Description

Gedreven en ervaren Azure Data Architect met diepgaande expertise in Microsoft Fabric, Synapse Analytics en het volledige Azure Data-ecosysteem. Gespecialiseerd in het ontwerpen van schaalbare, veilige en toekomstgerichte data platformen voor ondernemingen wereldwijd. Combineert technische excellentie met een sterke focus op klantwaarde en strategische datamodernisatie. Actieve bijdrager aan de (inter)nationale data community als spreker, mentor en kernlid van DataMinds. Passie voor kennisdeling, teamgroei en het bouwen van oplossingen die echt impact maken.

Industry field of expertise

Languages

Dutch
Native or bilingual
English
Native or bilingual
French
Conversational

Workplace preferences

Can work on-site

Mechelen (up to 50km)

Mind the facts
Founder
January 2024 - Today (2 years and 5 months)
As the Founder of Mind The Facts, I lead a specialized consultancy focused on designing and delivering high quality, scalable, and secure data platform solutions within the Microsoft Azure ecosystem. The firm was established to help organizations unlock more value from their data by embracing modern cloud-native architectures—especially using Microsoft Fabric, Azure Synapse Analytics, and the broader Azure Data Stack. Key Responsibilities & Activities:
• End-to-End Architecture & Delivery
• Design modern data platform architectures, including lakehouse implementations, real-time data ingestion, and advanced analytics solutions
• Lead complex greenfield and migration projects from legacy platforms like SSIS and Navision to Microsoft Fabric, D365, and Azure SQL
• Focus areas include scalability, security, performance optimization, and cost efficiency
• Strategic Data Advisory
• Act as a trusted advisor for enterprise clients, offering strategic guidance on cloud data modernization, governance, and data platform lifecycle management
• Translate business needs into scalable technical architectures that drive measurable outcomes
• Delivery Leadership
• Oversee project delivery from planning through implementation, managing customer expectations and stakeholder engagement
• Collaborate with client-side and partner engineering teams to ensure successful outcomes without direct line management authority
• Training & Enablement
• Provide workshops, architecture assessments, and custom training to empower internal data teams to maintain and evolve their platforms post-deployment
• Community & Evangelism
• Continue to speak globally and locally at events, sharing insights from real-world engagements to help shape the broader data community
• Extend the educational mission of Mind The Facts through blog content, video series, and public-facing technical guidance
Microsoft
Senior Program Manager
January 2023 - January 2024 (1 year)
Seattle, WA, USA
As a Product Lead for the Warehouse team, I drove the delivery of enterprise-grade Security & Privacy features across Microsoft Fabric Warehouse and Azure Synapse—empowering customers to protect their data assets on the Intelligent Data Platform. Operating at the nexus of engineering, product strategy, and customer advocacy, I led the definition and execution of critical platform capabilities from concept to launch.

Key Achievements:

End-to-End Feature Leadership: Spearheaded the design and rollout of pivotal features such as Row-Level Security (RLS), Column-Level Security (CLS), Dynamic Data Masking (DDM), COPY INTO for secure ingestion, and OneSecurity—ensuring scalable, compliant data protection.

Customer-Driven Innovation: Partnered with strategic customers to deeply understand privacy, compliance, and governance needs. Translated these into high-impact platform features aligned with real-world regulatory demands and business priorities.

Cross-Org Collaboration: Worked across Azure Synapse, Microsoft Purview, and Azure SQL to drive consistency and interoperability of security models. Unified product, engineering, and field teams to accelerate delivery and drive alignment across the platform.

Security Leadership: Served as a trusted advisor on security and privacy for both internal teams and enterprise customers. Championed compliance-readiness and global data protection standards across features.

Influence Without Authority: Coordinated multiple engineering teams across time zones. Led sprint planning, execution oversight, and delivery accountability—ensuring on-time, high-quality launches without direct managerial control.

Impact: Delivered foundational capabilities now powering enterprise-scale Fabric deployments. Contributed to Microsoft's broader data privacy roadmap, shaping the future of secure analytics through strategic planning and customer-first execution.
Microsoft
Senior Fast Track Engineer
January 2021 - January 2023 (2 years)
Zaventem, VB, Belgium
As an Azure FastTrack Engineer within Microsoft's Data & AI division, my mission was to accelerate customer success by providing direct engineering support and guidance to help organizations confidently deploy and scale Azure Data solutions. Operating at the intersection of engineering and customer success, I served as a trusted technical advisor for cloud-first and cloud-migration initiatives, ensuring successful onboarding, architecture validation, and solution deployment across diverse customer landscapes. Key Responsibilities & Contributions:
• Synapse-Focused Customer Onboarding
• Served as the go-to expert for onboarding and optimizing Azure Synapse Analytics environments
• Partnered with customers to validate their architectures, guide implementation, and ensure smooth integration with services like Data Factory, Azure Data Lake, and Power BI
• Proactive Engagements
• Drove proactive solution design sessions, architecture reviews, and deep technical workshops
• Helped enterprise clients identify and avoid common pitfalls in large-scale analytics workloads
• Offered remediation strategies for performance issues, security concerns, and service limitations
• Real-World Impact
• Supported strategic customers like Heineken, P&G and many more designing and implementing their complex data environments
• Delivered tailored training, built workaround solutions, and influenced broader Synapse adoption
• Resulted in increased trust in Microsoft's cloud data ecosystem
• Cloud Maturity & Modernization Acceleration
• Enabled customers to migrate and modernize data estates through guided, hands-on support
• Helped identify best-fit use cases for Synapse, and aligned technical decisions with business goals
• Collaborative Innovation
• Contributed to internal best practices and knowledge sharing within Microsoft's FastTrack community