Valerie Zapico is the CEO and Founder of VALKUREN, a company specialized in the development of Big Data and AI solutions across three key domains: industrial optimization, mobility, and sovereign AI agents. VALKUREN's mission is to help organizations optimize their processes and enhance decision-making through innovative ways of leveraging data, while keeping humans at the center.

In parallel, Valerie leads the Brussels chapter of Women in Big Data and actively contributes to the AI4Belgium community. She was named Inspiring Fifty Belgium in 2020 and ranked among the Top 3 ICT Women of the Year in 2023.

Valerie is also a guest lecturer at UMons for the Hands-on AI certification program and at Solvay Brussels School, contributing to the external modules of the Data Science course. She is a frequent speaker at conferences on AI & entrepreneur topic, where she shares her insights on ethical, sustainable, and human-centered artificial intelligence.