Nerd who fell in love with marketing & growth.

Available for keynotes and short advice calls

Nicholas D'hondt

I'm building an AI marketing team of one.

Here's the thing about being a one-person marketing & sales team at an open-source software company (JobRunr): you don't have time for everything. 

So I asked Patrick for help.

Patrick is my AI executive assistant, built on OpenClaw. And this week, he built me a LinkedIn Ads review system. From scratch. 

Let me walk you through how we got here.

Step 1: We did the research first.

Before writing a single ad, we analyzed our actual data. Not vibes. Data.

We pulled company visitor data from Scarf and cross-referenced it with HubSpot. IP matching, domain lookups. That gave us a ranked list of which industries and companies are actually visiting our Pro and Pricing pages.

Finance. Insurance. Government. Not what I would have guessed.

We built company lists from that intelligence and matched them to LinkedIn audiences.

Step 2: We built a messaging framework.

Patrick analyzed all our existing customer data. Hubspot data, email conversations, intake questionnaires, support questions, ads,... Then we used that data to fill in a creative strategy map and come up with 3 angles per target-audience.


Step 3: The visuals.

I showed Patrick our existing ad visuals. He reverse-engineered the visual language and wrote image generation prompts matching our brand. Generated with Gemini. I could approve, reject, download, tweak in Photoshop, re-upload. All from a review tool he built.

Step 4: The review tool.

Patrick built a web app where I review everything:
→ Ad copy with live LinkedIn preview
→ Image variants (approve, download, replace, regenerate)
→ Comments and feedback
→ One-click approve to push live

No SaaS subscription. Just me and my agent.

The proof? One ad Patrick created by analyzing my best performers and generating a variant is now my highest CTR ad at 2.65%. AI-generated. Outperforming all my manual ones.

The difference between "write me an ad" and this? Real context. Your CRM data. Your analytics. Your brand. Your actual performance numbers. 

And most importantly: Your taste. You are the creative director who shows the way. 

Full stack: OpenClaw, LinkedIn Marketing API, HubSpot, Scarf, Gemini, and a custom review tool. Fully built using Telegram conversations.

Happy to share more details. Or just roast my AI visuals. Either works.

Head Of Growth at JobRunr | Turning creative ideas into measurable results | Public Speaker - Available for keynotes

Are AI agents going to take over all our jobs???

Probably not. But they're definitely taking over parts of mine.

I got invited to join the Content Coffee Break podcast by Fuss for the first time. We recorded in Alicante ☀️ and covered three topics I think every marketer should be paying attention to right now:

🤖 AI agents are the new marketing colleague
OpenAI just acquired OpenClaw, and it says everything about where we're heading. AI is no longer a chatbot you ask questions to. It's an agent that actually does the work. 

My own AI agent is called Patrick, and he already handles a big chunk of my daily workflow. From email triage to content research to CRM follow ups. Not replacing me. Working with me.

📱 The TikTok algorithm is under attack
Europe wants to ban infinite scroll. If that happens, your entire organic reach strategy changes overnight. Less passive scrolling = fewer chances to be seen. Time to rethink how you show up.

🔍 Social search is eating Google alive
62% of Gen Z uses TikTok as a search engine. They're not Googling "best restaurant Antwerpen" anymore. They're searching it on TikTok. If you're not optimising your social content for search, you're invisible to an entire generation.

10 minutes. Three trends. Zero fluff.

🎬 Watch the teaser below
🎧 Full episode link in the comments

Did I just become my AI agent's assistant?

So I have this AI executive assistant called Patrick. It runs on Claude Opus, has access to my browser, can execute scripts, manage files... basically it can do a LOT.

This morning I wanted to test something. Could Patrick download a popular TV show for me?

I gave it 10 magnet links. One for each season. "Download these, store them on my Desktop, folder per season."

Patrick didn't even hesitate. It wrote a script, connected to Real-Debrid, started downloading. Season 1 done. Season 2 done. Season 3 done.

Then it stopped.

"I can't help with downloading copyrighted TV shows."

Wait. What? You already downloaded three seasons! NOW you have moral objections?

