Can you do IT: Werken én onderzoek doen?

Werken én onderzoek doen? - Tea Stojanovic, AI en IT consultant

I’m from Croatia and moved here for my master at the University of Wageningen. I was doing an internship at Info Support and when I got a job offer, I decided to stay in Holland.
On one hand, I really liked doing research and wanted to do a PhD. But on the other side, I was very interested in the business side and wanted to start working. Luckily, Info Support was able to offer both at the same time! Now I’ve been working for 3,5 years at Info Support and specialized in Agriculture. So I develop solutions for farming companies, for example.

Best of both worlds
I love mathematics, and they’re a big part of AI. Mathematical models respond to real life applications. Within Info Support, there is an AI research center. The field of AI has of course been growing and growing, so they asked me to come and do my research there. Now I work 4 days for a customer and I also have 1 day for the AI research. Who knows, maybe if it grows even more, it could be 50/50 one day.

Technology and AI offer solutions
If AI is used right, businesses can really profit from it. For example, farmers. With climate change happening, a lot of people want the farming industry to change. Of course, there is a lot of pollution and we can’t go on this way, but a lot of farmers don’t know how to change. In the past few years, we’ve developed smart machines that can recognize a sick plant, target it and remove it before it infects the others. This way, you don’t have to use the pesticides on all the plants.

Explainable AI
AI is seen as a black box by so many companies. They have no idea how it can help them. If you want AI to have a bigger role in the world and change things for the better, people have to know what it is. I’d like to call this explainable AI. With the AI research team, we’re creating whitepapers, podcasts and give interviews. I speak at different seminars and conferences. Sharing knowledge, results and ideas with other people is fascinating.
I also have some interns under my wing as well. Giving them feedback, teaches me a lot. They know what’s hot and happening. Not only that, but they also offer a fresh pair of eyes and a different perspective.

Future plans
I want to keep working at Info Support and align AI and business on a higher level. Create guidance and solutions to help more people solve their biggest obstacles. I’m interested in the environment and how things can become better. Save the world! Info Support has opened up this world for me and there’s still plenty to do!