Maaike
Stoops
Head of R&D at LINKIT B.V.
"The Leadership Paradox of (IT) Democratization"
"The Leadership Paradox of (IT) Democratization"
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Session: The Leadership Paradox of (IT) Democratization
AI, low-code platforms, and self-service tools are making it easier than ever for people across organizations to take action, make decisions, and build solutions. Power is moving away from central roles and toward networks of teams and individuals. This creates essential skills in today’s fastpaced world: speed, creativity, and innovation. However, it also raises difficult questions about alignment, quality, and accountability. Many leadership models still assume control sits at the centre. While in practice, that assumption no longer holds.As power to act becomes more distributed, leaders are faced with a paradox.
They control less, yet remain accountable for outcomes. Leadership shifts from heroic decision-making to designing systems that help others make good decisions. It becomes about managing connections, setting clear outcome boundaries, and maintaining accountability without pulling authority back to the top. What does leadership look like when everyone can act, but leaders still need to ensure accountability, alignment, and meaning?
Key Takeaways
- What is IT democratization and how is it structurally reshaping your organization
- How managing connections between teams, disciplines, and systems is now part of a leader's job.
- What leaders must unlearn to manage distributed power
Bio
Maaike Stoops is an innovator and design strategist with a passion for bridging human-centered design and emerging technology. With a Master of Science in Strategic Product Design from Delft University of Technology and a minor in Computer Science, she combines creativity and technical insight to tackle complex challenges at the intersection of software, design, and innovation. Having worked in IT for over 10 years, including almost two years in Johannesburg, South Africa, she gained experience in diverse organizational and cultural contexts. As Head of Research and Development at LINKIT, she leads initiatives that help the company and its clients stay competitive in a rapidly evolving IT landscape. She gives regular talks and workshops on innovation and emerging technologies such as AI and low-code, and contributed a chapter to the academic book Innovative Design Thinking Approaches in Software Engineering on IT democratization and the impact of AI on design quality. Increasingly, she focuses on how organizations can become more resilient and innovative by empowering people and strengthening networks within them.