Meet Lukas

Lukas is one of our data engineers. He has been on board since XXXX and has gotten a taste of all the thing we do within our Data & AI department. We asked him a few questions to discover more about his job and experiences at AE.

Did you already know AE before you started here?

Not really. I met with AE at a online Meet & Greet during corona. I studied in Ghent, where AE was somewhat less known than in its home base Leuven. Fortunately, that is changing quickly. I already knew that I wanted to work in consulting and AE seemed like a pleasant company during that first digital introduction.

What were your expectations when you started?

I hoped that I would learn a lot, because I had never done a relevant internship or holiday job in IT. This caused me some stress as it felt like I had no real experience. On the one hand, this meant that I would learn a lot, but on the other hand, it also meant that I would go through a steep learning curve. But fortunately, it really wasn't that bad!

During the apprenticeship, I discovered many like-minded souls. I quickly noticed that the other starters had about the same level of knowledge. That was very reassuring. The apprenticeship is also a bit of a social speedboat: you get to know a lot of new people from all over the country in a very short period, especially in the starter class. Together we could reflect on what we had learned, brainstorm about ideas together...

Did you already know which direction you wanted to take within AE when you started?

I started in the Data & AI team, but my first assignments were more software oriented. I always wanted to do data engineering, so the software projects were a bit further from my areas of interest. But in retrospect, they were very useful, and I developed a lot of relevant skills.

The data world is increasingly adopting software best practices, so a solid basic knowledge in that domain is certainly a bonus! In data engineering, you also must write, test and deploy "clean" code. The most important thing is not what you do, but how you work in a team and that you learn how to write software.

What project are you working on now?

I work on the Data Platform at VDAB. As a data engineer, I focus on the ingestion part, which is the framework for getting all the data that lives within VDAB into a data lake. That data is used for reporting and AI models. It is valuable to make data available for all kinds of applications. This allows VDAB to work with the data in a smarter and more efficient way.

What were the biggest challenges when you started your job?

Learning to work with all the different tools was a big challenge, especially because I had not yet gained any practical experience during my studies. It also took some time to get used to working life and finding a work-life balance.

As a student, you work at a completely different pace: lessons, group work, exams, thesis, etc. As a consultant, you’re a little less in control of your own time, as customers and colleagues are counting on what you deliver.

What have you learned about yourself thanks to your job? 

I have discovered that I need varied projects. That way, you see so much in such a short time and that is really an added value in my growth process. Moreover, AE also offers a lot of flexibility and autonomy, such as choosing your own workplace. These are things that might be obvious for young school leavers, but it’s certainly not possible in every company.

Finally, how would you describe the AE DNA?

Three words come to mind: openness, honesty and transparency. I felt this from the start. At AE they just say it like it is, in an accessible and respectful way. Continuous learning and growth are also important.

You get every opportunity for this; you just have to seize them! The team spirit and colleagues are fantastic: AE'ers help each other, it's not just a slogan. All processes are geared towards that idea, the organisation really supports it. You can hear it, there’s a satisfied AE'er sitting opposite you (smiles).