Janine Tjassens: Fuelled by excellence

Janine Tjassens is the Senior Vice-President and BU Leader Central and North Netherlands at CGI, which forms part of one of the largest IT and business consulting services firms in the world. She’s a language aficionado with intensive experience across the European market – and has learned that innovation is cultivated by true connections.

The first decade of Janine’s career was what she describes as professionally nomadic. After pursuing studies in Italian and later economics, she landed in the sphere of IT when she started doing projects related to the millennium transition. “As we know now, that transition was a bit of an anti-climax and systems did not fall apart, but it was a very immersive introduction to the world of IT,” Janine recalls. The following years were dotted with tenures in Germany, Luxembourg, and locally in the Netherlands, where she found herself running operations with a team of technical colleagues reporting to her.

The adventure of leadership

Janine’s transition into leadership was not a conscious pursuit, but rather an organic move brought about by her personal drive for self-actualisation. “Eventually, I stood at a crossroads, and I was questioning whether I should stay in IT. I asked myself: what’s next?” Following a sabbatical and some freelance work, she realised she missed being part of a larger team.” A former mentor reached out to Janine to ask if she was up for an adventure; and she took on a position based in the UK. After almost five years, she returned to the Netherlands to join Logica, which was later acquired by CGI. “Through my career journey, I always found it very important to grow and learn, especially as part of a team. Moving into leadership roles has been a happy by-product of this,” she says. She describes herself as a collaborative leader who aspires to work with others across various organisational levels and one who values diversity, shared leadership, and not shying away from taking complex decisions. Despite the constant balancing act between clients, colleagues, and shareholders, Janine draws energy from the fast-paced and ever-evolving consultancy environment.

Tech is where the future is

Throughout her career, Janine has felt, at times, that her lack of classical technical knowledge awakened in her the need to prove herself constantly. “In retrospect, I think it’s of no disadvantage to you as a leader of technical teams not to have the in-depth technical knowledge. But I’ve had mentors along the way who have kept me grounded – and mentorship is critical, regardless of whether you work for an IT company, in retail, finance, or manufacturing, to share a few examples. When I was at my career crossroads, my mentor encouraged me to stay in the world of technology, because that’s where the future is. That had a bigger impact than exhaustive technical knowledge in a dynamic technology landscape where innovation is such a constant disruptor.”

Maintaining a connected culture

Janine describes herself as a pragmatic people manager, while remaining keenly aware of the complexities surrounding automation and hybrid work in today’s workplace. Her advice for maintaining a culture of connection is to value authenticity and stay true to oneself when climbing the career ladder. On a practical level, she has learned that real, face-to-face interaction is becoming a rare and valuable asset; especially in the consulting world. She encourages others to make the most of their time in the office, to be visible, and to connect with clients intentionally.“In order to work on innovation together, we need to be together,” she says. In an increasingly AI-driven world, Janine believes there is important work ahead to ensure technology is applied thoughtfully. “The concept of AI isn’t new. Over twenty years ago, I worked with a team that developed predictive software for the cockpits of F-60s. We called it ‘adaptive systems management’ back then, but essentially, we were analysing data and developing predictive models – just like AI today. What has changed is the democratisation of access and the rapid acceleration of the technology.” Janine believes that the expertise and leadership development of younger generations will be crucial to harnessing AI’s full potential. The knowledge and adaptability of our younger colleagues are tremendous, and as leaders, we must embrace and foster these. “There’s no silver bullet for how clients can best use AI. But if we continue striving for excellence as leaders and stay true to ourselves, I believe we can inspire our colleagues and clients to lead by example.” Her advice to other women in the digital technology landscape is to continue supporting each other. “We put so much pressure on ourselves. Don’t – when we uplift each other, we can balance so much more. And I hope we can do so increasingly in the future as women within this industry.”

Are you interested in growing your career through skills development and mentoring? Janine will be one of the mentors in our 2026 Digital Talent Programme! More info about this programme is available here.

This article was originally published in the RightBrains DIGIDIVA Magazine. Check out this year's issue for more inspiration or to get involved!