AMSTERDAM, June 23, 2025
Bridging the Tech Gap
Pascal simplifies tech, driving AI solutions.
- Pascal translates technology for everyday users.
- His AI workshops boost collaboration.
- He innovates within the government.
- Pascal aspires to be a CTO.
Pascal helps map out IT paths, constructing barriers to help ministries reach their goals, making him an enterprise architect.
From Technology to People
Pascal’s fascination with technology began with his father. He initially studied information science, but soon realized it was too focused on the technical aspects. He wanted to explore the human side of technology, becoming a translator who makes it understandable for everyone. “It was all about technology, while I was looking for the human side of technology. I wanted to be the translator – the one who makes technology understandable for others. The only profession I did like was Artificial Intelligence. There I saw how systems can learn and improve themselves.”
Pascal then paused his studies. “That felt like failure,” he recalls. “That’s why I decided to learn something new every day. That could be a card trick or a new method to fold my clothes.” This pursuit led him to learning Chinese, becoming captivated by the country and its culture of continuous improvement.
To deepen his knowledge of China, Pascal pursued Asian Business Studies (ABS) and studied in Shanghai and interned in Chengdu. Although his internships weren’t initially in IT, he always gravitated toward that department. For instance, at Dr. Panda, a developer of online games for children, he unofficially supported the test team. “I always asked those questions: why do you make it that way? And what do you want to achieve?”
“I thought the worlds and my father – who was a programmer – wrote the code.”
Learn by Doing
Back in the Netherlands, Pascal joined a truck trading company. “Officially as a project manager, but in fact it was an architect role. I was given plenty of room to pioneer. Together with a colleague I laid the foundation for a worldwide -operating sales system for the second -hand market. For example, a customer from Germany can easily buy a truck in Peru. We tackled important risks, such as international money transactions, vehicle inspection and motor fects. I helped come up with the platform and build. And it still works like this: a seller reports the vehicle, fills specifications and is in, and the transactions run through the truck dealer. For example, buyers and sellers know that they have a good deal.”
In his next role at a marketing agency, he quickly sought improvements. “As a Trusted Advisor I thought along with customers. I saw opportunities: if we would standardize part of the work, we had more time left for cool designs and AI. Unfortunately they didn’t want that at the time.” A former colleague suggested he join another organization. “Then come here – this organization suits you.” Following a conversation, he became an analyst for the government.
@Theartificialanalyst
Soon after, Pascal rediscovered his old AI textbooks. “Chatgpt was just out and I wondered if I could make my own work more visual. The model could not yet visualize diagrams, so I discovered an intermediate language.” His enthusiasm led him to share his experiences on YouTube as @Theartificialanalyst. Later, he was invited to collaborate as a superuser by the creators of Mermaid Chart. “And so I did what I wanted so much during my studies: making technology understandable for others.”
Pascal’s inquiries sometimes cause tension. “People don’t always like it when I get involved with their work. But they often run when they notice that I am just about what they want to achieve with them.” He believes that all life experiences provide new insights. “Wait a minute!” I often say when my girlfriend tells me something. “I have to write something down.” If he faces a challenge, a walk around his house usually helps. “Even before I’m on the corner of the street, I have a solution.”
On a Beer Mat
Pascal continues to serve the government as an enterprise architect. “I help you to map out their IT path and construct the crash barrier so that the ministry reaches the goals. I mainly do ai and the YouTube videos, in my own time.”
Pascal also shares his passion within his organization. He developed a Serie AI workshops: Knights of the Prompts, a hackathon where colleagues explore the technology and collaborate with AI experts. “I thought it was great to see all those people working on Genai solutions for customers. They did this together with a hyperscaler, such as Google, Amazon or Microsoft as a technical partner.”
Around eighty colleagues participated in each training session. He saw “how people went to work instead of diving into the theory, because that is how you learn.” On the first evening, they wrote down their goals and needs on a beer mat. The customer joined on the last evening. “The event went viral to other countries, and also delivered new business.”
“I thought it was great to see all those people working on Genai solutions for customers.”
Get Into Space
Pascal also helped colleagues practically further. He trained a chatbot with 18,000 documents to simplify the quotation process. “Suddenly colleagues could talk to thousands of documents at the same time. In the meantime, uses another tool, also built by colleagues, which works according to the same concept.”
‘Get the future you want – That certainly applies to me,” says Pascal. “I focus on the things I find interesting and gives me the space for this. Recently Ctio Robert Engels asked me for a central AI roll at Global level. I would like to innovate with him and the AI-LAB with customers, and help the organization with the developments that arrive. By expressing my ideas and wishes, I hope to actively build my future at . And beyond that, because my ambition is to be CTO from a large company and thus make an impact through the lens of technology.”
“Suddenly colleagues could talk to thousands of documents at the same time.”
