Securing a Complex Enterprise: Culture, AI and Cybersecurity at HEMA

8 September 2026

Securing a Complex Enterprise: Culture, AI and Cybersecurity at HEMA

Liesbeth Kempen
CISO
Flevum Community Cyber Security & Business Continuity Cyber Security & Business Continuity

Partners of this Event

About the Topic

During this dinner, Liesbeth Kempen, CISO at HEMA, will reflect on positioning cybersecurity as a strategic board-level topic, shifting the conversation from a purely risk-based perspective to one of shared responsibility across the organization. She will explore how cybersecurity is designed and implemented within an international organization, how cultural differences between countries and teams are addressed, and how central governance and local responsibility strengthen one another. She will also reflect on the impact of AI on cybersecurity and how it is reshaping behaviour, risks, and awareness.

Target Audience

Leaders in (Cyber)security

CPE Points | 2 points

Program

17:30 | Start of program (including presentation, discussion and 3-course dinner)
20:30 | End of formal program, opportunity for informal networking

Language: English

Location

TBA, The Hague or Amsterdam region

About the speaker

Liesbeth Kempen

Liesbeth Kempen

CISO

Liesbeth Kempen has been CISO at HEMA since 2025. Before that, she held roles in innovation, AI, R&D, and IT security at organizations including citizenM Hotels, TU Delft, Capgemini, Roxit, and Fox-IT.
Prior to joining HEMA, she spent ten years working as an independent security professional across various organizations. She built the foundation of her security expertise at Fox-IT. Earlier in her career, she worked in software development, giving her a strong technical background.

More on the subject

With nearly 800 stores across 9 countries on two continents and a turnover of approximately €2.2 billion, HEMA is an organization of significant scale and complexity. Embedding security structurally within the company is therefore a key priority for Liesbeth Kempen, CISO at HEMA.

During this dinner, Liesbeth will reflect on positioning cybersecurity as a strategic board-level topic, shifting the conversation from a purely risk-based perspective to one of shared responsibility across the organization. She will explore how cybersecurity is designed and implemented within an international organization, how cultural differences between countries and teams are addressed, and how central governance and local responsibility strengthen one another. She will also reflect on the impact of AI on cybersecurity and how it is reshaping behaviour, risks, and awareness.

You are warmly invited to join us and gain insight into the security strategy of one of the Netherlands’ strongest brands.