Aart Rupert (Damen) on the battle between IT and craftsmanship

Could you have imagined all this 12 years ago when you started this journey?
‘Well, it is funny, I first worked here on a CRM implementation. Sales was obviously the department to be in. When the vacancy for IT director came up and I showed interest, people looked at me strangely. What are you going to do, they said? But even then, you could already see that digitization was going to become increasingly important in companies.’

In 2023, you also became CIO of the year. Are you such a pioneer?
‘I think that recognition had more to do with how I approached the transition. Many CIOs remain stuck in their role as IT director. Few CIOs really embrace the transformation aspect. The jury found that remarkable at the time. That, and the fact that I did it in a traditional industry and, moreover, in a family business. It is of course also a great recognition for the team. We have made great strides in recent years, but we are not there yet.’

What do you think is the strength and success of Damen?
‘I think our success is mainly due to our diverse portfolio. If sales of ‘superyachts’ are down, defense sells well, if defense declines, then workboats grow. It remains balanced. We also have a good feel for what the market is doing and what we need to develop – in terms of new ships and new product-market combinations. We are doing well now with the reuse of certain concepts. We have also used our concept for an offshore supply vessel as a supply vessel for superyachts. And we have a very large, excellent network of shipyards, not only our own but also those of our partners in the chain. We have become increasingly better at the underlying infrastructure to support all of this. Ships are increasingly becoming floating computers.’

As CDO, do you have a free role within Damen?
‘Arnout Damen, our CEO, likes to leave things to others. He trusts his people. And I am one of them. I certainly feel his support, but of course I have to have my affairs in order, I have to get things done, get the stakeholders and managers on board. That means that as CDO, I occasionally have to make choices and take responsibility. That is after all what I get paid for.’

I have experienced that family businesses are sometimes a bit reluctant in the area of ​​digital innovation. Is this your experience?
‘That is definitely not the case here. People here have always been open to innovation and collaboration. Former CEO Kommer Damen immediately sought partnerships with companies that could supply him with parts. He was quick to start modular construction. Not trying to do everything ourselves. He was also a pioneer in outsourcing, always looking for ways to do things better and at lower cost. We have to, because we operate in a highly complex market with low volumes and relatively low margins. That means we need a certain amount of creativity to continue to perform well.’

Can you give an example of that creativity?
‘We easily accept exceptions here. One of our values ​​is craftsmanship. We make beautiful boats, and we create beautiful IT solutions. But another value is entrepreneurship. That is also deeply ingrained. These two values ​​sometimes get in conflict, especially from an IT perspective. ‘We will come up with a customized solution,’ is a natural reaction here. That is fine of course, but IT people want to standardize everything. Everything has to be on the shared platform, everything has to fit into the shared template, we want to standardize all processes. Sometimes that is a real battle. Some colleagues find that difficult. I do not. I think it is okay to deviate from the norm every now and then. Certainly if it helps you make progress or earn money. But you have to realize that if you make an exception somewhere, it will have consequences for the future. Eventually, you will have to spend time and money to fix it.’

These are turbulent times in geopolitical terms. That probably presents opportunities, but perhaps also challenges?
‘Definitely. We are seeing very strong growth in defense revenue. That is great and very good for us. The orders are very attractive, and the revenues are very good. But the growth in defense is also a challenge. There are risks Involved, certainly from my perspective. These orders involve a great deal of additional complexity. Not only are the ships complex, but so is everything around them. Very high demands are placed on security, particularly data security. Many of these data flows may only run through a restricted environment, let alone through the cloud. This means that we have to think very carefully about how to get everything in the right place and ensure it flows securely through the company. It is extremely complex. We are currently building a frigate and are dealing with thousands of additional requirements from the client, all of which have to be validated. That is a huge job. Often manual work too. So, of course, I am happy with every frigate we get to build, but believe me, as CDO, building two hundred tugboats is easier for me than building one of those naval vessels.’

Do you have everything you need for such complex assignments in-house?
‘Above all, we have to ensure that we have the right capabilities to handle these kinds of assignments. That means we must have the right knowledge, the right tools, the right data, the right processes and our people need to be trained and capable. We have to make sure that we are at the right maturity level for such complex assignments. That puts a lot of pressure on the organization. It starts with good mapping. What do you need? Where are we now? And what do we need? Such large, complex assignments require you to think very carefully about where you stand as an organization and where you want to go.’

You just mentioned value creation. How can you contribute to that as a CDO?
‘A good example is Damen Triton, our IoT platform that has now become a separate company within the Damen Group. Triton revolves around collecting data from our ships via sensors. We analyse that data and feed it back to our customers, in the form of advice on fuel savings, for example. I think that offers even more opportunities for services that we can provide on board. This does, however, require an improvement in data quality. I think that will be very important in the next phase, especially if you start using all kinds of AI applications. If AI starts using contaminated data, things will go wrong. We now need to ensure that our systems are AI-ready.’

As CDO, how do you decide how to invest your money in AI?
‘Investing in AI is actually just like any other investment. An investment must meet one of three conditions: reduce costs, raise customer satisfaction, or generate new revenue. We currently have an interesting use case with AI running in the area of ​​spare parts. This allows us to quickly supply customers with a spare part if something breaks, much faster than before. We have now built a small proof of concept, and it looks promising. AI can pinpoint exactly which part is needed and which partner delivered it. So, we are now going to develop that further.’

You are working on value creation through AI. Is that a top priority?
‘Getting value from the investments we have made is one of the top priorities for the coming period. Another is improving agility. Design anywhere, build anywhere, service anywhere. Even in these geopolitically turbulent times, I think that is very important. The third priority is security. How are we going to ensure that those ships remain completely safe, now and in the future.’

Will you also be implementing extensive automation and robotization in the near future?
‘AI can help simplify processes and make them smarter. That will also happen in engineering. But on the shipyards themselves, the impact will probably be limited. Shipbuilding is very different from the automotive industry and is not so easy to robotize. As I said, we build in low volumes and with great complexity. Of course, we have welding robots and that kind of equipment, but a fully robotized shipyard would cost far too much money.’

Have you decided when you will actually be finished?
‘I have thought three times already that  I was finished! First, I thought that once the infrastructure was in place, I would be done. Then came the platform, the applications, the implementations. I thought, once these are done, I will be finished. But then AI came along, and I am still a long way from finished with that. So, I actually think we will never be finished. It is just like with my new house. My wife and I wanted to downsize, when our three children started leaving the nest. We stumbled on a beautiful, listed farmhouse, which we are renovating. A golden opportunity. We actually jumped in quite unceremoniously, with in the back of our minds an image of what it might become. I think therein lies the core for me: I know what I want to achieve, what the famous dot on the horizon is, but the path to get there does not have to be completely mapped out. In fact, I would rather it was not.’

What advice can you give to other CIOs or CDOs dealing with digital transformation?
‘Simple: Lead the digital transformation! I think many CIOs and CDOs are still waiting too long. You just have to do it. With a clear goal on the horizon, but also with the agility to occasionally deviate from the planned path. So, on the one hand, good structures, good coding, good process description. And on the other hand, occasionally an emergency bandage. When you are traveling, or building a house, you are bound to encounter tensions and unforeseen events from time to time. That is perfectly normal. So yes, there needs to be structure, but sometimes you have to improvise. We will fix it later.’

This interview was published in Management Scope 05 2025.