Hey Julian, thank you for your time! You have been working at Faktion for about two months now. How did you experience these first few months?

My pleasure! It has been two months already; I have to say that these first two months have been exceptional. Honestly, I must admit that I was a bit nervous to join the team at Faktion. Considering what the relatively young organization has achieved in only 5 years, I knew that I would be working together with some very passionate people and bright minds. Even before my first day at Faktion, my manager and colleagues would contact me regularly to make sure I felt comfortable. They would suggest some interesting reads and courses to ensure a flying start, and from day one they made me feel at home.

I have learned a lot during my short time at Faktion, and I am sure that I will continue to learn and grow. This is something I value immensely; I could not be in a better environment. I also love how everyone is very approachable, even our CTO and CEO.

How does Faktion support you in your learning curve?

The field of artificial intelligence is evolving rapidly. By the time that you have read a research paper about machine learning, there is probably a new development in the domain. This makes continuous learning a must and something that Faktion really stimulates in many ways. We constantly share knowledge with each other, and we regularly have demo meetings with the ML team. During these meetings, the ML engineers demonstrate what they have been working on, how they approach the specific problem, how they select suitable algorithms, how they build and train their models, how they design and evaluate their solutions, and how they overcome certain difficulties in the most creative ways. This is not only the most exciting but also very educational for the sales team.

In my role as a Business Developer, it is crucial to understand the industry challenges of our clients, and how AI/ML can help to overcome these challenges. Not every problem has to be solved with machine learning, which means you must be able to identify the challenges that are suitable for AI/ML. I am eager to achieve an additional business degree in the domain of AI/ML, an ambition that Faktion also encourages.

Why did you choose to work at Faktion?

I have a background in applied psychology and business management. I find it endlessly interesting to study and probe the human condition, and I am also very interested in digital/technological developments and their impact on business and society. My previous role was at a SaaS start-up. At a certain point in my job search, I had 3 job offers, choosing to work at Faktion was a no-brainer for me. Every contact I had with the company was very positive, and their core business is incredibly appealing to me. AI/ML is an absolute game-changer for many industries: it has the potential to transform whole value chains and allows innovations across the breadth and depth of many operations. However, this massive potential can only be realized if organizations systematically apply AI technologies where they can add the most value and achieve scale. Faktion helps corporates to identify the most promising use cases and transform their operations, I am absolutely thrilled to join them on this journey.

What is the most memorable moment during your first months here?

When the COVID restrictions allowed us to host a team-building event, that is exactly what we did. This was a very memorable moment because it was the first time in a while that organizing such an event was possible. Together with the colleagues from our spin-offs Metamaze and Chatlayer, we solved a mysterious murder case in the city of Antwerp and enjoyed a delicious BBQ afterwards. This was a great way to connect with colleagues.

One of our Machine Learning engineers traveled all the way from Portugal to participate in this event, which was probably the most memorable moment for me. This really demonstrates the vibe of the Faktion family.

You have only just begun your journey at Faktion. What are you most looking forward to in your near future with the company?

Developing awesome AI projects! I am really looking forward to meeting more and more people from different companies and industries as well as helping them overcome their challenges and thrive by leveraging AI/ML technologies. Like an AI-system that learns over time and becomes more accurate and precise, I am eager to learn and further develop myself, hopefully with less examples than an AI-system requires.

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