Alumni spotlight: Ruben’s leap from consulting to VC

How do an AI background and a two-year consulting stint at Addestino set one up for a do-it-all role in venture capital? Our former colleague Ruben is living proof, so we asked him. In this blog, he gives an honest look at his initial expectations of consulting and the skills that set him up for a successful career in a completely different sector.

“From a young age, I’d been drawn to maths and physics,” Ruben begins. “During my master’s in electrical engineering, I specialised in data analytics and machine learning.” A year abroad at EPFL university in Switzerland meant he got to learn about artificial intelligence from living legends in the field. “I took every AI-related course I could find. When I returned to Belgium, I interned at imec as a machine-learning engineer. I’d briefly considered doing a PhD, like many of my Addestino colleagues had done, but ultimately I wanted to enter the workforce directly.”

Ruben explains that Addestino had been on his radar for quite some time before joining: “Joyce from the HR team had been in touch regularly ever since my studies, so I knew what they stood for as a specialist consulting team. That’s why I decided to give it a shot and see if they’d be a good fit for what I was looking for: fast learning and project work.”

“My hiring process was pretty straightforward,” Ruben recalls. “During the interviews, I quickly realised that Addestino wasn’t made up of slide-deck warriors or paper pushers, but problem-solvers driving real change for their clients. What Addestino might appear to lack in global brand recognition, they more than make up for in reputation with every single client.”

Ruben’s first assignment, under the watchful eye of principal Vincent and co-founder Dominique, was intense from day one. “The onboarding and ramp-up went faster than I ever imagined. We had pastries for breakfast as a welcome gesture and some admin in the morning, and then jumped straight into client work that same afternoon. After two weeks, I attended my first on-site client meeting. From contributing five minutes to a presentation to defining entire sections of our project scope, my responsibilities seemed to grow by the minute.”

Ruben also points out Addestino’s strong emphasis on consultants’ individual personality types and social dynamics: “In our training sessions, we learned how different personalities collaborate, complement each other, and sometimes disagree. This proved really useful for becoming more aware of my own blind spots; especially when sitting across from C-level executives trying to get my point across.”

“I remember our founder Dominique once predicted that I’d struggle in a particular meeting because of mismatched personality styles. Sure enough, within 30 seconds I was losing the will to be in the room,” Ruben smiles. “Experiences like that, combined with the training, taught me to adjust my communication style – something I rely on heavily when communicating with founders in my current job, for example.”

During his time at Addestino, Ruben worked on several high-impact cases for large clients. “I vividly remember a longer assignment for Barco. I had to completely immerse myself in an entire product division of the company to build a data model that would seriously influence decision-making. It can be daunting and thrilling at the same time, working the numbers knowing that everything you do will be used to shape an entire go-to-market strategy.”

Two years into his role, Ruben saw a few different options. “I could either grow into a more senior role, with a ‘traditional’ trajectory towards senior or principal, or take my skills somewhere else entirely.” In the long term, Ruben knew he was drawn to the investment world. “It’s dynamic, requires quick thinking, and is all about building relationships to scale businesses. Today, my role at Angelwise draws heavily on meeting with entrepreneurs across different industries, from manufacturing to tech to healthcare.”

Ruben’s biggest learning at Addestino was understanding how large organisations work beneath the surface. He explains: “How are decisions made, what influences outcomes, and how do you pull the right levers to get things done? Working on so many different projects quickly taught me about the reality of corporate environments, which helped me build stronger business cases in client work and in my current job.”

In his second year, Ruben began working with junior colleagues and taking on a more senior role himself. “As my responsibilities shifted towards strategy, I started coaching others and quality-checking their work. Being able to train others so early in my career was quite exciting. I’m not sure that I could have gained that experience anywhere else so soon.”

Asked how Addestino prepared him for his current role, Ruben is firm: “Everyone I worked with was equally talented and dedicated. Their expertise inevitably rubs off on you. Any time I encountered a hiccup with one of my cases, there was always someone available for a quick huddle and a fresh perspective or the insider knowledge I needed to get me past the hurdles. For graduates with the drive to learn fast, Addestino is an excellent place in consulting to start your career.”