Curriculum Vitae

Guido
de Vries

Data Strategist & Data Architect · 15+ years experience · Netherlands

guido@activateconsulting.nl linkedin.com/in/guido-de-vries activateconsulting.nl

I’m a data strategist and data architect. I help organizations make data a genuine part of their decision-making. Not by building yet more dashboards, but by first determining what information is needed to make better decisions — and then making sure that information actually gets there.

My strength is the combination of strategy and execution. I design data strategies and architectures at board level and build them myself. That’s why my work doesn’t end up as a report in a drawer — it creates real change. In 15 years I’ve built 8 data platforms, transformed more than 100 TB of data and designed and implemented 3 data strategies.

I work directly and without fluff. No thick reports or consulting jargon, but clear choices and concrete results an organization can act on immediately. Technology is never the goal — the question is never which tooling is the fanciest, but what information an organization needs to make better decisions.

Since 2018 I’ve done this as an independent consultant for public and private organizations — from mid-sized companies to enterprise environments like Lely, Inter IKEA and Viterra.

Want to use data to make better decisions? Let’s talk.

Services

What I do.

Data Strategy (9–12 weeks)

Through the 4D method to a data strategy that aligns with decision-making: concrete initiatives, architecture and organizational design you can act on immediately.

Implementation

From platform and data structure to dashboards and data processes. I actually execute the strategy — strategy and execution belong together.

Data Architecture & Engineering

Scalable data platforms on Snowflake, Azure or open-source. Data Vault, dimensional or metadata-driven, with dbt, Dagster, Python and SQL.

Experience

15 years.
Built, not described.

May 2026 – present Now

steve-ai.nl

Netherlands

Founder & Architect

Steve is an autonomous AI system that solves business problems no standard software covers: a user describes the problem, Steve designs and builds the solution. Designed and built on my own. Multi-agent strategy: running multiple AI agents in parallel and coordinating their work. Agentic AI that generates code within predefined architecture guardrails for security, access and privacy. Human-in-the-loop: nothing goes live without human approval. Model selection weighed on quality, cost and caching, across both commercial and self-hosted open-weight models. Researched AI infrastructure hosted in the Netherlands and Europe, including its limits. Set up the go-to-market myself: positioning, pricing and sales approach. Launch in November 2026.

Multi-agentAgentic AISelf-hosted LLMsHuman-in-the-loopAI governance

Dec 2025 – present Now

Lely

Maassluis, Netherlands

Data Architect

At Lely — a global technology and robotics organisation — shaping the enterprise data architecture strategy for analytics, integrations, operational reporting and AI use cases across multiple business domains. Established standards for data modeling, metadata, YAML-driven engineering and data contracts; designed architecture and governance for a distributed platform with domain-oriented ownership. Used BlueDolphin as the architecture tool to model both the data models and the business processes, so data and process sit in one coherent picture.

Analytics engine. Designed a new system and built it as a proof of concept on DuckDB and a .NET in-memory API. Data is extracted simply, transformed with dbt, staged in DuckDB and served through the .NET API. KPIs and dimensions live in YAML configuration: adding a KPI is configuration, not code. Includes data quality tests and automatic lineage. Handed over to the development team for the path to production.

Result: improved consistency, engineering scalability and discoverability — concrete building blocks for a mature data operating model that connects business strategy with engineering execution.

Data ProductsGovernanceBlueDolphinDuckDBdbtMetadata-DrivenAI

Dec 2025 – present Now

Quanza

Netherlands

Data Solution Architect

Quanza manages critical IT infrastructure — an environment that continuously produces operational data, spread across systems and domains. Combining strategic data architecture with hands-on platform engineering: designed and built an end-to-end data platform on a cloud-native stack with canonical data models, data contracts and metadata management via OpenMetadata and DataHub; CI/CD and orchestration for data products via Dagster and containerised infrastructure. Result: standardised data exchange across domains, faster analytics and reporting, and a platform that turns operational data directly into actionable business insights.

SnowflakeDagsterPythonOpenMetadataDataHubClickHouseData Products

Jun 2025 – Oct 2025

Inter IKEA

Delft, Netherlands

Data Architect

Years of growth had left Inter IKEA with thousands of point-to-point interfaces and no holistic overview — data quality and lineage insufficiently controlled. Produced a pragmatic, executable plan that assigns ownership of data domains, positions a small enablement team, and defines processes for catalog, lineage and contracts. Focus shifted from “more technology” to “better stewardship” — faster insight into data flows, improved data quality, and a durable foundation for decision-making.

