Lotte Welten

For years, I worked with people who were judged on who they appeared to be instead of who they really were.

Women in Ghana who were cast out because they were HIV-positive, while their husbands were never required to be tested. People in Kuala Lumpur disowned by their families for falling in love with someone of the same sex. Women in the Netherlands who, after years of abuse, were asked: why didn't you leave sooner?

We all judge based on assumptions. But that reflex costs people opportunities, organisations talent, and societies potential.

And then I saw that recruitment had the same problem. Work is access, access to a different life and a different future. That access is decided at the gate by people who, like all of us, judge based on assumptions. Not because they want to, but because they don't have better tools.

Together with Joeri Everaers, I built Selection Lab. A platform that combines scientifically grounded assessments with AI, not to replace human judgement, but to reduce bias. So that everyone is seen for the talents they bring.

Fair selection isn't an ideal. It's a necessity.