AI Native Netherlands

Wed, Nov 5 · 5:30 PM CET

AI in Practice: Search Innovation & Building Analyst Agents

Xebia Amsterdam Office, Wibautstraat 202, Amsterdam, NL

AI innovation is moving faster than ever: it’s reshaping how we search, analyze and make sense of data. In this meetup, we will bring together two experts that will share practical stored and hands-on lessons that cut through the buzz and show how AI is being applied in the real world.

This event is a special collaboration between the AI Native Amsterdam meetup and the Xebia Data Engineering meetup.

Speaker 1: Arno van de Velde (Principal Solution Architect, Elasticsearch B.V)
Arno van de Velde is a Principal Solution Architect at Elastic. He helps customers turn Elastic’s Search, Observability, and Security capabilities into real use cases. With a background in software testing, QA, CI/CD, and DevOps, Arno works with major financial services and large enterprises. He speaks candidly about where AI adds value, and where its limits and trade-offs show up in practice.

Talk: Arno will explore the evolution of search technology in the age of AI. From large language models and “LLM Wars” to enterprise-scale challenges in observability and security, he’ll share practical insights on how Elastic customers are experimenting with AI, what works today, and why the answer often depends on context.

Speaker 2: Daniel Herrera (Analytics Engineer & Developer Advocate, Teradata)
Daniel Herrera is a Principal Developer Advocate at Teradata, where he helps developers and data teams connect modern data engineering with AI innovation. He works across open-source tools like dbt, Airbyte, and Airflow, and explores how generative AI and data lifecycle automation can create real business impact. With a background in software and blockchain development, Daniel is passionate about open collaboration and making complex technology accessible through practical examples.

Talk: Daniel will take a hands-on journey into building AI analyst agents from scratch. Using dbt metadata to provide large language models with the right context, he’ll show how to connect LLMs to your data effectively. Expect a deep dive into the challenges of query generation, practical frameworks for success, and lessons learned from real-world implementations.

Together, the event will cover:

• How search innovation is evolving with AI
• What it really takes to build functional data agents
• Practical examples, pitfalls, and geeky fun along the way

Agenda:
17:30 — Arrival, pizza & beer
18:30 — Talk #1 | Arno van de Velde
19:00 — Short break
19:15 — Talk #2 | Daniel Herrera
19:45 — Open conversation, networking & more drinks
20:00 — Wrapping up

Join us for an evening of practical AI in action, connecting search, agents, and the future of data-driven work with the Analytics Engineering meetup community.

Thu, Jan 15 · 5:45 PM CET

Applied AI: Navigating Legacy Systems and Building Agentic Workflows

Elastic HQ, Keizersgracht 281, Amsterdam, al, NL

Hi everyone,
Many of you asked for more practical, real-world AI use-cases, and we listened!

For our first meetup of 2026, we're bringing you two deeply technical stories from the front lines of applied AI. We'll hear how the ANWB navigates the challenges of imperfect data in a legacy organization, and then dive into a practical guide for building production-grade AI agentic workflows with Elastic.

A huge thank you to our friends at Elastic for hosting us at their Amsterdam office. Food and drinks will be provided!

We’ll cover:

• ANWB's journey from manual operations to real-world AI predictions.
• Balancing the human and technical challenges of AI innovation.
• A practical guide to building production-grade agentic workflows.
• Integrating LLMs, vector search, and security into a simplified stack.

Speakers 1: Yke Rusticus & David Brummer (ANWB)
Yke is a data engineer at ANWB with a background in astronomy and artificial intelligence. In the industry, he learned that AI models and algorithms often do not get past the experimentation phase, leading him to specialise in MLOps to bridge the gap between experimentation and production. As a professional in this field, Yke has developed ML platforms and use cases across different cloud providers, and is passionate about sharing his knowledge through tutorials and trainings.

David is a self-acclaimed “not your typical Data Scientist” who loves analogue photography, vegan food, dogs, and holds an unofficial PhD in thrifting and sourcing second-hand pearls. With a background in growth hacking and experience in the digital marketing trenches of a startup, a scale-up, and a digital agency, he now brings together lean startup thinking, marketing know-how, and sales pitches, blending it all with a passion for creativity and tech at the ANWB. As a bridge between business and data, David focuses on building AI solutions that don’t just work, but actually get used.

Talk: How AI is helping you back on the road
We learn at school what AI can do when the data is perfect. We learn at conferences what AI can do when the environment is perfect. In this talk, you'll learn what AI can do when neither is perfect. This story is about the process of overcoming these challenges in an organisation that has been around since the invention of the bike. We'll balance the technical aspect of these solutions with the human aspect throughout the talk. Because in the end, it's not actually AI helping you back on the road, it's people.

Speaker 2: Hans Heerooms (Elastic)
Hans Heerooms is a Senior Solutions Architect at Elastic. He has worked in various roles, but always with one objective: helping organisations to get the most out of their data with the least amount of effort. His current role at Elastic is all about supporting Elastic’s customers to help them evolve from data driven decisions to AI guided workflows.

Talk: Building Production-Grade AI Agentic Workflows with Elastic
This talk tells and shows how Elastic Agent Builder can help to build and implement agentic workflows. It addresses the complexity of traditional development by integrating all necessary components—LLM orchestration, vector database, tracing, and security—directly into the Elasticsearch Search AI Platform. This talk will show you how to build custom agents, declare and assign tools, and start conversations with your data.

Agenda:
17:45 — Arrival, food & drinks
18:30 — Talk #1 | Yke & David (ANWB)
19:15 — Short break
19:30 — Talk #2 | Hans Heerooms (Elastic)
20:15 — Open conversation, networking & more drinks
21:00 — Wrapping up

Please note that the main door will close at 18.00. You will still be able to enter our office, but we might ask you to wait a little bit while we come down to open the door for you.

What to bring:
Just curiosity and questions. If you're working on MLOps, applied AI, or building agentic workflows, we’d love to hear your thoughts.

Who this is for:
Data scientists, AI/ML engineers, data engineers, MLOps specialists, SREs, architects, and engineering leaders focused on building and using real-world AI solutions.

Where to find us:
Elastic Amsterdam
Keizersgracht 281, 1016 ED Amsterdam