Wouter van Benten (DHL): ‘I am a tech optimist’

Many people may not remember this, but DHL is actually a very Dutch company...
‘All things considered, we are one of the oldest companies in the Netherlands. Our founding father, the old Van Gend & Loos, dates back to 1796. It was acquired by DHL at the end of the last century. The idea at the time was to fully integrate it into the global express division. But that never succeeded. It failed is a more accurate description. Those two cultures, those two systems, those two networks – it did not work. Van Gend & Loos was even up for sale for a while. Around 2010, by which time I had already been working at DHL for a long time, I was asked if I could propose an alternative. I then wrote a plan to move forward. That was carried out between 2011 and 2013. It was a complex but successful operation that ultimately resulted in the creation of DHL eCommerce, alongside DHL Express.’

Quite a task, rescuing a failed integration. What was your digital situation back then?
‘From roughly 2000 to 2014, the old Van Gend & Loos was completely underinvested. The intention was for us to migrate to global applications. But that did not work at all. In 2010, we were still using the old legacy systems from the 1980s and 1990s which by then were completely outdated. We were in a very bad position at that time. PostNL had seventy-five percent of the market. We could not get beyond nineteen percent. But it was right before the big e-commerce boom. We were late, too late actually, but still in time to get on board. Just in time to introduce a second, ‘yellow’ flavor to the Dutch market alongside ‘orange.’ We were able to build a network that matched the enormous growth. We benefited from the law of first-mover disadvantage.’

What did you personally do as a leader? And how do you look back on that time?
‘I really rallied the troops back then. Van Gend & Loos used to be the market leader. My ambition was and still is to become that again. In all modesty, it has turned out to be quite a successful story. We now employ 14,000 people, and we transport 310 million parcels a year. And we have managed to increase our market share from nineteen percent to forty-three percent. It has been a colossal transformation. Digitization, tech, IT, and now AI have been the main drivers in this process. Step by step, we are increasing our market share, and step by step, we are increasing our profits. We use the profits to invest in further expansion of our network and its digitization. We finance all investments from our own cash flow. We developed many of our applications ourselves. The Dutch press has sometimes portrayed us as piggybacking on global applications, but this is nonsense. We developed all the leading tools and technologies ourselves, technologies that are now also being implemented in other countries. We have built almost everything ourselves. We too often went down the route of off-the-shelf software. We prefer tailor-made. That way, you get functionality that works. We are truly a digital company now.’

What does ‘digital’ look like within your company?
‘When we started, we had thirty people in IT & digital. Now there are 300. We quickly separated IT and digital – a no-brainer. We started digitizing everything. Step by step, we gained traction. But in the beginning, it was really difficult. Customers saw that we were lagging behind the competition. Now we are ahead of them in some respects.’

You opted for a different structure than your major competitor in the Netherlands…
‘We opted for a completely unique strategy. A network structure that is completely different from that of the competition, which is based on a web structure. We opted for a star network, with five large hubs connected to 131 satellites – the city hubs. From there, we take short routes into the neighborhood, the all-important last mile. Our structure has given us a great deal of flexibility. We hesitated for a long time. We were on the verge of implementing the same model as our competitor, but it did not feel right to me. I had a gut feeling that we had to do things differently. Fortunately, I was supported in this, and we ended up doing things differently after all.’

How did the head office in Bonn view the Netherlands?
‘I have been on the global board for five years now, and I think the Netherlands has something to be proud of. We have an innovative digital culture. It is actually incredible what the Netherlands is achieving. We often talk ourselves down, but it is fascinating to see how the Netherlands is leading the way. We were moving so fast here that it made the head office in Bonn a little nervous. Is it not going too fast there? Are you not taking too many risks? Is everything okay in terms of security? We had to fight quite a few battles to get our way, to be able to continue. The guts factor is quite important. You have to dare. Show courage. Dare to push through. At a certain point, we gained traction and momentum – and suddenly we were the leaders.’

Can you give concrete examples of what technology has made possible?
‘Technology is the most important enabler of what we can do and what we do. In Zaltbommel, we now have a machine that can process 600,000 parcels a day. Those machines did not exist ten years ago. So, there is constant development. Previously, parcels could only be scanned from the top; now they are scanned from all sides. The conveyor belt speed has quadrupled in just a few years. This makes the sorting process increasingly faster and more efficient, partly due to the use of robots, for example.
We also want to be at the forefront of sustainability. That is one of the ways we differentiate ourselves. We were quick to deploy electric vehicles for the last mile, as early as 2017. The first few years were a real disaster. Those vans were simply terrible. They had to be recharged every sixty kilometers. It was a nightmare. It is fascinating to see how much has improved in that area in eight years. Now it works perfectly. Our entire fleet is now electric. It has been a huge technological breakthrough. That is why I am a tech optimist.’

