AI & Deep Tech SMEs · 20+ Years Real-World Experience

The executive your
AI company needs
right now.

High Pressure. High Risk. High Reward. I know this world — not from a business school case study, but from 20+ years of high-velocity execution in the trenches. AI-driven companies rarely fail because the technology isn't ready; they fail because the commercial engine is stalled. I bring the high-octane leadership and veteran energy needed to bridge the gap between breakthrough innovation and market reality. My focus is razor-sharp on the pillars where most ventures falter: securing Product-Market Fit and validating Willingness to Pay. Under extreme pressure, team dynamics are often the first to fracture. I specialise in maximising team performance when the stakes are highest — turning friction into focus and ensuring leadership, engineering, and sales move as one cohesive unit. I don't just build strategies; I build the momentum that wins.

Interim CEO / COO / CCO AI & Deep Tech Commercial Turnaround Scale-Up Excellence Investor Readiness

Book a Strategy Call → See the results

25+

Years commercial
leadership

15+

Companies built
or transformed

The Strategic Model

Why multiple engagements
are your competitive advantage.

Top-tier firms — BCG, McKinsey, KPMG — are trusted precisely because their partners have worked across dozens of companies, industries, and crisis situations. That breadth of pattern recognition is the product. It's why you hire them over an advisor who has only ever seen one organisation from the inside.

My career follows the same logic, applied at operating executive level. Each engagement — whether 6 months or 18 — was a deliberate choice: go deep on a specific challenge, deliver a measurable outcome, and carry that hard-won intelligence into the next engagement. Not a career of short attention spans. An accumulation of cross-sector intelligence that every client inherits.

When you engage me, you are not hiring someone who has experienced one company's problems. You are hiring 20+ years of compressed, real-world pattern recognition across AI, deep-tech, diagnostics, SaaS, and complex B2B markets — on four continents — that a career inside a single organisation simply cannot build.

20+

Years of cross-sector executive engagements

15+

Companies built, scaled, or transformed

Continents — EU, North America, Middle East, APAC

∞

Pattern library that benefits every client that follows

What Sets This Apart

I've lived in your world. For over two decades.

There is no shortage of consultants who will analyse your situation, produce a framework, and hand you a report. What is genuinely rare is an executive who has actually sat in the chair at AI-driven and deep-tech SMEs — made the calls that couldn't wait, and been fully accountable for the outcome. That's the only kind of experience that transfers.

High Pressure

Board deadlines, investor milestones, runway that's shortening by the week. I've operated in these conditions consistently — and I know how to maintain clarity and decisiveness when the pressure is at its highest.

High Risk

The decisions that define whether an AI company survives or fails. I've made them — and been fully accountable for them. That accountability is what you're hiring. Not a risk-free opinion delivered safely from the outside.

High Reward

The upside is real — but only if the commercial engine is built correctly and the team performs as a unit. I know exactly what it takes to build both, at scale, in this sector, in this competitive environment.

Who I Help

Three situations. One outcome: performance.

Every AI SME I've worked with came to me for a different reason. What they all had in common: operating under genuine pressure, with real stakes, and needing someone who had been there before — not someone learning on the job at their expense.

You need a CEO

Your company is scaling but leadership isn't keeping pace. Investors are asking questions you can't fully answer yet. You need a seasoned operator who can step into the chair, own the P&L, and deliver a credible growth trajectory — fast.

Interim CEO · 6–18 months

You're replacing a CEO

The founder-to-CEO transition didn't land. A key departure left a gap. You need continuity, not chaos. I bridge the moment: stabilise operations, restore team confidence, and run a disciplined handover to your next permanent leader.

Executive Transition · Leadership Continuity

Your CEO needs support

Great technical founder. Brilliant product. But commercial execution is stalling — revenue isn't converting, the sales motion is undefined, or the organisation simply isn't performing. I work alongside your CEO to build the systems and discipline that unlock growth.

Fractional CCO · Commercial Advisor

Proven Track Record

Numbers that
don't lie.

These numbers come from real engagements, under real pressure, with real accountability. Not projected. Not simulated. Delivered — in the AI-adjacent and deep-tech environments your company operates in today.

78%

Revenue turnaround
Diagnostics AI SME

300%

Sales pipeline growth
AI Learning Platform

250%

Backlog growth
Deep Tech Spin-Out

Break-even as MD EMEA
Medical AI SaaS

Commercial Turnaround

Diagnostics AI SME — Stalled revenue reversed to 78% growth

AI-powered diagnostics company with declining sales, damaged client relationships, and a demoralised commercial team. Full restructure delivered results within 18 months.

78%

Revenue recovery
in 18 months

Go-to-Market Execution

Deep Tech Spin-Out — From zero commercial base to 250% backlog

University spin-out with breakthrough AI technology and no route to market. Built the entire GTM from regulatory through to first enterprise contracts.

