Welcome to our new chronicle One ethos, One culture. Here, we are proud to showcase our talented staff whose contributions allow us to defy convention. Our multidisciplinary and international company culture nurtures an environment where all team members collaborate and thrive within their roles. Introducing Diederik, our first guest.
Meet Diederik, our strategy and execution associate in Amsterdam
What is your role at Metyis?
Currently, I am an associate at the strategy and execution division of Metyis. Here I advise companies on (data) strategy, but also have the capability to execute these strategies myself. In my current role, I am a consultant on a multidisciplinary team that consists of a data scientist and a senior data engineer. The current project is a 10-week data strategy assessment for a global Fortune 500 company over multiple countries. The stakeholders in this project are the leadership in these countries. It is critical to leverage my data science and machine learning knowledge (to assess feasibility) but also to determine the business impact and added value.
I started at Metyis as an analyst and was responsible for smaller (simpler) analyses. Now, I have grown in a role where I am coaching clients and teams on long-term strategy and perspectives. Apart from supporting strategy projects, I have also been a part of larger development teams, both analytical (data science) as technical (data engineering/visualisation).
Tell us a little more about yourself.
My name is Diederik and I live in Amsterdam with my girlfriend. After studying artificial intelligence in Groningen and Japan, I joined Metyis as the first “data & strategy” consultant. Currently, I am training for a full triathlon, so you can see me swimming, cycling, and running. Furthermore, I am interested in everything regarding domotica and privacy.
What made you decide to become part of the Metyis team?
After graduating from my artificial intelligence degree most of my fellow students, who pursued the business angle, ended up in machine learning/data science roles. There were plenty of opportunities in that field. However, at the rate where data science is being automated, with machine learning packages like sklearn, I anticipate that even data scientists will inevitably see their positions become automated.
The real out-of-the-box thinking comes from the business understanding and anticipating value from these models combined with strong interpersonal skills. I focused my view on a career in strategy consulting. Interviewing with a multitude of companies made me realise that many consultants offering digital consulting services were quite inexperienced at programming.
My fondness for data science made me want to enter a role that was an intersection between data and consulting. Metyis was the only company whose internal structure would not segregate its strategists and data scientists into separate silos.
What do you love most about your job?
At Metyis, I have contributed to a diverse assortment of projects for many clients. I was involved in reducing overhead costs, developing machine learning models for e-commerce analytics, building mixed marketing models, investigating and rollout issues and innovating solutions for commercial roles for brands across Europe. I developed a data lake and built multiple dashboards for commercial, operational, supply chain and advanced analytics on pricing and assortment to strengthen the operations of a prominent Dutch retailer. I wear many hats in this role and operate with versatility as a consultant, data scientist and engineer.
What do you like most about working at Metyis?
My team. In every project, my colleagues are a joy to work with. It is a blessing to work with such smart, interesting, and fun colleagues.
What advice would you give to someone who would like to embrace a similar role?
Metyis is growing rapidly. As a result, any comparison to previous years is impossible. Each year, location and moment are completely different. Important is that, since there is no common nor beaten track, each route is unique to each person. Embrace that your trajectory will be unprecedented and that you will pave your own destiny.