Jelle on entrepreneurship at RoboJob: “Technology alone is not enough”
Jelle on entrepreneurship at RoboJob: “Technology alone is not enough”
For this interview, we spoke to Jelle about entrepreneurship, innovation and the future of RoboJob. When, in his view, is a system truly successful? Why are a local presence and digital services so important? And what milestones does he still want to achieve together with the team? One conviction kept coming up time and again during our conversation: technology alone is not enough. Successful automation is just as much about trust, proximity and people.
Entrepreneurship is, above all, about taking action
When asked what entrepreneurship means to him, Jelle didn’t have to think for long.
“Entrepreneurship is about spotting an opportunity, giving it a moment’s thought and just going for it. Then you see where it takes you. If you need to make adjustments, you make them.”
That vision did not develop purely in theory. It was shaped by various key moments in his own life. Jelle trained as a commercial engineer and began his career at FedEx. In 2012, however, RoboJob was going through a difficult period. The market had taken a dip and sales were lagging behind. Jelle saw an opportunity and offered to help his father.
Not long after, he moved to Germany with his family. He learnt the language and built up a network. At a trade fair in Stuttgart, he realised just how many contacts he had made in the meantime. He also noticed the growing interest in Germany, which presented a practical challenge. RoboJob decided to set up a local branch there. That experience confirmed his vision. Sometimes you have to take a well-considered leap of faith. And we are now applying this approach in the United States as well.
RoboJob described in 3 words
- Innovative: Innovation is in RoboJob’s DNA. We are pioneers and aim to revolutionise our sector. This is also reflected in our mission. The products we offer must be innovative or even revolutionary.
- Young: Over the past 20 years, the organisation has built up a strong position in various European regions and taken its first major steps in the United States. The team is also relatively young, with an average age of around 30–35. Yet a striking number of staff have been working for RoboJob for many years.
- Best in Class: The ambition to be the best in the market is reflected in the choice of new technologies and modern ways of working. At the same time, he acknowledges that this remains an area for attention.
“Due to our rapid growth, we have sometimes not taken enough time to ensure that all our underlying processes are also of the highest standard. We need to keep working on that.”
When is a system truly successful?
For Jelle, there are three clear criteria. A successful system must:
- Be easy to sell
- Be easy to install
- Be easy to use
The goal is to develop products that can be used by a large proportion of the market.
“If a system is easy to use, customers will actually use it. If it’s easy to install, we as an organisation can scale up. And if it’s easy to sell, our sales staff and distributors can use it to help other customers too. That’s when I’d say the product has been a success.”
Jelle cannot reveal everything about future innovations just yet, but he does give us a sneak peek. For several years now, RoboJob has been integrating vision technology that utilises AI. This approach will be further developed.
The future is local and digital
In the coming years, the focus will be on further strengthening our local branches. In Germany and France, for example, we’re already performing well, whilst the United States still offers growth potential.
Customers should be able to find not only sales staff but also technicians and service staff in their own region. In addition, RoboJob aims to further digitise the customer experience. Jelle discusses, amongst other things, digital services and a customer portal where users can monitor their systems, view production hours, submit service requests and order parts.
The next milestone
Jelle looks with pride at what RoboJob has already achieved: a healthy business, a close-knit team and a strong position in various markets. The next milestone is clear: to build the same foundation in the United States as in Europe. He is also looking at the company from an internal perspective.
“I hope that our young staff can grow here and gain experiences that shape them, just as my own experiences have shaped me. At our annual barbecue, I want colleagues to be able to reminisce: ‘Do you remember that client, that trade fair or that video?’ After all, that’s what it’s all about.”