“I don’t belong here, they’re going to figure me out.” That’s what Daan thought for almost a year. Meet Daan, our Digital Analyst who now presents automation strategies to a client’s board.
Five years ago he joined us straight out of school with a business management degree and pretty much zero IT knowledge. Today he’s the one bringing structure to complex client projects, from the very first conversation all the way to delivery.
You studied business management, not IT. How did you end up here?
“It was a search, honestly. I was originally planning to study further, but decided to start working instead. I thought I’d end up in finance, but interviews quickly showed me that wasn’t going to make me happy. Then I saw the vacancy for Business Innovation Analyst. It mentioned design thinking, business models, workshops. I remember reading it and thinking: this might actually be it.“
Take us back to day one. What did that actually look like?
“A taxi picked me up at home that morning and drove me to Kontich to get my company car. I was welcomed there by Managing Partner Jens, and we shared a good laugh, mostly because my nerves were so obvious. Then it was on to Herentals, where a table full of goodies and a laptop were waiting for me.
We had lunch with a few colleagues, I started on some onboarding courses that afternoon, and two weeks later I was already on a real client project in the notarial sector. I still remember how warm and open everything felt, and how many questions I had.”
“No question was ever too much. Colleagues explained things once, twice, however many times I needed.”
What was the biggest “wait, what does that even mean” moment early on?
So many. Everyone kept using terms like agile, or you need to check with business. I remember thinking: business? Doesn’t everyone here work in business? Or functional analyst, isn’t every analyst functional? On top of that, I was pretty unfamiliar with IT in general. I had to learn about backend, frontend, microservices, wireframes, and APIs, all at once, and fast.
Back then, we were only a team of ten, so formal coaches weren’t a thing yet. Whereas today, everyone has a personal coach they feel comfortable with.
But we weren’t completely on our own. Early on, we had a communication training that taught us how to ask good questions, along with an Insights training to better understand our own communication style and that of our colleagues.”
When did you first feel like you actually had it under control?
“I remember at the start of the ITAA project thinking, will I ever manage this? But the longer you’re in it, the more familiar things become, the more you understand, and the more you dare to make actual decisions.
Not having it 100 percent figured out doesn’t mean you can’t already make an impact, though. I hadn’t used Figma before and was still discovering new buttons, but the screens I built with it were already being used in client meetings, and actually got implemented. If I’m honest, it took about a year before that feeling of not belonging really settled down.”
How has your role changed since you started as a junior?
“As a young graduate, my mission was to analyze one clearly defined piece of functionality: what’s actually meant by this, why do they need it, how will users use it, what should it look like. That’s still part of my job today, honestly, that’s the bread and butter of being an analyst.
What’s changed is the level of complexity, structure, and stakeholder management. These days we start much higher up: what goal is the organization trying to reach, what does their context look like, what have they already tried and why. Once we move toward implementation, the difficulty shifts away from the technical side and more toward bringing structure, managing risk, and staying closely involved with the client.”
Give us a project you’re genuinely proud of.
“I like being involved from the very beginning, sometimes in presales where the client isn’t quite sure yet where they want to go but knows there’s a problem, all the way through to delivery.
A recent case that stood out: a retail client had someone retiring from their finance team and didn’t want to fill the position again. We mapped out how their processes worked today and where automation, including AI agents, could realistically help. Together with the client we selected an approach, worked it into a solid technical proposal with one of our experts, turned that into a business case, and presented it to the client’s board of directors. Implementation hasn’t started yet, but I’m looking forward to it.”
What matters most is that you hit your goals, not the hours you clock to get there.
What’s a mistake from your early days that taught you the most?
“Early on, whenever something went wrong, I’d try to fix it myself. That meant I sometimes escalated too late. Having the courage to spot a mistake quickly and pull in the right people right away can genuinely save a lot of trouble down the line.”
Real talk, does anyone actually message you after hours?
“No, genuinely. Clients usually expect two to three days on site, but outside of that you have a lot of freedom to organize your own time. Nobody reaches out for work in the evening or on weekends, that’s just not a thing here. If a colleague texts you, it’s because you’re friends, to grab a drink or check how your weekend went, never for anything work related.
If you had to name three traits every new Digital Analyst needs, what would they be?
“Courage, curiosity, and empathy. Courage to dare ask the questions that feel too basic, to question the existing solution, to jump into a new project in completely unfamiliar territory. Curiosity to keep digging into new topics, to find the why behind the why. Empathy to understand colleagues and clients better, to notice what isn’t being said, to read who’s staying a bit quieter.
I deliberately left technical skills off that list. With tools like Claude and ChatGPT, you can catch up on those faster than ever. If you already have them, that’s obviously a plus.”
How would you describe the vibe at The Value Hub in three words?
“Warm. Supportive. Collaborative. At the office, over lunch, in a workshop, or during an afterwork, I’ve gotten a lot out of my colleagues, and honestly, that’s a big reason I still go to the office with a smile.”
What is the most memorable “TVH moment” that stuck with you outside of office hours?
“The ski trips, without a doubt. Hitting the slopes with colleagues, swapping stories, and staying at après-ski a little too long in the evening.
I still get a flashback to our last trip, where on the final day the music from an après-ski bar pulled us in, we stayed until closing, and then all skied the rest of the way down together, with a fair share of falling and getting back up along the way.”
What would you tell a student who’s still on the fence about applying?
“Just have the conversation, it can clear up more than you’d expect, and there’s no obligation attached on either side. I doubted it too, but the talk with Jens and the business case exercise during the second interview round made a lot click for me.”