10 Questions in 10 Minutes with Niels van Namen! Welcome to Oii.ai, Niels!

We are excited to welcome Niels van Namen as our Sales Leader for Healthcare, Pharma and Life Sciences at Oii.ai. Niels brings extensive experience from leadership roles at IBM, UPS and DSV, with deep expertise in healthcare logistics, pharma supply chains and strategic transformation. His background spans engineering, consulting and global business development. Now he is helping our customers use AI to make smarter and faster supply chain decisions.

Get to know Niels in this quick fire interview where he shares career insights, industry perspectives and thoughts on leadership and innovation.

The Intelligent Chain: 10 Questions in 10 Minutes With Niels van Namen

1. Which technology do you think will most disrupt Healthcare supply chain logistics in the next 5 years?"AI will be a major disruptor, and will play a key role in both Diagnosis as well as treatment of patients. Agentic AI will be an accelerator in Pharmaceutical R&D, yet also in Med Devices and Diagnostics products. It will boost finding new molecules and understanding disease and genetic patterns. In supply chain, probabilistic AI will forecast demand with high accuracy using real-time data from hospitals, pharmacies, and patient trends. It will prevent stockouts of critical medications and medical devices and build more resilient Healthcare networks."
   • It will optimise delivery routes for time-sensitive or temperature-sensitive goods and reduces carbon footprint, cost and inventory while improving service.
   • Reduces waste, especially for perishable or high-cost items like biologics.
   • AI models help reduce risk by simulating What-If scenarios for supply chain shocks (product launch, strikes, pandemics, geopolitical conflicts).
2. You have worked across engineering, consulting, and leadership. Which skill has helped you the most across all roles?
3. "Listening! Active listening helps to learn, understand problems, challenges and cultural differences!"
4. You have worked in both startups and global giants. What is one surprising advantage small companies have over big ones?
5. "In smaller companies you can move much faster, you can focus externally. In large companies you waste a lot of time on internal politics, time better spent on engaging with and listening to customers!"
6. You have led teams across Europe. What is the biggest myth about 'global strategy'?
7. "The myth is that global strategies are not possible since cultures are so different globally! I work with global customers on their global strategy on 1 A4. The key is to have a clear Objective, make sharp choices, have measurable goals, not more than 5 strategies and assigned and measurable actions. An important success factor is to have global shared values and translate these values into expected behaviours for people in all functions and geographies."
8. What has been the most pivotal turning point in your career?
9. "Ha! I made some left turns! From an engineer building bridges to then becoming an entrepreneur in clinical trials. From a business consultant in Healthcare I then became a supply chain and logistics leader in Healthcare. Joining Oii.ai has been a pivotal turning point since we are able to solve challenges that we have not been able to solve before!"
10. If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of career advice, what would it be?
11. "Follow your heart! (as I believe I did :-))"
12. What is one supply chain risk most companies underestimate?
13. "I believe Reputation risk….a lot of business risks you can anticipate and repair. Reputational risks are not. Are you truly in control of what is happening in your company and in your supply chain? Is your supply chain organisation as compliant to your processes and ethics as you believe you are?"
14. What is one goal every healthcare supply chain leader should have today?
15. "Make healthcare more accessible and affordable for patients around the world!"
16. What is one trait you look for when building a team?
17. "Trust, honesty and transparency."
18. If you could invite anyone, dead or alive, to a private dinner party, who would it be?
19. "I would love to meet Vincent van Gogh. He is born in the place where I live. I am fascinated by his creative mind, how he looked at the world, the challenging environment he grew up in and the beauty of his work!”

‍