Geoffrey De Smet

CTO and Co-Founder Timefold

Geoffrey has 19 years of experience in planning optimization and AI, combining deep technical expertise with open-source leadership. He created OptaPlanner, the open-source engine that powers automated scheduling and routing for hundreds of thousands of employees, vehicles, and machines worldwide. Previously, he was a Senior Principal Software Engineer at Red Hat (IBM), where he led large-scale optimization initiatives and contributed to numerous open-source Java projects. At Timefold, he drives the company's technical vision and PlanningAI innovation, turning advanced optimization algorithms into real-world enterprise impact. A frequent international keynote speaker, he has presented from San Francisco to London and Buenos Aires to Tokyo, at events including Red Hat Summit, Devoxx, and KotlinConf. Geoffrey holds a bachelor's degree in Applied Computer Science from Hogeschool Gent.

Monday, 26 October 2026

12:20 AI Advisory Lab: Proof of Concept Presentations

(10 min each)

Join this session to learn two tried and tested proof of concepts for AI that service leaders are executing with solution partners. You'll have an opportunity to select which service leaders and their solutions providers that you would like to meet with for a hands-on session in the afternoon.

Case Study 1: From Digital to Optimised: 17% Moe Efficient Routes at Scale Presented by Timefold

Case Study Most field service organisations have already digitised workforce scheduling. But when thousands of jobs, technicians, skills, time windows, and travel constraints interact, better planning tools don't necessarily produce better plans.

In this customer case, Timefold and e-switch show how a major European transport operator is moving beyond digital workforce planning to optimisation at scale. By combining advanced solver technology with deep SAP S/4HANA integration, the solution is designed to optimise assignments and routes for more than 1,000 field technicians and 50,000 maintenance jobs per year.

Early results show routes becoming 17% more efficient. Dispatchers can also stop manually solving an increasingly complex scheduling problem and focus on the exceptions where human judgment adds the most value.

Geoffrey De Smet, Co-Founder and CTO, Timefold

Florian Gross, Senior Sales Consultant, e-switch Solutions

2 Presented by Equeep

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Geoffrey.

Download The Latest Agenda