Jente Somers
Manager Innovation Acceleration
Jente Somers is a MIA of Verhaert Digital who arrived at Verhaert almost 2 years ago. He started as an intern at the AILab under the guidance of Jochem and Niels to create a perception system for a robot to draft the perfect beer. After this, he chose a new challenge: business development as a MIA (and all the other tasks associated with it). As a Junior Consultant, Jente is responsible for inbound and account-based sales, and outbound lead generation for (small) projects..
What sparked your interest in
business development?
Growing up, I never knew where my real passion in life would lie. First I wanted to become a pilot, then a doctor, .. the list goes on. The red wire throughout all those jobs: I was always interested in underlying working mechanisms. So in the end I chose engineering knowing that I would still have many options afterward.
However, my thirst for knowledge wasn’t satisfied yet so I chose to do an additional master of AI. During my internship at the AILab I realized that, although I was fascinated by AI, programming was definitely not my passion in life. So in order to stay close to AI, innovation in general, and also have more social contact, I accepted the challenge of becoming a MIA for Verhaert Digital.”
When it comes to building trust with our clients, the art of conveying our competencies and explaining what Verhaert does is essential.
What skills do you need to
succeed as a MIA?
In my journey as a MIA so far, I’ve observed that people skills and problem-solving abilities are valuable assets. When it comes to building trust with our clients, the art of conveying our competencies and explaining what Verhaert does is essential (which is not that easy for a company usually working behind the curtains). There are a lot of tricks that help with this (like consultative selling) but in the end, people buy from people so being confident in your conversations, actively listening to your counterpart, and helping them every step of the way influences the reasons why people do business with you and the company you represent.
Interested in becoming a Manager Innovation Acceleration or working at Verhaert Digital like Jente?