Olaf van Gorp

Background

About Olaf van Gorp

As a seasoned IT professional, I continue to be energized by working with customers to understand their challenges, assess the suitability of software solutions and articulate the value of such solutions for their enterprise. I have been deeply engaged in enterprise software for close to thirty years now. As a result, I have gained expertise across a broad spectrum of technologies and built extensive experience in aligning software solutions with customers’ architectural requirements, often supporting business-critical processes. Over the years, I have been able to do so in various roles, of which I find my current role of principal sales engineer/solutions consultant the most enjoyable. To me, this represents an excellent mix between customer interaction and tech, between understanding business requirements and articulating software solutions. During the past decade, my main focus was on APIs and API management, working as a sales engineer for the Akana API Management Platform which is now part of Perforce Software. I developed a special interest in API security standards and cybersecurity in general, realizing these are critical for the protection of valuable enterprise data assets. Data are the new digital gold, APIs are the principal means to turn data into information. Perforce brought me the wider perspective of DevOps and automation, also bringing open source software and data management into my field of interest and daily work activities. Obviously, I am also following developments around GenAI with keen interest, and like to explore its significance for customers and solutions. I am committed to continuing what I do best for the years to come: engaging with customers at all levels—from developers to executives—across both the public and private sectors and various geographies, delivering value by applying solutions and by leveraging my experience to provide additional insights. I’ll also continue to drop my thoughts and reflections in articles and blog posts. Apart from my professional job, I am enthusiastically involved in local community development. For example by being a board member of De Wijkfabriek, a citizen-led initiative designed to foster connections among neighbourhood residents in my home town. I am currently living in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, together with my wife and 14-year old daughter. In my spare time, I am an avid road bike racer, indoor climber and drummer -and still find the time to enjoy a good meal with friends and relatives on a regular basis.