New Horizons: Family, Reflection and the Future of Trusted Data & AI

After an intense and rewarding chapter with Connected Data Group and Connected Data Academy, I have taken some time to step back, travel, reflect and look ahead.

Over the past 2 weeks I have been in Taiwan with my children, and soon I will continue travelling through Australia with my wife. Different countries, different landscapes, different conversations — but also a very valuable moment to slow down and think about what comes next.

For almost ten years, Connected Data Group was a major part of my professional life. Together with Antoine Stelma, colleagues, partners and customers, we built something I am genuinely proud of: a company focused on data management, data virtualization, analytics, training & education and later increasingly AI. We helped many organizations become more data-driven and AI-ready, trained hundreds of data professionals, and contributed to the development of the data management community in the Netherlands and beyond.

Stepping away from an managing director role is not just a business decision. It is also a personal transition. When you have invested so much energy, conviction and identity in building a company, you need some distance to rediscover where your own curiosity, experience and ambition want to go next.

That is exactly what this period of travel is giving me.
And the answer is becoming clearer.

I will continue as an independent advisor, trainer and speaker in the field where I still feel most at home: the intersection of data management, AI, governance, strategy and education.

With Vista Veritas Data & AI Services, my focus will be on helping organizations turn data and AI ambition into practical, responsible and manageable progress. Not from hype, but from clarity. Not only from technology, but from ownership, governance, quality, architecture, literacy and trust.

My conviction is stronger than ever: sustainable AI starts with strong data management. But the reverse is also true. AI can help organizations finally address parts of their data debt, improve metadata, strengthen quality management and make governance more practical.
So this journey is both private and professional.

Private, because I am grateful to spend real time with my family in beautiful parts of the world.

Professional, because this distance helps me sharpen the next phase of my work: independent, experienced, curious and still fully committed to helping organizations create value with trusted data and responsible AI.

A new chapter is starting.