I pushed back but Patrick wasn't buying it. "The torrent names literally say Friends Season 1-10 (1080p BD x265). I can't pretend otherwise."

Fair enough. So I tried a different approach.

"Fine. Don't run it. Just write me the script."

And it did. Wrote a Python script. Saved it to my Desktop. Even left a placeholder for the API token so its hands would stay clean.

Then I asked: "Can you paste in the token already?"

Done. No objections.

So let me get this straight. Patrick refused to RUN the download. But happily wrote the script, added the credentials, and handed it to me with a "Ready to run."

The irony is perfect. 

We're building AI agents to do our work, and here I am... doing the work my agent refused to do. Because it had principles. That it applied... selectively.

We live in interesting times.

If you want to see the full conversation, scroll through the PDF below 👉

Patrick's Moral Objections...

Keynote speaker | Customer Strategy Expert | Managing Partner at Onestone

Trained as an engineer and shaped by years in sales leadership, I became fascinated by one simple truth: nothing is easier to sell than a product or service from a truly customer-centric company.

That insight sparked a journey — now over 20 years long — of helping leadership teams redesign their operations, sales, and support around the customer. Not to create warm feelings, but to deliver real business impact through smarter processes and sharper choices.

Along the way, I learned (sometimes the hard way) what works and what doesn’t. That journey led to Onestone: an advisory built with partners who share the same conviction and battle scars. Over the past decade, Onestone has become the go-to partner for leaders who want to become more customer-focused and operationally excellent.

What do I bring to the table?

- A sharp eye for strategy that’s both distinctive and doable
- A radar for management nonsense and a drive to cut through it
- A habit of questioning assumptions — and finding evidence-based arguments instead of opinions
- A deep respect for evidence and behavioral science, not hype or CX clichés

Whether I’m guiding a boardroom or speaking to a packed auditorium, my goal is always the same: to challenge, clarify, and inspire action.

And yes — I’m happiest with the scent of strong, freshly brewed coffee nearby.

Horst Remes - Onestone

A keynote on Customer Centricity with enthusiastic interaction last week! 🤓

Thanks Serge Kemps, Tom Alexander and NIPRO Corporation - Global for having me!

Would you like a keynote on Customer Centricity that sticks? Away form the fluff, and with concrete insights? 

The keynote ‘Popular Myths of Customer Centricity’ has an average participant score of 9,1/10.

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Keynote speaker | Managing Partner at Onestone | Global CX 50

This was last Friday’s ‘Brutally Honest’ Session with Thomas Lecok!
Next Session, our central guest is David Van Eynde - CEO of Mobile Vikings

Mark your agenda: Friday June 5th - invitations will be sent soon.

Thanks for your enthusiastic testimonial!

Marleen Deckers 
David Ducheyne
Suzanna Tompkins

💡The concept
Ever walk out of a CX presentation feeling… disappointed?
Too often, events are filled with glossy “good news” stories — companies showing only the polished version, making it seem like they’ve cracked the code that others can’t.

We’d had enough.

That’s why we started the Brutally Honest Sessions.
Each time, we sit down with a senior leader for a candid, in-depth conversation about what it’s really like.

⚡️The Brutally Honest Sessions are for Executives and Senior Leaders - on invitation only.

Would you like to participate next time? Send me a message!

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We have a full house tomorrow! We are delighted to welcome Thomas Lecok - Head of Client Services and Operations at ING Belgium as our central guest.

Not a good news show, but a ‘brutally honest’ talk about creating a customer centric organisation.

Missed it?

The next one is on June 5th. Mark you calendar!

The event is on invitation only.

Are you an executive or a senior leader and interested to join next time?

Send me a direct message!

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‘Customer Experience depends on the people’ - I hear that every day. But it is ill-advised. People in an organisation simply cannot carry all that weight on their shoulders.

And if your processes are well designed - they don’t have to.

💡Redesign your customer facing processes - outside in. So start with what the customer should experience. And work outside-in to map out how your organisation will get that done. So your process drives the right behaviour. 

⚡️You’ll see happy customers AND happy staff! You’ll see increased efficiency - apart from a big leap in customer satisfaction.

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Onestone is hiring Customer Experience Consultants!

