Five Questions for Saskia Vlaar: “You don’t learn AI from a book—you learn it through hands-on experience”

After more than three years, Saskia Vlaar is stepping down as a board member of AIC4NL. During that time, she witnessed the merger of the Dutch AI Coalition and AiNed, saw AIC4NL continue to grow as an organization, and watched as programs focused on innovation, talent, and implementation were increasingly put into practice. Drawing on her background in the business world, Saskia consistently asked: How do we ensure that AI doesn’t remain merely in plans and policies, but actually reaches the people and organizations that will put it to use?

1. Where and when did your journey with AIC4NL begin, and what appealed to you about the project?

“In March 2023, I was asked to join the board. Through my work at Shell in the field of digital innovation, I saw how dependent the Netherlands and Europe were on technology from China and the United States. That became very real to me one day when a facial recognition tool in the lab classified me as a woman of Chinese descent in her late sixties. The database the system had been trained on turned out to be from Asia.

“For me, that touched on a much bigger question: Are we ensuring that the Netherlands and Europe establish a leading position in AI in a way that aligns with our standards, values, and regulations? I wanted to contribute to that. I was also drawn to Willem Jonker and Inald Lagendijk’s expertise in the fields of AI and digitization, as well as the opportunity to work together on such a mission.”

2. The Dutch AI Coalition and AiNed joined forces effective January 1, 2025. How do you look back on that decision?

“To me, those two went hand in hand. The Netherlands is too small to organize the ecosystem and a major innovation program separately. Through the National Growth Fund program AiNed, an investment budget of €350 million was made available to give the Dutch AI ecosystem a significant boost. This allowed us to actually invest in initiatives such as Innovation Labs, ELSA Labs, and Learning Communities, as well as in a program like Breaking Barriers, which helps AI startups grow into scale-ups. The coalition brought together the broad network and expertise from companies, research institutions, government agencies, and civil society organizations.

“Bringing those two worlds together created much greater impact. I’m proud that there is now a single organization there, with a professional team of people who have a wealth of expertise, energy, and diverse backgrounds.”

3. Looking back at what has been set in motion during your term on the board, what are you most proud of?

“Talent, knowledge, and skills have always been a top priority for me. AI is becoming increasingly powerful and accessible. That means the people who work with it need to understand how the technology works, what their data means, and what risks are involved. You can’t learn that just from a book.”

That is why I have been deeply involved with the Learning Communities, in which companies and educational institutions bring employees and students together to learn and work on concrete, real-world challenges. There are now five active communities. A great example is AIMM in the manufacturing industry, where companies, educational institutions, and knowledge partners collaborate on concrete AI applications, such as automated quality control and predictive maintenance. What I find so valuable about this is that learning, innovation, and application come together here. I believe that this interaction is essential for advancing AI in the Netherlands. The call for the second round of Learning Communities has also been launched.

The AI Cup at the 2026 Dutch AI Congress follows the same theme. With 89 teams and 300 students, it was the largest student AI competition ever held in the Netherlands. The teams spent six weeks working on a societal challenge at the intersection of energy transition and biodiversity. I think that’s great: the next generation of AI talent isn’t just learning about AI, but is also experiencing what it means to apply technology to a concrete societal challenge.”

AI is becoming increasingly powerful and accessible. That means the people who work with it need to understand how the technology works, what their data means, and what risks are involved. You can’t learn all that just from a book.

Saskia Vlaar, outgoing board member of AIC4NL

4. AI is evolving at a rapid pace. In your opinion, what does that mean for the way we develop and apply AI in the Netherlands?

“To me, AI is a transformation on the same scale as the rise of the internet in the 1990s. Back then, too, it wasn’t just the technology that changed, but ultimately also the way we communicate, work, do business, and share information. Something similar is happening with AI, only at an even faster pace. We can no longer ignore it, and a global race is underway for knowledge, applications, infrastructure, and investments.

As AI matures and becomes more deeply integrated into our daily lives, the questions also become more complex. Where should we use AI, and where should we not? How do we capitalize on the opportunities and mitigate the risks? To do so, regulations, talent, knowledge and skills, investments, and infrastructure must be able to keep pace with the technology.

“This sometimes conflicts with programs that are planned several years in advance. Technology is evolving so rapidly that today’s assumptions may already be outdated a year from now. That requires room to make adjustments along the way and respond to new developments. You have to stay committed to your goals, but be flexible in how you achieve them.”

5. What is needed to advance AI in the Netherlands? And what role do you see AIC4NL playing in that?

“Working with AI is a profession. It requires specific knowledge and skills. You need to understand the technology, have a grasp of the data you’re working with, and be able to assess an application’s limitations and risks. We’re providing increasingly powerful tools to an ever-growing number of people. This offers enormous opportunities for productivity and for transformations in sectors such as healthcare, energy, and defense, but it also demands responsibility. Collaboration yields significant benefits in this regard. Take radiology, for example: by bringing hospitals, researchers, and technology companies together, you can combine knowledge, data, and technology to further develop and apply AI for image recognition. This way, you achieve more together than if everyone were working separately on a part of the solution.”

I see a clear role for AIC4NL in this regard. The coalition can bring stakeholders together to accelerate the responsible use of AI in the Netherlands. I am proud of what we have built together in recent years, and especially of the team that is dedicated to this cause with such expertise and commitment. We have a solid foundation, and there is still much to be done. My ambition is for the Netherlands to take a strong position in the responsible use of AI. AIC4NL can make an important contribution to this through its independent, unifying role. And that is exactly why we do what we do.”