250%

Backlog growth
post-GTM launch

Interim CEO

Medical AI SaaS — Break-even in first quarter as Managing Director EMEA

AI imaging platform in freefall. Restructured cost base, repositioned pricing, rebuilt the commercial team as Managing Director EMEA. Break-even in 90 days. Exited to strategic acquirer.

3 mo

To break-even
as MD EMEA

Engagements

How we work together.

No templates lifted from a generic consulting playbook. Every engagement is designed around the specific pressure your company is under — and structured to deliver results within a timeframe your investors and board will respect.

🎯

Interim CEO / COO / CCO

Full operational accountability for 6–18 months. I sit in the chair, own the P&L, and deliver the numbers. Not advisory — operational.

6–18 monthsFull P&LBoard reporting

🚀

Go-to-Market Strategy & Execution

From regulatory clearance and HTA to your first enterprise contracts. A complete GTM playbook — built and executed alongside your team, not just delivered in a deck.

GTM designChannel buildEnterprise sales

⚡

Commercial & Operational Turnaround

Revenue stalled or declining? I diagnose root cause, restructure the commercial operation, implement performance systems, and rebuild pipeline discipline.

Sales restructuringPipeline rebuildCRM discipline

📊

High Performance Organisation

Strategy into execution. KPI frameworks that stick. A culture where high performance is the default — not the exception. Pragmatic, data-driven, no fluffy reports.

Performance mgmtOKRs / KPIsLean execution

💼

Investor Readiness & Fundraising

Strategic positioning, pitch narrative, investor introductions, and deal negotiation. I make your company the one investors want to back.

Pitch strategyInvestor networkDue diligence prep

🧭

Board Advisory & Executive Coaching

Strategic guidance at board level or one-to-one coaching for executives who want to perform at the top of their game. Grounded in 25 years of frontline leadership.

Board levelExecutive coachingLeadership

Bart Hendriks

Interim Executive · High Performance Business Excellence BV

About

Not a consultant who advises.
An operator who delivers.

I started my career directing fighter jets as an air traffic controller in the Royal Netherlands Air Force. High-stakes decisions under pressure, where getting it wrong has consequences. That instinct — to act with precision when it matters most — has defined everything I've done since.

I founded one of Europe's first e-commerce companies in 1991. Then I moved into deep-tech and AI-adjacent markets: companies building technology that genuinely changes things, run by people who are brilliant at building it and often need a commercial partner who's equally serious about getting it to market.

Over 20+ years I've operated inside these companies — not as an external advisor parachuted in for a workshop, but as the executive responsible for the outcome. CEO when the board needed accountability. CCO when the commercial engine needed rebuilding. The person who made the calls that couldn't wait.

That real-world depth is the core of High Performance Business Excellence — a methodology built from pattern recognition across high-pressure, high-stakes situations in the technology and AI sector. It works because it was forged in exactly the environment you're operating in.

🎖️

Royal Netherlands Air ForceAir Traffic Control · 9 years

🌍

4 languages fluentDutch · English · German · French

🏢

15+ companiesBuilt, scaled, or transformed

✍️

Author & SpeakerThought leader in performance & leadership

Client Voices

What people who've worked with me say.

"Bart has all the skills you need in a good leader: laser sharp focus on the bottom line, operational discipline, an entrepreneurial spirit and a pleasant easy-going attitude."

Jack Wolfson

Chairman of the Board · WNS (Holdings) Limited

"Bart is one of the most energetic leaders I have had the pleasure of working with. With his open mind and positive attitude, he is a great motivator and guide to staff at all levels of the company."

Chris Huiskamp

CFO · Modra Pharmaceuticals

"Bart knows his stuff and knows how to make it happen. His passion and knowledge about the health tech industry and his drive to push boundaries inspires people around him. He is a natural leader that brings energy to every conversation, making it easy to think in out-of-the-box solutions. Anyone lucky enough to have a chance to work with this guy, count your blessings — not many of them walking around."

Bianca Acardag

Manager Strategic Alliances, Global Sustainability

"Bart possesses a tremendous amount of experience in business development and the management of start-ups in the life sciences. He is not only a highly professional manager and strategic thinker but also an energetic colleague who can easily motivate others to perform at their best. Consider yourself lucky if you have the chance to work with Bart."

André Düselder

Semiconductor Supplier Development

"Bart is one of those rare executives who naturally serve as an inspiring mentor for the whole company. He is able to get the job done in the most efficient way possible using his wealth of knowledge in global life science industries. His ability to motivate a team and be the key success factor of a company's results — while never drawing attention to himself — is palpable."

Kevin Stouten

Shiftlead · Smart Photonics

"Bart is an energetic, highly enthusiastic entrepreneur with excellent interpersonal skills. He gets things done fast and accurately."

Tim Leiner, MD PhD EBCR

Professor of Radiology · Mayo Clinic

The executive yourAI company needsright now.

Why multiple engagementsare your competitive advantage.