by Berend Booms, Associate Editor, Future of Assets
Everyone enters asset management from a different place. Ten years ago, mine was far removed from this world. I was working in consultancy and change management at Cisco, focused on helping organizations adopt new tools and ways of working.
That work took many forms. I enjoyed training delivery, speaking at events, strategy meetings and late-night UX testing. Most of all, I loved meeting with end-users. While no one-day was ever the same, what stayed consistent throughout everything I did was my curiosity: not just about technology itself, but about what it enables for people, and how it can make complex work more manageable, and more enjoyable.
After several years, I was ready for a different pace and a deeper focus. I moved into the enterprise asset management space, drawn by the opportunity to explore that same intersection of people and tools, but in environments where reliability, safety, and long-term thinking truly matter. In the years since, I’ve spent my time learning from practitioners across industries and building a deeper appreciation for the role asset management plays in keeping organizations, societies and communities running.
Looking back on that journey, one thing has become increasingly clear: we are at an inflection point. Not just for asset management as a discipline, but for how we think about assets altogether.
For years, our conversations have centered on reliability, uptime, cost control, and compliance. And for all the right reasons, as these foundations matter a great deal. But much like other disciplines before it, asset management has matured. Data platforms, analytics, connected assets, AI: all of these technologies that we have discussed for a long time are no longer abstract ideas on the horizon. They are here. And more importantly, they are forcing us to ask different, deeper questions. Questions not only about how we maintain assets, but why we do what we do, who we do it for, and what kind of future we are shaping in the process.
That realization sits at the heart of why we created Future of Assets.
Beyond Assets, Beyond Maintenance
The future of assets is impacted by far more than machines or maintenance strategies alone. It is shaped by people, by leadership, by culture, and by the ideas that challenge long-held assumptions about how value is created.
Asset-intensive organizations today are navigating a complex landscape: an aging workforce alongside a new generation with different expectations; increasing pressure around sustainability, safety, and resilience; rapid technological advancement that promises a lot, but only delivers when applied thoughtfully; and a growing recognition that data itself has become one of our most strategic assets.
What excites me most is not any single technology or trend, but the dialogue emerging at the intersection of all of these forces. Conversations that are grounded in reality, shaped by experience, and focused on progress rather than perfection.
That is the space Future of Assets will explore.
An Invitation Beyond Information
While the word ‘future’ features prominently in our name, not everything you will find here is forward-looking by design. Mastering the present is just as important as preparing for what comes next. As a history major, I’ve been trained to look backward as a way to move forward, to study patterns, context, and consequences, and to apply those lessons thoughtfully rather than repeat them. Sometimes progress means slowing down, zooming in, and asking better questions about the foundations we are building on today. Becoming a father has reinforced that mindset for me in a very tangible way. It has reshaped how I think about long-term value, responsibility, and the kind of systems (at work and in life) we build not just for today, but for those who will inherit them tomorrow.
My own path into this space has been anything but linear. With a background in history rather than engineering, I learned early on how powerful it can be to step back, absorb complexity, and translate it into clarity. Over the years, working closely with asset and maintenance professionals around the world, one belief has only grown stronger: the true measure of value in asset management lies not just in the assets themselves, but in the connections we foster and the knowledge we share. Technology is an enabler. Data is a catalyst. But people remain irreplaceable.
Future of Assets is, at its core, an invitation: to reflect, to learn, and to connect. To explore how we can build more resilient organizations, more sustainable operations, and more human systems of work. And to do so together, through dialogue rather than dogma.
This platform will only be as strong as the community that shapes it. If you have a story to tell, a lesson learned, or a perspective you feel deserves more space, I would love to hear from you at hello@futureofassets.com.
The future isn’t something that simply happens to us. It is something we shape, conversation by conversation.
Welcome to the Future of Assets – I’m so glad you’re here.