Data GovernanceInterface RationalisationMetadata & LineageKnowledge Graphs

Jan – May 2025

Biantix

Soest, Netherlands

Co-founder & Data Lead

As co-founder, combined hands-on platform engineering with strategic advisory to make high-quality, AI-augmented data capability accessible to SMBs. Built a scalable, modular data platform from the ground up on PostgreSQL, dbt, Dagster, Metabase and Kubernetes via Terraform, and developed a reusable data-strategy framework based on DAMA DMBOK in parallel. Active use of GPT-4 and Claude in development noticeably accelerated delivery and improved consistency across the stack.

dbtDagsterPostgreSQLKubernetesTerraform

Oct 2021 – Dec 2024

Viterra

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Data Architect

Key role in shaping and executing the data strategy at a complex international commodity trader, phasing from Research quick-wins to broader enterprise roll-out. As lead Data Architect, led the Snowflake roll-out, standardised data modeling and introduced a central data catalog (DataHub); also delivered two RAG solutions on Snowflake Cortex covering both structured and unstructured data. Stable foundation for predictive models and successful adoption of modern data practices in a federated organisation.

SnowflakedbtAirflowDataHubRAG / LLM

Jun 2020 – Oct 2021

Naktuinbouw

Roelofarendsveen, Netherlands

BI Solution Architect

Defined and implemented a data strategy for an SME organisation without modern data practices. Stood up a new data platform on Microsoft SQL Server, Power BI and DataVault Builder, with the data model aligned to actual business processes; structured the delivery process via Azure DevOps and SAFe. Result: a maintainable data warehouse, the first cross-departmental data products, and smoother delivery of insights inside teams.

SQL ServerPower BIData VaultSAFe

Dec 2019 – May 2020

MN Vermogensbeheer

The Hague, Netherlands

Data Architect

Contributed to the architecture and strategic direction of the Data Hub platform for secure, scalable data exchange inside a federated organisation. Defined architectural principles, advised on integration patterns and set up foundational best practices, in alignment with business stakeholders and IT. Laid a solid base for further development of the data ecosystem at enterprise scale.

SnowflakeKubernetesData Governance

May 2017 – Dec 2019

VolkerWessels

Vianen, Netherlands

Data Architect

Led data architecture across a fragmented IT and information landscape, working closely with the business. Designed a modern data warehouse on Data Vault modeling and automation with CI/CD practices; in parallel established a Business Intelligence Competence Center (BICC) inside IT, defined core data-management processes and developed dashboards covering finance, liquidity and project results. Scalable, maintainable architecture that contributed directly to operational and strategic decision-making.

AzureData VaultPower BICI/CD

Aug 2011 – Feb 2017

Accenture

Almere, Netherlands

Senior BI Consultant

Large-scale data architecture, BI and migration projects in telecom, public sector, utilities and chemicals — both delivery and leadership in complex stakeholder environments. Highlights: led KPN’s migration of 1.9 million broadband customers as Scrum Master, BI platform for the Belastingdienst call centre, and self-service BI reporting at Arcadis. Co-founded the Data Science team at Accenture and was a participant in the Technology Delivery Talent Program.

OBIEETeradataInformaticaScrum Master

Skills

What I bring.

Core Data Skills

Data Architecture

Data Strategy

Data Modeling

SQL

Data Warehousing

Platforms & Tools

Snowflake

dbt

PostgreSQL

Azure Data Stack

Power BI

Engineering & Automation

Python

Dagster

Kubernetes

Terraform

CI/CD

Education

Background.

2008 – 2011

HBO-I Bachelor of Science, ICT

Fontys University of Applied Sciences

2004 – 2008

MBO ICT Administrator, Level 4

ROC De Leijgraaf

Certifications

Jul 2024

SnowPro Core Certification

May 2020

Certified SAFe® 5 Agilist

May 2015

Professional Scrum Master 1

Jun 2008

ITIL Foundation

Want to collaborate?
Let's talk.

30 minutes, no commitments, honest advice.

What I do.

15 years.Built, not described.

What I bring.

Background.

Bevestigd.

15 years.
Built, not described.