Daan Weddepohl
Daan Weddepohl has been an entrepreneur for more than fifteen years. He is the founder and CEO of Peerby, the largest sharing platform in the Netherlands. What started in 2012 with a simple question — “Why do we buy things we only use once?” — grew into a platform that connects hundreds of thousands of people. But what truly keeps Daan awake at night is not the past of the circular sharing economy. It is its future. And that future is inseparably linked to AI.
Peerby
Peerby is not just another company that “does something with AI.” It is one of the frontrunners among Dutch businesses that have already embedded AI structurally into virtually every part of the organization; from customer service to strategy, from day-to-day management to platform development.
Daan trained in Silicon Valley at an institute whose mission is to create AI solo-corns: billion-dollar companies operated by just one human being. Since ChatGPT first started to emerge, Daan has been working intensively with AI on a daily basis. Not as a hobbyist or consultant, but as an entrepreneur applying it directly within his business. At Peerby, the call center runs on an AI agent, the team is supported by AI assistants that contribute to everything from email management to strategy, and the platform itself is continuously improved through self-learning mechanisms powered by AI that matches users, fixes bugs, and enhances the customer journey.
The Evolution of AI
But Daan is not only focused on practical applications. He also follows developments in AI from a philosophical perspective. How will AI change our lives and work? What are the (sometimes existential) risks we as a society need to think about? How do we deal with our growing dependence on AI? And should we eventually start considering the well-being of AI itself?
Then there is the entrepreneurial revolution heading our way. AI makes business models possible that until recently simply could not exist, because they required too much data analysis or human labor. For the circular economy in particular, AI can unlock opportunities that were previously out of reach in the areas of reuse and the coordination of material flows.
In short, Daan helps you move forward with AI while also showing what can go wrong. Whatever your views on AI may be, we would do well to be prepared for what is coming.
Daan has appeared on DWDD, RTL Z, Jinek, and Dream School. He has been interviewed by The New York Times and The Guardian, won the Guardian Tech Talent Award, shared the stage with Al Gore, and authored a book (“99 Reasons to Quit and Still Keep Going”, A.W. Bruna). He ranked #13 in the Trouw Sustainable 100, is a regular panel member on BNR Nieuwsradio, and helped Peerby raise €6 million in funding. Peerby is frequently cited in Dutch and EU government reports as a leading example of the Circular Economy.
Daan Weddepohl at WCEF2019: Acceleration of Circular Businesses: