Tell us more about your role and how do you apply data science to your projects.

I do research in business analytics, focused on monitoring and network analysis. I combine theoretical research on AI methods for system analytics with (industry) collaborative projects focused on data-driven systems for improved decision making. I also teach in our BSc business analytics program, so I use data science in research as well as in my teaching role.

You’re also the director and founder of the UvA’s AI4Business Lab, which recently won the Economics & Business faculty’s Impact Award. Could you tell us more about that?  

The lab started with the objective to be a space where (external) organizations and our students can meet to work on AI and analytics. One of the things we do is what's called “Data Challenges”, where companies and organizations supply a data-centric challenge for our students that becomes the basis for their thesis or lab course. It's been super successful and grown really fast. This year we’re working with 60 companies and 250 students. This is challenge-based learning: the students work on these challenges as part of their curriculum, and they build proof-of-concept analytics or AI solutions.

Is there a project from this past year that you are most proud of? 

I'm super proud of a project that we're doing called “AI in je bedrijf” which is focused on analytics and AI experimentation in SMEs (“MKBs” in Dutch). It's a large collaboration effort between UvA, Preneurz Amsterdam and HvA and supported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Goldschmeding Foundation, and some other regional partners like the Amsterdam Economic Board. We all got together with the idea of addressing the fact that productivity in SMEs is not growing as fast as we would like it, and researching whether AI could be a potential solution for that.  

We support these organizations in experimenting with analytics and AI and provide an easy step in. We've brought them together with our students this spring - 30 SMEs with 30 challenges. The nice thing about this project is that it benefits not only our students, but also the entrepreneurs and SME employees, who get 3 master classes on what AI could mean for their work, their skills, and their organizations.

So this project brings together research, education, and impact – all for a very important group of companies in the Netherlands.

What do you like most about being a DSC member? 

It's nice to see the diversity of work across the university, and to find resonances and build connections with people from different faculties.

What is your favourite data science method? 

I don’t have one. What I always tell students and the companies I work with is that analytics and AI are a toolbox. So you need to figure out what your exact problem is and then select the right tool. You should not limit yourself to one tool that you like. That said, I have a background in quality control, so setting up monitoring methods is close to my heart and I am currently fascinated by understanding how agents can fit into our processes.

Are you camp Python/R/or something else?

Well, I'm a statistician from background so I work in R most comfortably. I can work in Python though I am slower than I like to be, recently with generative AI assistance it’s all become quite a bit easier and more accessible.