Welcome to Global Good’s Impact Interview series. This series is designed to tell the stories of the people and companies working to drive impact in society.
In this edition, we speak with Grégoire de Hemptinne, co-founder and CEO of Shayp — the Brussels-born company building what he calls “the operating system of water.” We discuss the health crisis that sparked the company, why most water leaks go unnoticed, and how connecting utilities, insurers, and building managers around real-time data could redefine how we manage one of the planet’s most undervalued resources.
Can you introduce yourself, your role, and your organisation?
I’m Grégoire de Hemptinne, co-founder and CEO of Shayp. I’m a computer science engineer with an MBA from IESE Business School, and I’m also a passionate mountain climber, which I believe helps when tackling big challenges.
At Shayp, we’re building what I call the “operating system of water.” We help buildings across Europe reduce their water consumption by an average of 22% through real-time monitoring and AI-powered leak detection. We’ve saved over 27 billion litres of water to date across more than 9,000 buildings.
What was the motivation behind Shayp?
The inspiration came from a real health crisis. My co-founder, Alexandre, who at the time was an energy manager for the city of Brussels, detected a severe water leak in a kindergarten that was literally harming the health of children. We quickly realised there was an urgent need to develop an early detection system for water leaks.
We understood that more than 95% of water leaks in buildings remain unnoticed, causing significant damage and loss of precious resources. Alexandre brought the health crisis, I brought my expertise in AI-powered anomaly detection, and Zineddine brought his expertise in IoT. We then co-founded Shayp.
Can you describe Shayp’s mission and values?
Our mission at Shayp is to bring water intelligence to all. We are creating what I like to call the “operating system of water,” connecting utilities, building managers, insurance companies, and people.
We have three values at Shayp: Impact, Excellence, and Achievement, and we believe in people, planet, and profit. Our team is results-driven and relies on data and facts. I can also say that we are very ambitious and want to save 100 billion litres of water by 2029.
What are some of the most pressing social issues that Shayp is working to address through its technology?
Water scarcity and waste is a massive problem that we don’t really grasp. Buildings account for 70% of the fresh water used in distribution, yet we all think we don’t have leaks, or that water is cheap, or that it’s raining outside therefore we have water. The truth is, we lose over 30% of clean water in distribution.
If climate change is a shark, then the lack of water is its teeth — this is how it’s going to attack us. And then there’s the human element of water damage. We should not be paying for water we can’t control through invisible leaks.
How does your company measure the impact of its work in creating positive change?
We’ve saved nearly 32 billion litres of water so far across over 9,000 buildings, and last year, in 2025, we saved over 10 billion litres of water. But we also measure other types of metrics: leaks prevented, water damage prevented, average leak flow, and savings from water bills.
What’s also exciting is that we’ve developed a new water stewardship model that allows a corporation to fund water savings in schools and public buildings to meet their ESG goals. It’s a win-win-win for all stakeholders: a corporation reduces its footprint, a school saves money, and a community benefits.
In your opinion, what impact will technology have in creating a better future?
The true strength of technology lies not in technology itself, but in connecting people and making them work together.
In 2035, most of our water infrastructure will be digitalised — although it will be a mess to start with because of different granularities and standards. But it also presents tremendous opportunities: water credits with official frameworks, real-time ecosystems with utilities and plumbers, data centres that offset their own use.
The future is no longer about individual solutions, but about platforms that connect the dots — or as I call it, “connect the drops” — making smart resource use effortless for all.
What advice do you have for other companies looking to use tech for good and positively impact the world?
Firstly, it’s not just about creating a product; it’s about creating a business model that creates value for multiple stakeholders. What makes Shayp unique isn’t the tech — it’s that we’ve built partnerships with utilities, insurance companies, data centres, and more. Everyone gets value out of it, and it multiplies because of network effects.
Secondly, it’s about measurement. Our environmental impact is really tangible and concrete — we can show people exactly how many litres we’re saving. If you can’t measure it, it’s hard to make a real impact.
Lastly, it’s about being patient with awareness. Most people don’t realise they’re wasting 20% of their water, so it’s about finding those compelling events that make people care. But don’t get discouraged. As I mentioned in my TEDx talk: “You don’t have to be a top performer, you’ll learn along the way; there’s no such thing as failure, and small steps will lead to big impact.”
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Shayp‘s work reflects a quietly powerful idea — that some of the most consequential climate technology won’t look like a moonshot at all. It will look like infrastructure that finally pays attention. By treating water as data, and by building a model where utilities, insurers, corporations, and communities all gain from the same intervention, Shayp is showing what tech-for-good looks like when the business model is as well designed as the product.
In a sector where waste has been normalised for decades, that combination of measurement, partnership, and patience may turn out to be the real innovation.
