---
id: "entity-rens-van-den-broek"
type: "entity"
source_timestamps: ["¶1"]
tags: ["author", "ghsmart"]
related: ["entity-ghsmart", "entity-samantha-hellauer", "entity-dina-wang", "framework-shape-index"]
entityType: "person"
canonicalName: "Rens van den Broek"
aliases: []
source_url: "https://hbr.org/2025/09/what-companies-with-successful-ai-pilots-do-differently"
source_title: "What Companies with Successful AI Pilots Do Differently"
sources: ["execution"]
isSpeakerEntity: true
---
## Segment 8 — execution

## Article 60 — a060

# Rens van den Broek

## Rens van den Broek

**Entity type:** person

Partner / senior leader at the leadership advisory firm [[entity-ghsmart]] and **co-author** of the HBR article *What Companies with Successful AI Pilots Do Differently* (with [[entity-samantha-hellauer]] and [[entity-dina-wang]]).

### Role in this source
One of the three authoring voices. The article speaks in a collective authorial voice ('Authors'), so contributions are shared across the trio rather than individually attributed.

### Attributed contributions to this vault
- The central thesis that leadership — not technology — is the differentiator (see [[quote-differentiator-is-leadership]] and [[claim-leadership-drives-roi]]).
- The [[concept-ai-shapers|AI shapers]] vs. [[concept-ai-architects|AI architects]] distinction.
- The proprietary [[framework-shape-index|SHAPE Index]] and the four-step [[framework-ai-leadership-transition]].
- Survey findings: [[claim-95-percent-failure]] (cited from MIT), [[claim-strategic-agility-most-important]], [[claim-human-centricity-hard-to-coach]], [[claim-ethics-critical-post-pilot]].
- Contrarian positions: [[contrarian-tech-talent-insufficient]], [[contrarian-no-single-ai-hero]], [[contrarian-ethics-as-day-one-risk]].
- Practical guidance: [[action-assess-shape-capabilities]], [[action-hire-for-uncoachable]], [[action-role-model-ai]], [[action-sunset-redundant-efforts]].