← David Vanheeswijck · The Horse Is Here to Stay

David Vanheeswijck

Principal Software Engineer & AI Professional

30+ years of shipping software, from pioneering the early web to engineering enterprise AI. I'm passionate about understanding how businesses actually work, then redesigning those processes end‑to‑end with automation and intelligence.

Currently Principal Engineer at Nike (Customs & Trade) and co-founder of Hiveras, an AI collective building autonomous AI employees for businesses. I work across the full stack, from architecture to delivery, with a strong focus on AI‑driven automation, data pipelines and scalable system design.

Dutch · C2English · C2French · C2
Business Process AnalysisEnd-to-End AutomationAI & Agentic SystemsEnterprise ArchitectureBelgium · Remote

Contact

Open to consulting
  • Co-founder · Hiveras
    2026–Present
    Belgium
    • Co-founded Hiveras with Dennis Bellinkx: an AI collective building autonomous "AI employees" for businesses (hiveras.com)
    • Architecture and operation of the agent platform: fleets of AI specialists that research, write and ship work with little human in the loop
    • Specialist catalogue and remote registry: packaged, installable AI-specialist roles deployable uniformly across customer instances
    • Customer offerings built on the platform, including managed business applications with an embedded AI employee
    • Platform security hardening aligned with NIS2 and the EU AI Act
    • Multi-instance fleet operations: deployment, observability and cost-per-task economics of running AI specialists in production
  • Principal Engineer, Global Customs & Trade · Nike
    2024–Present
    Laakdal, Belgium
    • Sole designer and engineer of the agentic workflow behind global pre-entry document compliance: structured extraction from customs pre-entry documents, exception routing to human-in-the-loop review, integrated into the internal AI Hub front end. It is what keeps Nike compliant in international markets.
    • Designed the technical architecture for the wider customs compliance programme, built on LangGraph, and led the international tiger team that delivered it.
    • Built an AI orchestration agent in Databricks, designed to be extended with trade SME knowledge and company-specific context.
    • Initiated SDLC governance across all four global customs and trade teams, unifying technologies and patterns that had diverged, and designed an autonomous SDLC flow in which agents would carry the routine build and review steps.
    • Led principal engineering strategy and delivery for global customs and trade capabilities across four international teams.
    • Provide AI guidance to business and engineering partners, and argue for adoption with working systems rather than proposals.
    • Laid the foundation for the Trade Content and Classification programme.
  • Founder & Principal Consultant · ExAd CommV
    2022–Present
    Houthalen, Belgium
    • Expert consultancy for short-term projects
    • Specialisation in web, mobile (iOS/Android) and 3D printing technologies
    • Design of SDLC flows
    • Migration projects
    • Infrastructure as Code (IaC) implementation
    • Cloud architecture design
    • AI agentic workflow development
  • Principal Engineer, Transportation and Trade EMEA · Nike
    2022–2024
    Laakdal, Belgium
    • Owned and delivered software solution design for 5 critical EMEA transportation teams, integrating core TMS systems.
    • Collaborated closely with business partners and engineering peers.
    • Helped establish standards for event-driven design.
    • Integrated TMS solutions from BlueYonder and Manhattan into the Nike landscape.
    • Assisted engineering teams in partnership integrations.
  • Architect · Euricom
    2018–2022
    Mechelen, Belgium
    • Provided expert architectural guidance to diverse clientele
    • Leveraged extensive senior development experience to inform strategic decisions
    • Facilitated knowledge transfer and skill development within client teams
    • Contributed to the successful delivery of complex software solutions
  • Solution and System Architect · Wolters Kluwer Belgium
    2012–2018
    Mechelen, Belgium
    • Designed and architected multiple core business applications still in use.
    • Contributed to the foundation of Wolters Kluwer Belgium's core business operations.
    • Developed expertise in folio and digital publishing systems.
    • Implemented advanced semantic content management systems.
    • Created sophisticated classification software solutions.
  • Senior Developer and IT Architect · 4uWare NV/SA
    2007–2012
    Mechelen, Belgium
    • Consulted as a Senior Developer and IT Architect for various companies.
    • Developed a custom XML/XSLT-based WebCMS system.
    • Extended the WebCMS system to a fully functional CRM.
  • Senior Software Engineer · Spirit Tek (Limited Company)
    2000–2007
    Nantes, France
    • Spearheaded numerous software development projects as a consultant for Wolters Kluwer.
    • Achieved expert-level proficiency in web development technologies.
    • Became a specialist in XSLT/XML for complex data transformation challenges.
    • Contributed significantly to the technical success of various client initiatives over a seven-year period.
  • Senior Developer · AROL Informatique
    1999–2000
    Carquefou, France
    • Developed software for Credit Mutuel Anjou.
    • Contributed to a loan simulation project.
  • Senior Software Engineer · Médiane Informatique (Groupe Sigma)
    1997–1998
    Ste Luce/Loire, France
    • Developed CRM software solutions.
    • Became an Oracle expert, specialising in performance diagnostics.
    • Improved system performance through targeted interventions.
  • Architect and Lead Developer · 3D Xmakina Infologies
    1996–1997
    Nantes, France
    • Independently designed and developed a hospital intranet application.
    • Gained foundational web architecture experience early in career.
  • Tester Digital Content · Philips Interactive Media Centre
    1994–1995
    Hasselt, Belgium
    • Gained early exposure to digital media assessment and quality assurance processes.
    • Developed an understanding of software ergonomics and user experience principles.
    • Contributed to the pre-release evaluation of interactive digital products.