Rutger Hemrika
AI strategy and governance for vertical-market software
Profile
Product and technology leader, 25 years in IT, focused on AI strategy and governance for vertical-market and public-sector software. Strategic Product Manager Information & AI at PinkRoccade Local Government, directing eight product and innovation lines for 150 municipalities, provinces and water boards. Built platforms as an architect, led product and IT organisations at Eurofins, BuyBay and MultiBel, and tested AI governance by building a governed agent-platform prototype. Looking for a role or bounded project where AI has to work inside real constraints.
Highlights
- iConnect Regie Platform: nine products to one platform; first result validated with customers, production Q2 2027
- Governed AI-agent platform prototype: 45 architecture decisions, threat model, EU AI Act compliance library
- Warehouse and transport systems replaced in six months: opex down 20%, efficiency up 15%, payback within seven months
- AI-assisted intake at MultiBel: three to four hours per customer inquiry to about thirty minutes, every outcome human-reviewed
- More than 100 agent frameworks evaluated; open research framework on languages for the AI era, eight dated predictions
Experience
PinkRoccade Local Government, ’s-HertogenboschDec 2025 - now
Strategic Product Manager Information & AI (Head of Product Data & AI)
Mandate for information and AI across eight product and innovation lines (data, cloud, security, Common Ground, agentic development, AI-native), a portfolio serving 150 municipalities, provinces and water boards. Directly steering four product owners, four business analysts, a principal consultant, a business architect and a UX designer; indirectly more than 30 engineers and specialists across development, operations, service, architecture, security, AI and consulting. Earlier Development Manager and Manager Customer Care on the management team.
- Turned the iConnect Regie Platform proposition, one platform instead of nine loose products, into an actionable product: first result validated with customers, first production customers planned Q2 2027, and led the organisational change behind it with a newly built team
- Leading the build of an AI platform for the product portfolio
- Development of the open-source ZGW specifications for Common Ground
MultiBel, Benelux and DACHJan - Nov 2025
Head of IT (Manager Information & Technology)
Led the nine-person IT organisation of a mass-notification platform. Introduced AI-assisted working in four departments, Essential SAFe for the organisation and teams, and an information security management system on the road to ISO 27001.
- Customer Quality Assurance intake from three to four hours per customer inquiry to about thirty minutes, in production: agents that take notes, summarise, write the management brief and the instructions for sales and customer service, backed by a company-wide memory. Every outcome reviewed by a person before hand-off. Measured before and after on time per customer and internal effort, improved continuously on flows, agents and prompts
- AI-assisted working extended to development, professional services and sales, cutting time on administrative tasks
- Added integration and observability features to the platform, including MQTT-based messaging
BuyBay, Benelux and DACHAug 2022 - Jan 2025
Strategic Technology Leader
Technology strategy and governance for a return-processing scale-up of 150 to 200 people in the circular economy. Hybrid multi-cloud strategy with a low-code platform for business process automation.
- Replaced the warehouse management system and added a transport system and low-code layer in six months: operating cost down 20%, efficiency up 15%, paid back within seven months
- Cut IT development and infrastructure costs by 20%
- Company-wide business continuity and disaster recovery plan
BuyBay, Benelux2021 - 2022
Manager IT & Architecture
Built the cloud productivity environment on Microsoft 365, Power Platform, Teams and Azure. Restructured internal and external technology teams, governed security and information flows, renegotiated vendor contracts.
- IT operational costs down 20% through rationalisation and contract management
- Team performance and interoperability up roughly 30%
- HR integrated with Azure Active Directory and Microsoft 365, ending manual joiner-mover-leaver processing
Eurofins Food, Feed & Water Benelux, Benelux2018 - 2021
Head of Product Development, then Head of Product Strategy
Product strategy and development for laboratory information systems across six locations, leading twelve teams and about 46 people: five regional IT teams in the Benelux, a Dutch development team, two near-shore and four off-shore teams. Solution architect for the customer portal and a B2B integration platform. BCDR leader, including rapid response and recovery from ransomware attacks.
- Led support and development of multiple specialised versions of a .NET-based laboratory information management system across six sites
- B2B integration platform raised client satisfaction by 20%
- Migration of on-premises BI to a single Azure data platform as the path to machine learning
Earlier
- Strategic IT Consultant, then Head of Product Strategy, Vilans, 2016 - 2018. Knowledge organisation for long-term care.
- Product Manager, Strategic IT Consultant, Head of Product Strategy, then CEO, Hemrika, 2009 - 2016. Own consultancy and product company: nine client organisations on longer engagements plus shorter consultancy jobs of around three months, in teams from solo expert work to twelve people with business stakeholders.
- Technology Implementation Specialist, then Senior IT Consultant, Ciber Global, 2006 - 2009. Built and expanded the Microsoft business applications practice.
- Senior Developer, then Lead DevSecOps Engineer, Athena B.V., 2000 - 2006. Built and ran a zero-footprint online ticketing platform for theatres, cinemas and festivals, with high availability on Windows Server and Cisco infrastructure..
Skills and tools
AI and governance: Agent platforms, Policy as code, EU AI Act, Threat modelling, Evaluation, Microsoft Agent Framework
Cloud and platforms: Azure, Microsoft 365, Power Platform, Kubernetes, .NET, Data platforms, Low-code
Digital government: Common Ground, ZGW, GEMMA, VNG standards, Haven
Leadership and method: Product management, Engineering management, Enterprise architecture (TOGAF), SAFe, PRINCE2, ISO 27001, BCDR
Certifications and courses
- Microsoft AI Product Manager, Microsoft, via Coursera, 2025
- Application Portfolio Management, BOC Group, 2023
- PRINCE2 Practitioner, AXELOS, 2007
- Circular Economy for a Sustainable Built Environment, TU Delft, 2020
Education
- Media Technology, bachelor, Hogeschool van Utrecht, 1998 - 2000
- Hogere Informatica (Computer Science), bachelor, Hogeschool van Utrecht, 1996 - 1998
- Artificial Intelligence, master’s programme, Universiteit van Amsterdam, 1995 - 1996
Languages
Dutch (native) · English (native level) · German (good working knowledge) · French (working knowledge)
How I work
Evidence over trust · Grade every claim · Humans keep the keys · Build it to understand it · The purpose selects the tool
Full detail, cases and writing at https://hemrika.nl. Version 2026-10-20.
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