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Every month, we put one colleague in the spotlight. This time, that's Youri Dechesne, Solution Manager at Embrace. In this role, he translates customer needs, technological developments and business goals into product vision and strategy, and looks ahead to the future of our social intranet. In addition to his work, he is a real family man and book lover.
Between books, beach and sports
Youri prefers to spend his free time with his family. Play football with his son together, or work on creative projects with his daughter. There is always a stir in the Dechesne house. When Youri has time to himself, he likes to exercise, play games or read. Recently, he has even become a member of a fantasy and science fiction book club. The family's vacations range from England and Scotland to the Wadden Islands. “The beach remains a favorite: walking, looking for shells or just taking a breath of fresh air.” There are no big bucket list dreams, but if Youri thinks about it like that, a road trip through Australia or the US will one day seem fantastic.
From games to digital workplaces
It all started with Insidegamer and Gamer.nl, where Youri went from intern to chief editor. There, he worked on websites, magazines and designed one of the first Dutch iPad apps.
After that, he joined Evolve as a consultant. Here, he advised on choosing, setting up and using social intranets and digital workplaces. “Super valuable, but I missed working with a product.” That's how Embrace came into the picture. Here, Youri started as an implementation consultant and grew into Product Owner - and now Solution Manager.
Product Strategy and Processes
Within Embrace, Youri is responsible for the intranet proposition, which includes the social intranet, the CMS, the knowledge base and a piece of identity management. In his role, he looks beyond the daily backlog. Together with the Product Owners, Youri sets the course for the medium and long term.
“I see myself as ultimately responsible for the success of our intranet. And that success comes primarily from creating a platform that enables our users to do their work better in a user-friendly way. Now and in the future. That's why I work closely with developers, sales staff, account managers, consultants and, of course, our customers.”
Building the future together
What makes Embrace special, according to Youri? The culture. “It's a flat, informal organization with serious professionals who are there for each other.” You see that not only internally, but also towards customers: short lines of communication, personal contacts and close cooperation.”
For the future, he sees many opportunities in AI in particular. “Everyone sees opportunities in AI and for good reason. It changes how we find and use information, which is something where the intranet has always been centrally located. The intranet should support the employee so that she has more time for truly meaningful work. AI will help in that mission. Where we should not lose sight of the fact that it is not a panacea. The quality of the knowledge on the intranet, including the knowledge base and the timeline, still lies at the basis here.”
👉 Do you also want to build the digital workplace of the future? Explore our vacancies!
