Jeroen Sakkers · Founder & CEO, HireData
Operating principleImprove Every Day.
Visit HireDataI have built recruitment technology since 2009. Today, HireData equips staffing and recruiting companies with AI agents and automations inside the systems they already use—supporting 5,000+ recruiters and automating more than 10 million tasks each year.
Helping people discover and use the work they are uniquely good at.
Current company
HireData is my operating focus: a recruitment technology company built around reliable automation, better data and clear human judgment.
Founder & CEO · Product direction
HireData adds AI agents and automations to existing applicant tracking systems. It handles repetitive coordination, enriches candidate and vacancy data, and gives recruiters more time for judgment and relationships.
Current reach5,000+ recruiters · 10M+ tasks automated annually
Selected track record · Before HireData
Before HireData, I co-built a portfolio across original research, weekly national business radio and live events. The work culminated in a sold-out 2,000-person event and a three-initiative portfolio exit.
2019 · Portfolio exit
With my brother and co-founder Robbie, I built Dag van de ZZP'er, the FOTY Awards and ZZP Barometer. After the 2018 event sold all 2,000 tickets, we sold all three initiatives to ZZP Nederland—then part of leading Dutch insurer a.s.r.'s Distribution & Services portfolio. The transaction allowed us to focus on Ratecard, and later HireData.
How we built national reach · 2014—2015
2014 · Co-host, BNR Nieuwsradio
I helped launch BNR ZZP Café and co-hosted the weekly programme with journalist Diana Matroos. Each Saturday, we discussed policy, research and entrepreneurship, using ZZP Barometer data to ground the conversation.
2015 · Live interview
At Dag van de ZZP'er, I interviewed Mark Rutte, then Prime Minister of the Netherlands, about entrepreneurship and the role of independent professionals in the Dutch economy. The public video is an edited excerpt of our half-hour conversation.
Selected product work · 01–04
Beyond HireData, I build small, private products that explore how software can help people learn, decide and act more effectively.
Product concept · UX · Native iOS
Voice-first iOS coaches for European Spanish and everyday Dutch, built around speaking, immediate feedback and short practice for real conversations.
Product · UX · Web & Chrome
A local-first tool that prompts one small relationship habit: recall three people each week and reconnect where it matters. Contact data and face matching stay on-device.
Product system · UX · Native iOS
A local-first iPhone app for tracking health, training and reflection. It turns personal records into a clear next step while keeping sensitive data on the device.
AI system · Operations design
A private AI operations system that turns goals into traceable tasks, status updates and explicit decision points—keeping context visible while consequential decisions stay with people.
Mission
By “superpower,” I mean the work someone is unusually good at and energized by.
I build companies and systems that remove repetitive work, improve decisions and give people more room to develop that strength. Improve Every Day is the operating principle: listen closely, learn from real use and keep improving what matters.
About
I co-founded VictorMundi in 2009. Since then, I have built products and companies across recruitment technology and independent work—from Ratecard and Dag van de ZZP'er to HireData. Today, I lead HireData's product and company direction.
My approach is consistent: listen to users, reduce complexity, automate repetitive work and build systems that can scale without constant intervention. I value candour, reliability and long-term partnerships.
Personal practice · 2025
In 2025, I documented six months of training to show what the principle looks like outside work: small, sustained choices, measured over time.
The same discipline shapes how I lead and build: define the next useful step, make progress visible and keep showing up.
Jeroen:I'm Jeroen, I'm 38 years old and I'm a remote entrepreneur. My first goal was to be below 100 kilos, and I hadn't been below 100 kilos for a long time. One of the things I'm focusing on is eating healthier and also drinking less alcohol—or no alcohol, actually.
Coach: We were tracking the calories. He really enjoyed the process and also learning about what nutrition does for him and why it is so hard to maintain a diet. To really maintain contact with him, I texted him every Friday about how it went and gave him more insight into balancing his weekends out. We trained for six months in total.
Jeroen:I sometimes texted Luuk: “How the hell am I going to do this?” He sent me tips. I started at 113 kilos. Right now I'm 92, so I lost 21 kilos. I have even more energy now. Just feeling better is a gift—better than reaching the goal itself.
Coach: In the beginning, his mindset was all or nothing: reach the goal and be hard on yourself. At the end of this six-month journey, he is much kinder to himself. My tip is to zoom out, because you will see that you are improving—not perhaps every day, but every week and every month.
Start a conversation
I'm open to relevant conversations with customers, partners and people interested in helping build HireData. If you have a specific opportunity in mind, send me a message on LinkedIn; I reply personally.
