As I’m applying for various new projects, people ask me many questions. Here are some of the more common ones (in no particular order and with no specific reference to a designated third-party):
What did you work on in the last two years that makes you proud ?
I gave people chances. Some grabbed those chances, some didn’t. I was able to implement my own vision on things, and was rewarded financially. I proved my vision was apt and accurate to end-users and customers. I was able to instill loyalty and respect from people. I was able to reward people that deserved it.
What do you optimize for in life ?
I’m a trekkie. I like TNG’s Data vision (in the episode titled “The Offispring”) that “our function is to contribute in a positive way to the world in which we live.”. I’m also a big admirer of Warren Buffet. One of his quotes I very much like is: “you should give people everything they need, while still giving them enough incentive to go after goals for themselves”. I believe in teaching people how to fish, rather than handing out free meals.
How intensely do you like working ?
Intensely. To paraphrase Warren Buffet again: “put all your eggs in one basket and watch the basket carefully”. With Pathomation and digital pathology, I did just that for ten years. I hardly ever started at 9AM, and I hardly ever stopped at 5PM. I do believe in having a personal life: when my son needs to be picked up from school at lunchtime, I’ll do just that. We have joint reading time at night, but after that, it’s quite possible that I get behind the computer to start writing a new blog article that I just thought about. To quote Mike Sievert: I like to set goals, beat them, and then raise them.
What should we know about you ?
Simply put: I get stuff done. I have a great willingness to learn, and I do pick up new things fast. I prefer jobs that have meaning. I like roles where I can plan my own work and plot my own course.
I’ve lived in the US for nine years. I did my graduate work there, and I met my wife there. As a result, I’m very comfortable moving in international circles. I currently live in Antwerp, Belgium.
I’m a strong advocate for stretch goals on one hand, keeping in mind pareto economics on the other hand.
What is your experience of handling developer relations ?
Over the last 10 years, I ran Pathomation, a niche medical imaging company. Realizing there was only so much we could implement ourselves, we pretty quickly started a developer outreach program. Centered around the https://dev.pathomation.com developer portal, we established a developer ecosystem with several components: PMA.start (a free version of our software, with all API features enabled, but no central networking nor authentication capabilities); A github repo at https://www.github.com/pathomation for language-specific (Java, Python, PHP, JavaScript) SDKs, and a blog with tutorials on how to use those SDKs for specific scenarios at https://realdata.pathomation.com. Video introduction materials were offered as well at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ommPczRwlqg&list=PLVAS_xzhmsCQhGTQ18u7uHsLSqEijUgrJ.
What is your vision on AI ?
I don’t see AI as a replacement for people, but as a productivity tool that helps people get things done. When I go through https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS0MXynfstA , I see the creativity and ingenuity of the person controlling the tools to create music; rather than an evil HAL9000 super computer destined to dictate our music choices!