Meet Pieter van der Deen

Keer terug naar blogs

Meet Pieter van der Deen

Hi Pieter, tell us a bit more about yourself!

I’m the newest AI Engineer of MbarQ, freshly graduated from Thomas More University of Applied Sciences. I studied Electronica ICT, with a specific focus on applied artificial intelligence – I’m only the second year to graduate in this course! I did my internship at MbarQ, and they quickly asked if I would join them permanently – I didn’t have to think twice about the answer!

How did you end up at MbarQ for your internship?

Well, in March 2022 – a year before my internship – there was a (digital) job fair at Thomas More University of Applied Sciences. I was already on the lookout for interesting AI companies and there I stumbled upon Nathalie Claeys from the Bluu team! (where MbarQ is part of, Ed.). Nathalie explained that MbarQ just started out and was looking for AI enthusiasts to join. I love the start-up mentality that gives you the freedom and tools to develop and grow at a fast pace so MbarQ seemed like an excellent place to start! So 1 year before, I was able to insure my internship, which was really nice.”

Pieter van der Deen

I love the start-up mentality that gives you the freedom and tools to develop and grow at a fast pace so MbarQ seemed like an excellent place to start!

Pieter van der Deen
Pieter van der Deen

Congratulations are also in order because you won Thomas More’s “Best Bachelor Project”. Tell us more!

Thanks! The bachelor project was called “Customize ChatGPT for Business Purposes” and was something I worked on during my internship at MbarQ. I didn’t even know there was such an award, during graduation they suddenly mentioned my name – I was so surprised! 

For the project, I first started with some research: ChatGPT is fun and all that, but how do you actually make it meaningful and useful for companies? The next step was setting up a proof of concept for Delhaize – that was really cool! In the span of a couple of weeks, I created an entire ChatGPT solution for their mobile application. It was well received because they’re reviewing our offering now to check if we can proceed further with integrations.

What are your goals for the future?

I’m already becoming a kind of the ChatGPT expert within MbarQ, so I’m looking to grow and learn more about generative AI and ChatGPT. I try my best to stay up to date on all developments within the AI field, because it’s changing every day. And so it’s very difficult to say what it will look like 5 years from now. The use of ChatGPT is already well integrated, something you wouldn’t have predicted 8 months ago. So who knows where we’ll be a couple of years from now? I do believe there’s huge potential in what we’re doing now and with MbarQ we’re at the front line of all developments.

What are you looking forward to?

Well, it’s crazy busy right now, because more and more companies understand the value of generative AI. I’m already on different projects, which can be a bit chaotic sometimes, but I like the challenge and I love doing it! So I’m definitely looking forward to growing together with MbarQ and seeing how the company can evolve. I think it’s great that the entire team is involved in creating a vision for the future. That’s another advantage of a start-up: everyone’s opinion matters.

I believe there’s huge potential in what we’re doing now and with MbarQ we’re at the front line of all developments.

Pieter van der Deen

That’s great to hear! What else would you say to win over AI enthusiasts to join MbarQ?

It’s a very nice environment to work in! Everyone is super friendly and there’s an amazing atmosphere because everyone is so passionate. Besides the growth opportunities, you also have the freedom to experiment, try and learn. I think there aren’t a lot of companies that can do better than MBarQ. So please: join us!

Did Pieter convince you?
Then head over to our jobs and check out if your talents match our needs. 😉 

News

Meest recente blogs.