Marili 't Hooft-Bolle is using the hands she was given to help her company, Trengo, survive in a tech landscape she calls a “land of confusion.” Quoting the iconic Genesis song of that name, she said in a 2024 presentation there are “too many people making too many problems” in the tech space—which is why she’s laser-focused on solutions.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Utrecht, Netherlands-based artificial intelligence company, Hooft-Bolle has been working in and around AI since 2021, when she served as the interim Chief Operating Officer at Signal AI and saw the future of tech up close. Two years later, she replaced Patrick Meutzner as Trengo’s CEO after a brief stint as Interim COO, with her fit for the company’s culture being a seamless one. “It feels very natural,” she said.
As AI has exploded, Hooft-Bolle knows that the main point of differentiation Trengo can make between its products and others is simplicity of use. “How do we make the plethora of possibilities digestible for any type of company and person?” she asked. “Also, with everything in the space developing so rapidly, what do we develop ourselves and which parts of the AI value chain is commoditizing?”
She also knows that AI exists in a real-world context, with real-world consequences, and that Trengo needs to know its place in this ecosystem as it relates to the world at large. “Where do we stand on the ethical implications of AI?” she asked. “How does regulation play into this? I am a glass half full thinker and tend to embrace most new technology so I am excited about the value that AI can bring in many aspects of our lives.”
Her glass may be half-full, but Trengo’s cup runneth over, having launched Trengo AI in September, with the explicit goal of being accessible to anybody. “Every customer service employee should be able to work with Trengo AI, regardless of their level of technological knowledge,” said Hooft-Bolle. “Even the less tech-savvy teams will find it easy to use AI in their daily lives.”
It was a major step for the eight-year-old business as it looks to the next chapter behind its clear-eyed leader. Even now, it processes 100 million conversations per year, moving from a land of confusion toward a land of understanding.
