AI agency in Rotterdam

Honest AI is one person: Thijs Bongertman, forward deployed engineer in Rotterdam. Not an agency with thirty juniors, but someone who saw 35+ AI implementations up close and builds himself, at the table with your team. From Rotterdam for companies across the Netherlands, on site and remote.

What you get, and in how much time

Three formats, each with a fixed price and an end date agreed in writing up front. No months of discovery, no retainer that runs until someone cancels it.

Scan: About a week, from €1,995 ex VAT. I assess your AI pilots on ROI potential and production risk and say, per pilot: kill, scale or rebuild.
Pilot-to-Production: Four weeks maximum, fixed price. One workflow goes live, with governance built in and one of your engineers trained alongside it.
Operating Layer: Ongoing, for teams that want to keep building AI themselves. I am the safety net, not the builder.
What you do not get: No eighty-page report, no strategy without code, no team of juniors on your project.

Who I work with in the Rotterdam region

Companies of 50 to 500 people where someone has already started with AI and it is stuck at the demo. The pattern matters more than the industry label: I work with companies whose revenue runs through a digital funnel. Leads, campaigns, orders, customer data in a CRM or order system. Workflows there are repeatable and I can measure initial process results within days. Recognise that and you fit, even if your label is not listed below.

In practice that means e-commerce, and marketing agencies and marketing SaaS, B2B and B2C. My own products come from the same corner: Signal Match for client-ready candidate profiles and Marketingburos as an agency comparison site, both live. Energy is my second sector.

Rotterdam is port, logistics and manufacturing. Other agencies sit deeper in those than I do. If you want to work with me there anyway, you are hiring me for the approach and not for the domain knowledge. I would rather say that up front.

The Scan is largely remote. For working sessions I come to you. From Rotterdam that is half an hour across Rijnmond, and a morning for the rest of the Netherlands.

Who you get

Me. Thijs Bongertman, twelve years in data and AI, previously Head of Data at Free Now in Hamburg, where I grew the marketing data team from three people to sixteen. In 2026 four systems I built myself went live, each at the table with the team that had to work with it.

One person caps what I can take on at once. That is also why I say no more often than an agency with capacity to fill. If a job outgrows one person, I bring in one senior I have known for years. Never a team of ten.

Frequently asked

What does an AI agency do?

An AI agency takes companies from AI idea to daily use: choosing use cases, building systems, and making sure governance and maintenance are covered. The difference between agencies is where they stop. Many stop at the demo; I stop when something runs in production, or when I have honestly said no.

What does an AI agency cost?

It depends on the format. With me: a Scan of your AI pilots starts at €1,995 ex VAT and takes about a week. A sprint that takes one workflow into production takes four weeks at most, at a fixed price. Compare agencies not on hourly rates, but on what still runs afterwards.

Why one person instead of a large consulting firm?

Because then you get the person who does the work. The person you talk to is also in the code and the working sessions. And the knowledge stays with your team: every sprint is paired with one of your own engineers, so you do not need me afterwards.

Do you only work in Rotterdam?

No. Rotterdam is my base, not my boundary. The Scan is largely remote; for working sessions I come to you, wherever you are in the Netherlands. Rotterdam does save travel time, and the office coffee beats the videocall kind.

How do you choose the right AI agency in Rotterdam?

Compare on what still runs six months later, not on the demo. Ask who actually builds, whether the price is fixed up front, who maintains the system once the agency is gone, and which project they once advised against. An agency that never says no is selling hours, not results. I put the seven questions in one place.

How fast can an AI agency deliver something?

A verdict on your existing pilots within a week. One working workflow in production within four weeks. That is possible because the scope stays small: one workflow, one owner, one of your engineers alongside. Projects that take months almost always start with a scope nobody dared to cut.

The honest takeaway

Do not pick an AI agency on the demo but on what still runs six months later. Ask every agency you talk to: which project did you advise against? Whoever has no answer never says no.

Meet an agency that also says no?

Start with a working session or a one-week Scan. After that you know which of your AI plans deserve production, and which do not.