and change. My role is increasingly focused on change management and adoption: you’re asking people to work differently, and you have to get them on board with that. That change management role suits me well. Technology is a tool; value is created when people successfully apply it in their work.

At Dura Vermeer, we also implemented our target operating model during the transformation. Now we’re continuing to evolve into a platform-oriented organization. That requires different roles, responsibilities, and collaboration — and, consequently, a renewed focus on people.”

Technological developments are almost impossible to keep up with. How do you separate the wheat from the chaff?
“It’s a constant balancing act. We start with the process: what can be improved? What problem are we solving? And how big is that problem? An AI solution for something that takes an hour once a month isn’t necessarily worth the investment. That’s why I tell my stakeholders: if we don’t make conscious choices, we’ll end up building an AI legacy. Those solutions also require management, maintenance, and a budget. That awareness helps us make more focused choices.

At the same time, it’s my responsibility to ensure the basics are in order. For example, we’re further developing our identity and access management and building a robust data and AI platform. This is our foundation. The next step is to demonstrate the contribution of data and AI to our productivity.

Building on that foundation, we want to give employees in the business the freedom to develop solutions and experiment on their own. After all, that’s where the practical knowledge lies. With citizen development, we therefore provide the right support and clear guidelines so that people can innovate safely.

“My team and the business try to focus on no more than ten priorities; together we monitor our progress and results.”

The need for these frameworks became clear, for example, in one of our divisions. There, a solution had been developed with great enthusiasm outside of our managed IT environment. It did not sufficiently meet our security requirements and therefore could not be put into use immediately. This shows how important it is to provide the right support from the very beginning. In this way, we foster innovation that is secure and contributes to our organizational objectives.

If you take on a hundred things at once, it becomes difficult to complete them properly. That’s why I work with my team and the business to focus on a maximum of ten priorities, while we jointly monitor progress and results. Even then, things can fall short of expectations, but our focus allows us to maintain an overview and make timely adjustments.

The pace remains a topic of discussion with the business side: they often feel we’re not moving fast enough. The Board of Directors also follows technological developments and sees many opportunities in the market. My role is to work with them to determine which innovations contribute to our strategic objectives and what’s needed to achieve them. In doing so, we make choices regarding priority, capacity, and pace. I recognize that same dynamic at many peer companies.”

Do you think closer collaboration among CIOs is helpful?
“Yes, I certainly think so. Many CIOs face similar dilemmas and challenges. I regularly speak with colleagues at other construction companies and am a member of the CIO Platform. By sharing experiences and knowledge, you learn from one another and can refine or adjust your insights. That way, not everyone has to reinvent the wheel.”

What are you proud of?
“I’m especially proud of the organization we’ve built together. When I started, the focus was heavily on operational IT. Now we’re a strong business partner, and we have an organization that’s ready for digital transformation, data, and AI. We’ve also improved the balance between internal and external employees. In addition, I’m particularly proud of the development of our people. Despite major technological changes, many colleagues have grown into new roles and responsibilities.

A key step in that development was the complete cloud transformation. That required clear decisions and decisive action. My leadership and tenacity made all the difference. Together, we completed the transformation on time and mitigated the risks associated with outdated technology and expiring support.

I have advanced Dura Vermeer’s digital development by connecting technology, people, and business.”