Xander Blaauw

Data Scientist & AI Engineer · Utrecht, NL

Experienced data scientist and AI specialist with 9+ years of expertise in machine learning, predictive modelling, and energy markets. Proven track record building state-of-the-art forecasting models, automated fault detection and classification systems, and scalable ML infrastructure for the energy sector. Strong background in both technical architecture and team leadership — from solo prototyping to structuring and leading data science and engineering teams.

Work Experience

Senior Data Scientist — Infiniot

September 2025 – Present

Seconded as Senior Data Scientist at Fudura (client), serving as tech lead of the data engineering and data science teams.

Tech lead of the data engineering and data science teams at Fudura
Developed and deployed advanced forecasting models for energy consumption and generation, with significant accuracy improvements over existing baselines
Built automated fault detection and classification systems for measurement data and energy systems, enabling proactive incident signalling
Designed and implemented an internal dashboarding platform for real-time monitoring of energy flows and model performance (Streamlit/Grafana)
Restructured and led the data science and data engineering teams: introduced best practices for MLOps, version control, and automated CI/CD pipelines
Standardised data ingestion and validation pipelines for large-scale time series data from smart meters and energy management systems

Co-Founder & CTO — p[Ai]napple

June 2024 – Present · painapple.nl

Developing an enterprise AI agent platform that integrates backend systems for autonomous task execution, building on university research into seq2seq architectures.

Scalable RAG implementation with hybrid search in Python/PyTorch, containerized deployment via Docker/Podman
Multi-model LLM orchestration on Kubernetes with custom PyTorch inference pipelines and context optimisation
MCP-based agent framework with stateful conversation management in Redis/PostgreSQL
Enterprise backend integrations via REST/GraphQL (FastAPI) and API orchestration (N8N)
GDPR-compliant multi-tenant architecture: container isolation (Podman), encrypted data pipelines, audit trails in PostgreSQL

Lead Data Scientist & Engineer — Edmij

June 2021 – November 2024

Responsible for developing and implementing advanced forecasting models and data analyses for a balance responsible party in the Dutch energy sector.

Developed SOTA short-term weather forecasting models with unmatched accuracy
Implemented automated forecasting models for wind energy, solar energy, and load forecasting
Designed a profit-maximising algorithm for grid batteries with SOTA results
Built grid congestion forecasting models with SOTA results
Developed price forecasts and market insights that helped the trading team achieve significant gains
Designed and partially built the local hardware infrastructure
Standardised data ingestion pipelines
Introduced modern LLMs, trained colleagues, and implemented the first automated technical documentation generation pipelines
Helped recruit and train several capable colleagues

Technology Consultant — Defensie Materieel Organisatie

September 2018 – June 2019

Consultancy assignment focused on reducing fuel consumption in Defence basecamps.

Analysed new technologies to significantly reduce fuel consumption in basecamps
Conducted a Technological Innovation System analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and multi-criteria analysis
Collaborated with military personnel at Kromhout Barracks and the ministry in The Hague

Student Teaching Assistant — Universiteit Utrecht

January 2015 – January 2021

Led tutorials for various courses within the BSc Science & Innovation Management and Energy Science programmes.

Energy in the Built Environment (2018–2020): Python programming for solar yield calculations and linear optimisation techniques
Sustainable Energy Technologies (2021): Led tutorials and helped digitalise the course during the COVID crisis
Thermodynamics & Energy Conversions (2016): Independently led tutorials for ~25 students
Physics for Energy & Transport (2015, 2016): Independently led tutorials for ~25 students

Independent IT Entrepreneur (ZZP) — Xander Blaauw

February 2016 – August 2017

Buying, rebuilding, and reselling used workstation computers for personal use.

Identified a market for powerful computers at low prices for students and young adults
Sourced used workstation computers from businesses across the Netherlands
Rebuilt them for personal use, primarily for gaming and compute-intensive workloads

Volunteer

Ambassador — CETT (Community of Energy Top Talents)

September 2017 – January 2020

Participant in a master’s scholarship programme for students with a multidisciplinary background focused on the energy transition.

Responsible for acquiring, organising, and shaping guest lectures on energy and sustainability at secondary schools and MBO institutions
Coordinated activities for ~30 CETT members together with 4 colleagues
Participated in monthly in-house days at various energy companies across the Netherlands

Skills

Data Science & AI

Machine Learning · Deep Learning · Predictive Modelling · Statistical Modelling · Time-Series Analysis · Regression · Data Mining · NLP

Python

NumPy · Pandas · SciPy · Scikit-learn · XGBoost · LightGBM · CatBoost · PyTorch · TensorFlow · Keras · JAX

ML Infrastructure & MLOps

MLflow · DVC · Airflow · Kafka · Docker · Kubernetes · Kubeflow · KServe · SHAP · LIME · Optuna

LLM & AI Agents

LangChain · LlamaIndex · RAG · MCP · Pydantic · LiteLLM · Ollama · Hugging Face Transformers · FAISS · Qdrant · Vector Databases

Data Engineering

PostgreSQL · TimescaleDB · Redis · MongoDB · Cassandra · PySpark · Dask · Ray · Kafka · Apache Beam · DBT

Cloud & DevOps

Azure · AWS · GCP · Docker · Kubernetes · Podman · Linux · Bash · Terraform · Ansible · CI/CD

Energy Domain

PVLib · Windpowerlib · PyPSA · Pandapower · Weather Ensemble Systems · Grid Modelling · Battery Optimisation · Energy Market Trading · Flexibility Orchestration

APIs & Backend

FastAPI · Flask · REST · GraphQL · gRPC · N8N

Visualisation & Dashboarding

Grafana · Streamlit · Plotly · Matplotlib · Seaborn · Dash

Optimisation

OR-Tools · CVXPY · PuLP · scipy.optimize

Education

MSc Energy Science — Universiteit Utrecht

2017 – 2020

Course: Industrial Ecology — TU Delft

2018

BSc Natural Sciences & Innovation Management — Universiteit Utrecht

2014 – 2017

Languages

Dutch — Native · English — Fluent

Contact

Get in touch via the contact form.