Katrien Buys

Responsável de Estratégia, Inovação e Sustentabilidade, Grupo Ageas

Katrien Buys was born and raised in Belgium, and a mathematician by education at the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven Belgium). This degree led her to start in the insurance industry where she worked in the Belgian entity of the group during several years.

Triggered by a need of exploring the business world beyond its boundaries, a guiding principle that she keeps valid until today, she set off in 2012 to join the Italian operations and have her first international working experience. After a return to Belgium for 2 years, leading a strategic transformation program, she took the bigger opportunity of travelling and moving with her family to Portugal.

Katrien bridges the gap between her work at Ageas Portugal and impact organizations, creating new business opportunities for positive societal impact. It stands out for being innovative and for always finding ways to cooperate in different areas, creating value both for these organizations and for Ageas Portugal. More importantly, she asks questions regularly, most often “why?” which is the most powerful question to keep you on track and ensure you don’t take anything for granted. Because she works in strategy, innovation and sustainability, she sees her role as bringing people together, having good conversations and co-creating a world of hope for as many people as possible. In the spirit of Ageas Portugal’s mission to deliver emotional and meaningful experiences in people’s lives, there is the vision that, with radical collaboration, we can be a welcome presence in every Portuguese household.

Katrien is the winner of the 2021 MAZE Runner Award.