That last mile, will that continue to be vehicles with drivers? How will it develop?
‘The last mile has been completely digitized. Track & trace not only tells you where a package is, but with your smartphone as a remote control, you can send your package to your home, your neighbors, a service point, or an agreed location around your house. And there is now a cautious shift taking place in our business: the trend towards out-of-home delivery. So, you indicate in the app that you want your package delivered to a parcel locker or service point. We are leading the way in the Netherlands with parcel lockers; we now have over 2,000. That, too, is pure technology, by the way. But the Netherlands is not a pioneer in Europe in this respect. We still prefer our parcels delivered to our homes. And if we are not there, they can be left with the neighbors. The Dutch also want to receive their parcels as quickly as possible. I personally do not believe in best-day delivery. As quickly as possible is always the best time. It is also easier for us as a distributor. Once a parcel arrives at our distribution center, it has to leave again as quickly as possible. That does not mean that people cannot use the same app to postpone delivery if it is more convenient to have it delivered a day or two later.’

You have 14,000 people working for you. How many of them are office-based?
‘Of our 14,000 people, roughly 1,000 are in the office. Most of them work in tech and digital. Digitization affects the entire organization. A good example is the MyDHL Workapp for our employees, which we use to manage the entire application process, onboarding, and all scheduling and communication.’

And does that mean you need fewer HR staff and more app developers?
‘For example, yes. You can see this reflected in the costs of the head office as a percentage of turnover. That has fallen dramatically in recent years, mainly thanks to ongoing digitization efforts. This trend will continue in the coming period. You can see that the company's efficiency ratio has improved enormously. And that is a particularly important metric that we use to steer the business.’

Does a digital company require a different culture?
‘Culture is very important. We have a culture of trust and enablement here. People are given a high level of autonomy and responsibility, but we call people out if their egos get in the way. You are at the service of the organization, and so am I. It also creates a culture of ‘we, not me.’ What I am most proud of in this whole story is that we have created a very flat organization. That has helped us enormously to move very quickly. We manage everything through cross-functional teams. In all areas, financial, commercial, operational, digital, and HR all sit together at the same table. These teams develop the business cases. They present the ideas to the board, which ultimately formally approves them. Most of the managers here are experienced, they have a good number of miles under the belt, and they know the business and the operations. I find substantive knowledge of the business extremely important.’

Now, with all due respect, we should mention that you are from the landline generation. And yet you are the CEO of a highly digitized organization. How do you keep up?
‘It mainly starts with curiosity. I enjoy reading about new developments. I enjoy spending an entire evening delving into an ASML machine – how does it work? And then there is my fascination with what I have experienced here myself: that technology gives you a flywheel. How can you use technology to achieve that? I find that incredibly interesting to explore. Also, in the realization that you will be overtaken left and right if you do nothing.’

And how difficult is it to manage a group of whiz kids with stickered laptops?
‘As a leader, you have to realize that you do not know everything yourself. Your knowledge has its limits. Then what else do you do other than trust the people who do have the knowledge? You have to dare to let go. Dare to ask: what do you need? Okay, then do it. Do all your IT staff need to be in the office? Or can they also work from home? Both are possible, although that is a constant discussion at boardroom level. Because what is the right format? I must admit that I used to be pretty old-fashioned about it for a long time. Just come to the office. But I have changed my mind somewhat. We have now found a good modus operandi of two or three days at the office and the rest at home. I also prefer not to set rigid rules. We encourage everyone to come to the office regularly. We need to prevent people from slipping into anonymity. Especially in new cross-functional teams, it is simply nice to actually see each other.’

What is the biggest opportunity in the next ten years?
‘We want to remain at the forefront of digitization and tech. When I look back at what tech has brought us over the last ten years, it is incredible. We will have to continue to capitalize on new opportunities. Take our call center, for example. Not long ago, we had to handle everything manually, by phone or email. It is unbelievable how technology, thanks to chatbots, has improved this. AI is also becoming increasingly important. In predicting volumes, for example. It is extremely important for us to be able to estimate how much volume we can expect in a day. Our volumes are extremely volatile. Not only with seasonal peaks. Even within a month or week, daily volumes can vary enormously. As a company, you have to breathe with these peaks and troughs. And with the help of AI, we are getting better and better at predicting our volumes.’

What is the biggest challenge for you in the next five to ten years? Particularly in terms of ​​the workforce?
‘It is certain that there will be significant changes. Alone already in terms of health and safety. Processes will become increasingly health and safety-friendly. Physical labor will decrease. And the workforce will certainly move even more towards digital and IT. This will also have consequences for HR, for example. What does that mean for the salary structures we once devised? That will become increasingly problematic, and solutions will have to be found. The really big challenges lie in labor regulations and compliance. We have to deal with many rules pertaining to flexible deployability, work permits, UWV rules, and so on. And we are not only responsible for ourselves, but also for the chain. We have to pay close attention to whether our partners are also complying with the rules. That is quite a far-reaching responsibility. The new self-employed legislation also makes it more difficult to hire people, while we continue to need flexibility. In the coming period, we will see an increase in so-called lifestyle couriers and a decrease in the number of the familiar old delivery drivers. Lifestyle couriers are often students or people with a part-time job. They have fairly high demands. For example, they want to work for us two evenings and one Saturday afternoon. We are increasingly able to accommodate this. With permanent contracts, moreover, which helps ensure a balance between flexibility and security. You can specify your preferences via an app. Without digital access that would not be possible. We do notice that this need for flexibility among employers and employees clashes with the traditional view of employment. In the Netherlands, we will need to work together to determine how we are going to attract the workforce of the future.’

This interview was published in Management Scope 03 2026.