Humans of Youwe: Diana, CFO, on people-first leadership, AI in finance, and breaking the mould

Humans of Youwe: Diana, CFO, on people-first leadership, AI in finance, and breaking the mould

In this episode, Helene sits down with Diana van Lambalgen, CFO at Youwe. Diana shares why she started her role by focusing on people before touching a single process, how Youwe replaced a €40,000 accountant quote with four hours of AI-assisted work, and why she believes finance teams should stop being "the silent people in the corner." She also opens up about being a woman in a male-dominated executive space, the challenge of finding female role models in finance, and how she balances an executive MBA, painting, and yoga while steering a multi-country agency. Topics covered: * Redefining the CFO role beyond numbers * AI in financial reporting * Building stability without sacrificing innovation * Women in finance leadership * Work-life balance as a senior executive

Humans of Youwe: Tjitte, Chief Growth Officer on AI, the Future of Digital and Finding the Middle Ground

What does a Chief Growth Officer actually do (hint: it doesn't have much to do with spreadsheets)? In this episode, Helene sits down with Youwe’s Chief Growth Officer, Tjitte, to explore what growth in digital really means in 2026. We chat about the flattening of eCommerce hype to the real value of AI in day-to-day operations. We talk about: * Why “innovation” is often misunderstood * Where AI genuinely adds value today and where it doesn’t * The shift from growth in headcount to growth in impact * Why end-to-end AI ownership still isn’t fully there (yet) * The future of hyper-personalised digital environments

Scalability & Innovation: Future-Proofing Your Shopify-Centric Stack

Part 4 In the final session of this X:30 series, we looked to the future—focusing on scalability, innovation, and future-proofing your eCommerce stack. Shopify and dotdigital shared how their platforms support brands not just during peak performance moments like Black Friday, but also through flexible, API-first infrastructure that enables long-term growth. From developer experience to predictive analytics and omnichannel expansion, this session unpacked what it takes to stay competitive and customer-focused in an evolving commerce landscape. Key takeaways: * Built for scale: Shopify’s global infrastructure supports over 40,000 checkouts per minute, with dynamic bandwidth allocation and deep performance monitoring—making downtime a thing of the past. * Modular growth: dotdigital enables merchants to start small and scale quickly by bolting on additional channels, increasing data capacity, and integrating APIs as needs evolve. * Conversational commerce & new channels: Both platforms are investing in messaging tools like WhatsApp and live chat to meet customers where they are—social commerce and real-time interactions included. * Developer-first innovation: Shopify is improving GraphQL APIs and developer tooling to ensure agencies and brands can build and innovate faster without friction. * Predictive analytics with purpose: The focus is shifting from just accessing data to making it usable—powering proactive customer journeys and decision-making. * Unified data powers the future: With every channel and customer touchpoint feeding into a single source of truth, brands can deliver personalization, relevance, and loyalty at scale. * Customer-centered mindset: The future of marketing isn’t about pushing products—it's about using data to deliver value, build trust, and strengthen customer relationships. Whether you're scaling fast or building for the long term, this session underscored that the smartest stack is one that evolves with your business.

Personalization at Scale: How Shopify and dotdigital help brands deliver tailored experiences

Part 3 In Part 3 of our X:30 Master Your Toolkit series, we explored how to deliver personalization at scale across the customer journey by leveraging unified data from Shopify and dotdigital. From post-purchase campaigns to omnichannel experiences, the session focused on how automation, behavioral insights, and smart segmentation empower brands to create highly relevant customer interactions while maintaining privacy and operational efficiency. Key takeaways: * Unified personalization across channels: Shopify's unified commerce approach allows brands to personalize experiences seamlessly across online, in-store, and social commerce touchpoints. * Behavioral triggers power automation: Tools like Shopify Flow enable brands to set up automation based on real-time behaviors—like replenishment reminders or first-time purchases. * Customer lifecycle journeys: dotdigital helps brands design data-driven journeys—from welcome series to loyalty and reactivation programs—using Shopify’s rich customer data. * First-party data + privacy compliance: Emphasis on capturing and activating first-party data within the bounds of evolving privacy laws (e.g. GDPR). * Underused potential: Brands can do more with past purchase data and customer preferences—ideal for targeting product launches or early adopters. * AI for efficiency: Both platforms are building AI tools to accelerate segmentation, campaign creation, automated translations, and insights through natural language queries. From tactical automation to future-focused innovation, this session showcased how personalization becomes scalable when unified data and the right tools come together.

Unified Customer Data: Creating a Single Source of Truth for Smarter Commerce

Part 2 In the second session of Youwe’s Master Your Toolkit X:30 series, Shopify and dotdigital took a deep dive into unified customer data and why it’s essential for creating seamless, personalized customer experiences. The speakers explored how to eliminate data silos, optimize marketing and operations, and use real-time insights to fuel smarter decision-making. Key takeaways: * Real-time, unified data: Shopify and dotdigital’s SaaS-to-SaaS integration ensures customer and behavioral data is always live, eliminating delays and inconsistencies. * Smarter segmentation & personalization: With tools like RFM modeling and product recommendation engines, brands can identify high-value segments and tailor engagement. * Cross-functional impact: Unified data benefits not just marketing, but also customer service, fulfillment, and merchandising through centralized inventory and order visibility. * AI as a growth driver: Shopify Sidekick and dotdigital’s predictive analytics empower businesses to make faster, data-informed decisions across the customer lifecycle. * Frictionless acquisition & retention: Loyalty programs, gift cards, and personalized campaigns are easier to implement and more effective when built on a single source of truth. From increasing efficiency to enhancing customer lifetime value, this session spotlighted how unified data unlocks real growth potential in a Shopify-centered stack.