Marie Vandenberghe

Marie Vandenberghe: Building a More Human Future Through Learning

Marie Vandenberghe, CEO and Founder of Quality Training Belgium, has built her leadership journey around a simple belief: when people grow, organizations grow with them. Her career reflects that belief through a steady progression from trainer to Training Manager and eventually entrepreneur. After spending around ten years in a multinational company, she gained a strong understanding of both the practical side of training and the changing needs of organizations and their people. In 2008, she turned that experience into a business of her own by founding Quality Training.

The early years were hands-on. Marie personally delivered most of the training sessions while developing the foundations of the company. As the organization expanded, her role evolved. She began building a team, developing client relationships, shaping strategy, and identifying emerging learning needs. Today, Quality Training brings together a network of 45 trainers and offers a broad portfolio that connects digital and technical expertise with essential human skills.

Her journey has been shaped by learning, curiosity, and a strong belief in the potential of people. It has also been guided by a clear understanding that the workplace cannot stand still. As technology, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and new ways of working continue to reshape organizations, Marie has positioned Quality Training to help people keep pace without losing the human qualities that make workplaces effective.

A Leadership Style Built on Listening and Trust

At the heart of Marie’s leadership philosophy are three simple principles: listen, adapt, and stay human. She believes clients should be heard because their needs can change faster than market trends. She also values the knowledge within teams, recognizing that people closest to daily business realities often have valuable insights.

Her approach is equally rooted in empathy. Understanding people’s needs, concerns, and perspectives has influenced both the way she leads and the way Quality Training works with clients. Curiosity keeps her open to new ideas and technologies, while resilience helps her respond to uncertainty and challenges.

Marie describes curiosity, resilience, and empathy as three qualities that have been instrumental to her success. Together, they allow her to remain flexible while staying connected to her values.

Her leadership journey also taught her the importance of delegation. In the early days of Quality Training, she found it difficult to step away from personally delivering training because it was work she genuinely enjoyed. As demand increased, however, she learned that leadership also means creating opportunities for others to contribute their knowledge and expertise.

Connecting Technology with Human Skills

Quality Training’s approach is based on more than offering a wide catalogue of courses. The company combines technical knowledge with human development and adapts learning to the specific needs of each organization.

Its expertise covers Microsoft 365 and Office applications such as Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, as well as Power BI, digital productivity, Artificial Intelligence, Copilot, and prompting. Alongside these technical areas, the company has developed programs in leadership, emotional intelligence, stress management, resilience, Nonviolent Communication, interpersonal communication, and the right to disconnect.

This combination reflects Marie’s view that technology and human capability must develop together. Training begins with understanding the client’s objectives and context, listening to participants, and assessing their needs. Programs can then be delivered in person, remotely, through webinars, or through blended and hybrid formats.

The goal is not simply to provide training. It is to become a genuine partner in skills development.

Turning Change into Opportunity

The training industry has experienced major shifts, from digital transformation and COVID to hybrid working and the rapid growth of Artificial Intelligence. Each development has changed what organizations expect from their people and from learning providers.

For Marie, these changes have reinforced rather than weakened the company’s purpose. Instead of trying to protect the business from change, Quality Training has chosen to embrace it.

Artificial Intelligence has become a major area of focus. The company is developing and delivering programs that help organizations understand how AI can change everyday work while ensuring employees build the critical thinking and human skills required to use it responsibly. Practical applications include Microsoft 365 Copilot, prompting, and generative AI solutions.

At the same time, the growing role of AI has strengthened the importance of communication, emotional intelligence, adaptability, resilience, creativity, and leadership. Marie sees these capabilities as increasingly valuable as technology takes on more tasks.

Her approach to change is reflected in a simple lesson: obstacles can become opportunities when leaders remain curious, listen carefully, and adapt without losing sight of their core values.

Milestones That Go Beyond Business Growth

The founding of Quality Training in 2008 remains one of Marie’s defining milestones. Building the company from a personal vision into a growing organization required both persistence and a willingness to evolve.

Another important milestone came when multinational organizations began trusting Quality Training with their training programs. This opened opportunities for the company to expand its services and develop on an international scale.

The steady growth of its portfolio has also marked an important stage in the company’s development. What began primarily around IT and digital skills expanded as clients sought support in areas such as communication, emotional intelligence, stress management, resilience, and leadership. The addition of AI, Copilot, and prompting programs represents another step in anticipating emerging learning needs.

Yet Marie considers the company’s wider social contribution among its most meaningful achievements. Quality Training has supported humanitarian associations and initiatives focused on improving the lives of children and families in different countries. For her, impact therefore extends beyond commercial success.

Preparing Organizations for What Comes Next

Marie’s vision for the next five years is centered on positioning Quality Training as an even stronger strategic partner for organizations navigating transformation. She sees three dimensions as central to this future: technology, human skills, and business performance.

Artificial Intelligence will continue to influence productivity and learning, and Quality Training aims to help organizations understand not only how to use AI, but how to integrate it meaningfully into their culture and ways of working.

At the same time, the company plans to continue investing in capabilities that technology cannot replace, including emotional intelligence, communication, creativity, critical thinking, leadership, adaptability, and resilience. International growth remains part of the vision, but Marie  intends to preserve the qualities that distinguish the company: agility, personalization, a human approach, and strong relationships.

Her vision can be summed up simply: helping organizations become more technologically capable without becoming less human.

Creating Value That Lasts

For Marie, leadership is ultimately about creating value for others. Her advice to aspiring leaders reflects this philosophy. Rather than focusing first on becoming prominent, she encourages people to focus on becoming valuable by building genuine expertise, staying curious, listening carefully, and understanding the real needs of those they serve.

She also emphasizes authenticity. Strong leadership, in her view, does not require copying another person’s style. It comes from understanding personal values and acting consistently with them.

Her own journey demonstrates that principle. From a trainer delivering sessions herself to the founder leading a network of 45 trainers, Marie has continued to learn, adapt, and reinvent herself while keeping people at the center of her work.

As workplaces become increasingly shaped by technology, her approach offers a clear direction for the future of learning. Progress does not have to come at the expense of human connection. With the right balance of digital capability and human strength, organizations can prepare their people not simply to respond to change, but to grow with it.