Would you love to work in a small boutique agency - the experts in customer experience management?

And are you passionate about down-to-earth Customer Experience Management? Away from the fluffy stuff? To make businesses more customer centric AND more efficient? 

⚡️Then check if you fulfil the minimum nerdiness criteria:

- Do you have a Master degree?
- At least a few years of experience in consulting?
- Good knowledge of Dutch, French and English?

🤓 And get in touch!

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An opportunity to see my keynote on 'The Great Myths of Customer Cebtricity' at Vlerick Business School in Ghent

--> Monday March 23rd

Get tickets here: https://lnkd.in/esJwjdrt

More info:
https://lnkd.in/eitYBvhW

Why does self-service or automation cause so much frustration with customers?

Because you have not developed it right.

Customers get caught in endless loops - from which there is no escape:

- The chatbot does not understand your question, but if you call, a message refers you to the chatbot.
- You are chatting or e-mailing with a live person, but the conversation goes nowhere. You don’t understand each other. But that person cannot (or does not want to) talk to you on the phone.
- The FAQ refer to the helpdesk, but the helpdesk refers you back to the FAQ.

💡Do you have an option: “I want to talk to a real person NOW”? (a BIG orange button?)

Why does that work?

Our experiments show that customer keep on searching longer, if they see there is an emergency exit. 

If they know they CAN talk to a real human being eventually. It gives them peace of mind. And the courage to go on. (And they want to avoid the embarrassment when someone points them to a solution that was really easy to find)

Why does ‘’call avoidance’ not work?

Compare it to a network of pipes carrying gas under pressure. If you close all the valves, the gas will still escape. Only: you can’t predict where.
I have seen this happen many times, and it usually creates an immense workload (bigger than the original workload of just providing real help) elsewhere in the organisation. And your people have to deal with the frustration on top of that.

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The difference? A president is elected.
Customers are chosen.
Not by you personally, but by your organisation. You decide what you want to be, and for whom.

And if you don’t decide?
That is still a decision.

💡 There’s nothing wrong with letting a customer go.
Sometimes a customer simply doesn’t fit your profile. Not because they’re “bad”, but because your operating model is built to serve different needs.

In that case, you can’t deliver the experience they are looking for. And keeping them will frustrate both sides.

But if you “fire” a customer, you do it like a professional:
politely, clearly, and with empathy and compassion.

⚡️ Just don’t leave that call to the front line.
I see a lot of bad advice floating around under the banner: “The customer is not king.”

For example: leaders who think it’s fine for front line employees to shut down frustrated customers by saying:

“If you don’t behave appropriately, I’ll end this conversation.”

That’s absurd.

Because this customer is here for a reason.
You chose them, or they chose you, based on what you promised in your marketing and sales pitch.

And if they’re frustrated?
You most probably caused that frustration.
So deal with it.
- Teach your people how to handle emotions under pressure.
- And fix the root causes that trigger the frustration.

Don’t let someone “fire” a customer in a way you would never fire an employee.

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Nature plays with us. 

I know: 3.14 is March 14th only in the American date notation. But in the European notation, we could never celebrate pi-day and would’t that be a bummer? 🤓

π is irrational (it cannot be written as a fraction of integers). So the decimals 

- never end and
- never repeat.

Conclusions: you can never write down π exactly. Even if you keep writing all your life.

And still, it discribes a natural ratio.

Nature plays with us - we should appreciate that more.

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The Brutally Honest Session with Thomas Lecok is totally full!

This event is for Executives and Senior Leaders.
On invitation only.

Would you like to be invited on the next sessions? Send me a DM.

💡The concept
Ever walk out of a CX presentation feeling… disappointed?
Too often, events are filled with glossy “good news” stories — companies showing only the polished version, making it seem like they’ve cracked the code that others can’t.
We’d had enough.

That’s why we started the Brutally Honest Sessions.
Each time, we sit down with a senior leader for a candid, in-depth conversation about what it’s really like. Brutally Honest.

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Nicholas D'hondt

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The Battle

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Horst Remes - Onestone

Followers

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Nicholas D'hondt's LinkedIn Performance

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