About me

Beyond all the professional achievements described in detail below, my most important role in life is being a father to my son and a husband to my wife. A role that means far more to me than any job title, company, or professional achievement ever could.

That said, I’ve also had a professional journey over the past twenty years. And that’s what much of this page is about.

From System Engineer to Technology Entrepreneur

I’m a technologist at heart, with a background in IT infrastructure and Systems Engineering. I started my career building, managing and improving complex IT environments for customers. From that technical foundation, I gradually developed a deeper focus on Cloud Native technologies, Kubernetes, cloud platforms and DevOps.

That technical background has always shaped the way I look at technology. I want to understand how something works under the hood, but also what you can ultimately achieve with it. That curiosity has led me increasingly towards the intersection of technology, business and entrepreneurship.

My particular interests lie in Cloud Native and Edge Computing. I find it fascinating to see what happens as infrastructure becomes more flexible and distributed, and as we move compute, data and intelligence closer to where they are actually needed.

In recent years, a new fascination has been added to that: AI. Not just as a technology in its own right, but especially at the intersection with Cloud Native infrastructure and Edge Computing. What happens when AI becomes an increasingly important part of how we build software, design infrastructure and organize companies?

Building Technology Companies

A large part of my experience has come from building technology companies myself.

I was involved with Fullstaq as a founder from its inception in 2016. I worked directly with customers and was deeply involved in the technology, infrastructure and technical development of the company. From the beginning, Fullstaq focused on Cloud Native and Kubernetes, at a time when Kubernetes was far from the standard it is today.

We became the first Dutch organization to be recognized as a Kubernetes Certified Service Provider (KCSP). From that technical specialization, Fullstaq grew within a few years into a consultancy of around 75 FTE.

My role evolved along with the company. Where I initially focused mainly on technology and customers, my focus gradually shifted towards building teams, developing the organization and ultimately defining its vision and direction as CEO.

But my technical background has always remained an important part of how I look at companies.

I don’t just want to understand what an organization wants to achieve with technology. I also want to understand how it works technically, which decisions are behind it and what it takes to actually build and operate it well.

Entrepreneurship Also Means Experimenting

After Fullstaq, we founded Beyond Blue. Once again, we built a specialized technology organization around the belief that strong technical expertise is the foundation of good technology services.

Within its first year, Beyond Blue grew to around 15 FTE. It was another opportunity to build an organization from the ground up and build on the experience I had gained at Fullstaq.

Technology remained at the center of the company. I worked on developing the business while staying closely involved with the technology and our customers.

Cloud Native, Edge Computing & Edgecase

My passion for infrastructure and Cloud Native technology also led to a strong interest in Edge Computing.

That interest resulted in Edgecase, an event focused on Cloud Native and Edge Computing. What started as a fascination with the technology grew into an annual event in the Netherlands with more than 500 attendees.

For me, it brings together many of the things I find interesting: infrastructure, emerging technology, architecture, communities and the question of where technology is heading.

I’m interested not only in using technology, but also in thinking about where it is going. Which developments are here to stay? Which assumptions do we need to rethink? And what does that ultimately mean for companies and the people working with these technologies?

From Engineer to CEO and advisor

My career has taken me through different layers of technology.

From engineer, working directly with technology and customers, to CEO, where I became responsible for the vision, strategy and development of the organization.

At the same time, I increasingly became an advisor to larger customers. I believe the combination of technical depth and experience building organizations helps me look at technology challenges from different perspectives.

In 2023, the group was sold to The Digital Neighborhood. A merger later resulted in TrueFullstaq.

I’m still involved with the company as an advisor, where I continue to think about the future of Cloud Native, infrastructure, Edge Computing and AI.

Sharing Technology

An important part of what I do is sharing knowledge.

I have spoken regularly at events and conferences, both nationally and internationally. Topics have included Cloud Native, Kubernetes, Edge Computing and AI, but increasingly also the broader side of technology: entrepreneurship, leadership, organizational development and the human side of IT.

Technology is, of course, not just about infrastructure, containers, clusters and code. It is also about the people who build it, the organizations that use it and the choices we make along the way.

I also enjoy sharing my knowledge on a freelance basis, as an advisor, sounding board or speaker. Sometimes drawing on my technical experience, sometimes on my experience building technology companies, and often right at the intersection of the two.

And I’m Still Experimenting

Although I’m no longer involved in the day-to-day operation of building and managing IT infrastructure, I’m far from done with technology. Quite the opposite. I still enjoy experimenting way too much.

Building a Kubernetes cluster. Testing new infrastructure technology. Experimenting with AI. Finding out whether an idea is technically feasible. Using a piece of hardware for something it was probably never designed for.

Those experiments keep me sharp and make sure my experience isn’t based solely on what I did years ago.

That’s what I’ll share on this website: technology, experiments, experiences, ideas and lessons from building technology companies.

Sometimes deeply technical. Sometimes strategic. Sometimes organizational. And sometimes simply because I wanted to find out whether something was possible.

Always curious. Always tinkering.