Data & AI strategy

Mark excels at identifying opportunities to leverage data and analytics in diverse environments. Once found, he seamlessly transforms these solution ideas into testable prototypes with proven impact. His strong communication skills act as a catalyst, drawing entire teams into the dynamic journey of innovation. Critical and constructive, and always with a broad smile, Mark is an asset to any team.

What I appreciate most about working with Berend is his ability to translate data science into plain language, making complex topics understandable and actionable. He's open to out-of-the-box ideas, making conversations not just smart but also creative and inspiring. In both our projects at bol and Pip Studio, he proved a real accelerator: bringing sharpness and new perspectives to ideas I already had. Together we turned an idea into a scalable AI platform for a client. Honestly, I learn something every time we talk.

From data scientist, to data analyst and from data engineering to platform engineering tasks: Mark surprises and succeeds in all fields. Next of being part of the data team, he also zoomed out to work on giving Tikkie insights on how to move forward; these insights were immediately used within the organisation. Next to having business acumen and the ability to communicate in a clear and understandable way, Mark is a smart and great colleague to have around. Both on work and personal level, he surprises with great stories and lessons learned.

Berend knows exactly what he's talking about, and his communication skills are exceptional. He's very good at getting to the core of a problem and conveying it in plain language to stakeholders who often have little background knowledge. Throughout our entire collaboration we had near-daily contact, delivering clear results at great speed. The standout was the Auto Advice Tool — predicting the top 5 car recommendations for individual lease drivers — a result that has stuck with me.

I have worked together with Mark on several occasions. What I love about Mark is his pragmatic approach, he is able to quickly get to the core of a problem, identify first valuable steps and guide execution to prove the value of a chosen solution. He collaborates well with existing teams, is always valued for his contribution and personality, but also able to work more independently on a scoped assignment.

Berend is approachable, always open to conversation, and has a strong ability to explain complex choices to non-experts in a clear way. Berend takes others' ideas seriously and incorporates them into his solutions. With management, he presents results in plain language that drives understanding and gets everyone involved. The turning point was when Berend presented the improvements possible with our prediction model — that's when it clicked. What I'm most proud of is bringing the prediction model back to life. It ultimately led to the permanent hire of a Data Scientist who built on the foundation Berend laid, making it a renewed and integral part of the team.

Mark combines a sharp analytical mind with broad technical knowledge. He prioritizes simple, working solutions over unnecessary complexity. For us, this resulted in significant cost savings through a surprisingly straightforward implementation with low maintenance costs. He communicates clearly and cuts through the jargon, Mark is a highly effective partner to work with.

Berend balances strong subject knowledge with the ability to convey it to anyone, adapting his style to his audience while maintaining depth. After several successful projects, our results spoke for themselves and people were lining up to work with us. Together we built a concept and way of working into an internal brand. Structured problem-solving with sustainable results became more the rule than the exception. Something many large corporates are jealous of.

Mark connects technology with business strategy and brings solid experience in building small proof of concepts that can be scaled into solutions with real business impact. He is highly pragmatic and has a talent for simplifying complexity, driving change and connecting people. He is also a true allrounder who adds value across different areas and consistently contributes to meaningful results.

Mark has proven to be an invaluable asset to the team during our profit steering project. He is highly proactive, quickly mastering the topic and taking full ownership, while also knowing when to ask for help and reach out to other teams to move things forward. He consistently asks the right questions, focusing on understanding the problem rather than jumping to solutions. Combined with his out-of-the-box thinking, this allowed him to uncover approaches and solutions we couldn't think of ourselves. His curiosity, collaboration, and fresh perspective made a lasting impact on both the project and the team.

At bol, I worked with Mark for over a year on Team SEO. Mark is incredibly curious and genuinely wants to get to the core of complex problems. For Team SEO, he worked on, among other things, generating relevant content at scale using AI. The professionalism and skill with which he approached and delivered this really impressed me. Beyond his strong Data & AI skills, Mark is also very personable and a pleasure to work with. Need someone who can translate complex Data & AI challenges into scalable solutions with real impact? Mark is definitely your person.