NL House: World's firsts — Building innovation that actually matters
From brainwave communication to rewriting the landscape of innovation partnerships. A conversation with Florian Root and Joeri Bakker of Dentsu Lab on where to look for opportunities to maximise the potential of your innovation.
These two are no strangers to rethinking how industries operate and building valuable innovations for humanity. Always looking for opportunities to create projects that didn’t exist before someone decided they should.
Florian Root and Joeri Bakker of Dentsu Lab don't talk about innovation in the abstract. They talk about what it actually takes: the right partnerships, the right timing, and the discipline to stay focused on human need when the technology wants to be the story.
About the speakers
Florian Root is part of the worldwide Leadership Team for Dentsu Lab, curates partnerships with clients, partners and organisations to create innovations that don't just win awards, but change lives. He performs a critical role in building trust and commitment across clients that moves innovation forward. His work includes multiple Cannes Lions Grand Prix winners: I Will Always Be Me (2022), a voice banking initiative giving people with motor neuron disease a way to preserve their voice before losing it, and Dove's Real Beauty Prompt Playbook (2025), which challenged AI-generated beauty standards by training algorithms on inclusive representations of real people.
Joeri Bakker is Managing Director at Dentsu Creative Amsterdam and part of the worldwide Leadership Team for Dentsu Lab. He works at the intersection of creativity, technology and business, building teams across brand, experience, tech and AI that turn ambitious ideas into platforms, prototypes and brand worlds.
As one of the driving forces behind Dentsu Lab Amsterdam and its global growth, Joeri champions a hands on innovation model built around working proof over theatre. His focus is simple: fewer decks, more prototypes, experiences and cultural interventions that help clients move forward.
Presented by Dutch Digital Design
Dutch Digital Design is the organisation championing the Netherlands' world-class digital creative industry. It brings together the country's leading agencies, studios, and brands. urating and showcasing exceptional work, connecting talent, and building a stronger design community at home and on the international stage. Think of it as the standard-bearer for Dutch digital creativity: the industry's best, made visible.
NL House @ SXSW London
On June 3 2026, NL House opens for a day that runs from a morning wake-up call about where ambitious people should actually point their talent, to late-night conversations about what Amsterdam's after-dark culture is building next.
Expect cities to make the case for why they deserve your attention. Brands and studios showcasing work that moves people. Artists and technologists with projects that refuse to fit neatly into a single discipline. Explore the NL Lounge, where ten Dutch startups will showcase their technological creativity.
Presented by New Dutch Wave and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, created in collaboration with Dutch Digital Design, Creative Industries Immersive Impact Coalition, EIT Culture & Creativity, the City of Amsterdam, ROM Utrecht Region, Innovally, Gielissen, WT Interactive, and Dentsu Lab.
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