Jean-Thomas De Dobbeleer, CFO at I-Care: artificial intelligence at the service of the CFO?

Jean-Thomas De Dobbeleer, CFO of I-Care, explains how AI is transforming his role as a finance director.

From the I-Care story to the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in his role as CFO, Jean-Thomas De Dobbeleer tells us everything on the Once Upon a Business podcast.

Jean-Thomas De Dobbeleer began his finance career at Arthur Andersen, one of the former Big Five. After four years and two roles at industrial companies, he joined IBA in Louvain-la-Neuve for nine rewarding years. In 2019, Jean-Thomas joined I-Care Group as CFO.

Starting out in an attic

I-Care is the global leader in industrial machine health. When machines break down, the consequences are many: economic, environmental and safety-related. Predictive maintenance, the company's core business, comes into play to prevent exactly that.

But before becoming a high-growth company, I-Care started out as the master's thesis of Fabrice Brion, the company's cofounder and CEO. "He launched I-Care in 2004, from his grandmother's attic", Jean-Thomas tells us.

Company of the year

"In figures, I-Care is a company that has been around since 2004, with about 700 employees across 15 subsidiaries worldwide, and customers in 55 different countries."

After a first acquisition in 2017 and new investors coming on board in 2018, I-Care received EY's Company of the Year award in 2020.

"Today, I-Care's revenue is growing by more than 30% year over year, and we are targeting revenue of 70 million for 2023."

Being a CFO in a growth environment

Whether at company level or in the CFO role, the group is growing and you have to adapt, launching new projects to keep pace with that growth. Jean-Thomas stresses the importance of constantly challenging yourself to build a team and an ecosystem that work. "And all of this is only possible thanks to the people on the team and the human adventure that comes with it", the CFO concludes.

In the age of artificial intelligence

"Artificial intelligence is I-Care. In a way, they're the same thing. Without it, I-Care wouldn't exist", says Jean-Thomas De Dobbeleer.

Artificial intelligence is built into the finance department, although there is still much to do. Over the years, several AI projects have been launched, the most recent being Data Gear, which aims to centralize all of the company's data. But one thing is certain for I-Care's CFO: "Replacing people? Certainly not."

Jean-Thomas highlights the importance of people in I-Care's core business and in direct customer contact. "We remain fully in control of the final discussion, the diagnosis and the actions to take based on what the artificial intelligence tells us. That's important, and I deeply believe in it."

The future of I-Care

"When it comes to artificial intelligence, our ambition is simple: we don't want to miss the boat," says Jean-Thomas, who remains positive about how the Data Gear project is progressing. An IPO remains a possible chapter in the I-Care story, while staying cautious about market realities. "The market isn't what it used to be. We're preparing for it, and it's quite a challenge. As a finance leader, it's rarely something you do three times in your career," says Jean-Thomas.