Hi, I'm Vincent Bons. I build things with AI, write about them, and play guitar when the fire's going. This island is my corner of the internet. Stay a while.
Every cairn marks a stretch of the climb. The summit is where I am now.
The student years · 2007 – 2014 · Utrecht · Arnhem · Velp
Artificial intelligence, before it was cool
I studied in Utrecht, informatics and then computing science, with as much artificial intelligence as I could fit in, at a time when it wasn’t at all obvious that neural networks would ever be good for much. Right after I finished, DeepMind and OpenAI started showing what they could do. Alongside my studies I fixed computers all over Arnhem, built software for the care sector, and started a company.
Bachelor, Informatics, Utrecht University 2007 – 2011
Master, Computing Science: advanced planning and decision making, Utrecht University 2011 – 2014
Student, Studentaanhuis · Arnhem 2010 – 2011
Web application developer, ZorgDigi · Velp 2011 – 2013
Co-founder, head of technology, uniQ Development · Velp 2013 – 2014
Look around: most things here have a story.
The Backbone years · 2013 – 2020 · Amersfoort · Ruurlo · Lochem · Berlin
Routes, buses and trains
It started with a thesis on route planning and turned into seven years at Backbone Systems, designing software mostly for (public) transport. At Qbuzz I was part of a team working on both ends of the bus: planning and monitoring software for traffic control, and the computers and screens inside the buses themselves, including a system I created to update and keep an eye on the whole fleet remotely. At Eijgenhuijsen, a transport company in Ruurlo, I worked closely with their product owner, sometimes alongside a frontend developer, on software for the drivers, the warehouse and planning the routes. And for Going Dutch, on the apps and servers behind a car-sharing service. For half a year I lived in Berlin, building a dynamic planner for package deliveries from a startup workspace, the Rainmaking Loft. That was a lot of fun.
Master’s thesis, Utrecht University, at Backbone Systems 2013 – 2014
Solutions architect, Backbone Systems · Amersfoort and Berlin 2014 – 2020
Software engineer, Going Dutch Studio · Lochem (a Backbone project) 2017 – 2020
Look around: most things here have a story.
The energy years · 2020 – now · Arnhem
Trading power
I would like to live in a solarpunk world, and we’re building towards it: solar panels on every roof, wind turbines on the horizon. But the grid is full. At the end of 2025 more than fifteen thousand Dutch companies were waiting in line for a connection, and cables can’t be laid fast enough to catch up. So the grid we have has to be used more cleverly. There’s plenty of flexibility out there, in batteries, heat pumps, electric cars and factories, that could take power when there’s lots of it and hold back when there isn’t, if a market made it worth their while. That’s what ENTRNCE, part of Alliander, is for: making it easier for more parties to trade on the energy and flexibility markets. I was a developer on the ENTRNCE Trader, for peer-to-peer trading between individual grid connections, and now I lead development of Direct+, which gives smaller parties direct access to the wholesale power exchange.
Developer, ENTRNCE · Arnhem 2020 – 2025
Lead developer, ENTRNCE · Arnhem 2025 – now
Look around: most things here have a story.
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Where to?
The signpost only points at the big places. The rest you'll have to find.
Field journal
Things you've found on the island. Some only show up at night.
???Someone is napping where the boats come in.
???Someone got to the bench before you.
???Look up. Then click.
???Follow the sound of strings.
???Some wells go deeper than others.
???Every good journey has benches.
???There are holds on one of the rocks.
???The trail keeps going up.
???Someone left in the middle of their turn.
???Check the water by the dock.
???Only at night. Only for a moment.
???Count the moons in the sea at night.
???Not all the music on the island is played outdoors.
???↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A
???Someone in the workshop keeps tripping over things.
???Lean in close to the globe in the library.
???Someone at the hut writes things down the moment they wake up.
???One book on the keeper’s shelf won’t open.
???The keeper’s telly has a game about where he grew up.
???Not every cartridge by the telly has a proper label.
???Someone in the meadow has a ball and all the time in the world.
???There’s a sett at the edge of the eastern woods. Its owner keeps late hours.
???After dark, someone keeps an eye on everyone who comes ashore.
???Something prickly snuffles about near the bench at night. Not in winter, though.
???On some nights, something red hunts mice in the meadows.
???At dawn and dusk, the woods come out to graze.
???Now and then the deer bring someone wearing a crown.
???Sometimes a pod passes the south of the island.
???Watch the sea for a while. A long while.
???The old sailors swore the deep only shows itself in foul weather.
???Look up in autumn and in spring.
???Every flock has one. Not on every visit.
???Someone very small, very rarely, comes ashore at the dock.
???Very rarely, one of the flock has a mark on its back.
???Someone with five legs and no face very rarely drops by the workshop.
???Someone grey, with a staff and a tall pointed hat, very rarely comes up from the dock. Never late.
???Once in a long while, one of the flock has somewhere to be. Fast.
???Keep an eye on the beach. Now and then the sea brings something in.
???Someone by the fire should keep a closer eye on his dinner.