The Future of AI is Orange 🧡

At Kickstart AI we believe AI is a powerful tool to build a brighter future. That is why our mission is to accelerate the adoption of AI in the Netherlands. We are a coalition of the doing. 💪 We grow and connect the AI community & We tackle real issues with AI solutions. 🚀

What Is Kickstart AI? RTL-Z Interview With CEO Sander Stomph

A Brief History of Kickstart AI

Back in 2019, some of the biggest companies in the Netherlands got together to talk about the future of Dutch AI. They saw AI had the potential to make life better for everyone, but it needed an extra push to really take off. So they began working together under the name Kickstart AI.

That was just the beginning, and things have changed a lot since then. We've grown into a proudly independent organisation, with a dedicated focus on AI and the freedom to move fast. In 2022 Kickstart AI was officially founded as an autonomous non-profit initiative to accelerate AI adoption in the Netherlands.

We maintain close ties with our founding partners Ahold Delhaize, ING, KLM, and NS. But we stand strong on our own merit, developing bold initiatives to empower the Dutch AI ecosystem and make a lasting positive impact on society.

Picture of a conference room full of people at Techdays with pannel of speakers on stage.

Roadmap

01. Build our community
We actively grow and connect the NL AI community. Last year alone we organized 35 community events. Both by empowering existing regional data science communities and by organizing our own signature events.
02. Challenge the community
We solve real world challenges through AI. Like reducing food-waste, increasing financial health, and helping Food Banks. We also accelerate adoption through research, like our research on how to use LLMs at scale by tacking the hallucination problem.
03. Productize and promote
Once we have solved a challenge with a specific partner or customer, we share, open-source and scale. We want everyone to benefit from the solutions that we build.
We’re Serious About Our Impact
At the heart of our work is the drive to build AI-powered solutions that solve real-world problems. Our team has already tackled big challenges such as predicting major COVID-19 outbreaks and reducing food waste at a global retailer. And this is just the beginning. With your help, we'll continue to break new ground and pave the way for a better future.
img of project where food waste was cut thanks to forecast accuracyimg of project about predicting hospitalizations with Ai
Images are generated by DALL-E 2

Meet the Kickstart AI team

Photo of Sander Stomph - Co-Founder & CEO
Sander Stomph
Co-Founder & CEO
Photo of Aneela Mujahid - COO
Aneela Mujahid
COO
Photo of Paulette van Bossum - Head of community and PR
Paulette van Bossum
Head of Community & PR
Photo of Carmen Adriana Martínez Barbosa - Data Scientist
Carmen Adriana
Martínez Barbosa
Data Scientist, PhD
Photo of Shahryar Aboutorabi - Development Lead
Shahryar Aboutorabi
Development Lead & 
Fullstack Developer
Photo of Fleur Prince - Community Manager
Fleur Prince
Community Manager
Photo of Gonçalo Marques - FullStack developer
Gonçalo Marques
Fullstack Developer
Photo of Lesley-Ann de Wit - Quality Assurance manager
Lesley-Ann de Wit
Quality Assurance &
Engagement Manager
Photo of Omendra Manhar - AI specialist lead
Omendra Manhar
AI Specialist Lead
A photo of Cascha van Wanrooij - Ai specialist
Cascha van Wanrooij
AI Specialist
Sophia Zitman - Project lead & Ai specialist
Sophia Zitman
AI Project Lead
Photo of Jordi van den Nouweland - Designer
Jordi van den Nouweland
Designer
Photo of Tjarda Voorneman - Chief of Staff
Tjarda Voorneman
Chief of Staff
Photo of Anoek Eckhardt - PR
Kim Veltman
Research Lead & 
AI Specialist
Photo of Anoek Eckhardt - PR
Evertjan Peer
AI Specialist
Photo of Anoek Eckhardt - PR
Anoek Eckhardt
Public Relations Lead
Photo of Anoek Eckhardt - PR
Dan Fennessey
Writer
Photo of Anoek Eckhardt - PR
Rogier Klimbie
Public Affairs
Photo of Anoek Eckhardt - PR
Sabine Oskamp
Community Strategist
Photo of Tjarda Voorneman - Chief of Staff
Mozzie
Office Dog

Experts in Residence

A picture of Erick Webbe
Erick Webbe
A photo of Natasha Govender-Ropert
Natasha Govender-Ropert

Talent Specialists

A Photo of Jaimy Rosenau
Jaimy Rosenau
A photo of Irene van Dullink
Irene van Dullink

Kickstart AI Board

A Photo of Jaimy Rosenau
Nils Beers
Managing Partner Mach49
Independent Chairman
A photo of Irene van Dullink
Erick Webbe
Head of Data Science
bol.
A photo of Irene van Dullink
Silke Wesselink
Manager Innovation at NS
A photo of Irene van Dullink
Aart Slagt
Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer
KLM
A photo of Irene van Dullink
Bahadir Yilmaz
Global Chief Analytics Officer
ING
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