Meet Mathieu Beine, Digital Business Integration Consultant at Accenture Belgium & Luxembourg
‘I always have a personal DIY project on the go, like restoring my vintage car (which I now drive in time-speed-distance rallies). After months of hard work, I had to be sure everything was perfect when I finally turned the ignition key to fire up a fully rebuilt engine. That’s exactly the same as working on a Big Data project and seeing it go live and working correctly. It requires a lot of discipline but it's incredibly rewarding when all your hard work finally pays off and you see the tangible results.’
‘That’s what I want to do and where I want to do it!’
‘I applied to Accenture twice before joining… The first time was straight after university. With no professional experience under my belt, I wasn’t sure that a large company was the right place to start for me. Instead I chose a smaller ‘family-sized’ consultancy in Brussels. The second time, I was between projects and noticed that Accenture was looking for Business Intelligence analysts. As soon as I applied, a new project started, offering me more responsibility so I decided to stay put. Round three: Big Data Engineer at Accenture? That’s what I want to do and where I want to do it! I was a bit afraid I would not be considered, but third time’s the charm and I said yes! The recruiter called the Manager to share the news that I had finally signed.’
‘I’ve never felt more part of a family than I do today at Accenture, where the company structure also helps me develop a strong network. Since joining I’ve worked on multiple projects in various industries and using different technologies. Accenture has strong alliances with leading software vendors and as well as learning on the job, there is continuous training and a global network of subject matter experts ready to help. Working collaboratively with these motivated people who share a common objective is the best and most effective way of achieving great results for our clients and fulfilling my personal ambition to learn and grow.’
“There are multiple processes happening behind data before we experience them in real life”
‘I belong to the Accenture Digital Analytics team and we also have a lot of ambition. Digitalization is revolutionizing traditional business models and we are eager to help companies on this journey towards having the right data at the right time and place.’
‘The Big Data domain I work in is fairly new and constantly evolving. In the past, the main challenge of working with Big Data was storage. In the 1990s, 1 gigabyte of memory cost thousands of dollars; today it costs cents! Processing power has also increased exponentially, proving Moore’s Law correct. However, parallel processing was a complex discipline. This all changed when Google released the ‘MapReduce’ paper, which eventually gave rise to Hadoop, an open-source software framework for distributed storage and processing of Big Data datasets.’
‘Most people don’t realize there are multiple processes happening behind data before we experience them in real life. That’s where you find me and other Data experts (Big Data Engineers, Data Scientists, etc.). In a nutshell, we work behind the scenes creating ways to ingest and process a lot of data from multiple sources in a timely way so that it is always fresh, fast and ready to use, allowing organizations to take the right decisions at the right time. Reducing the processing time of data ‘on the go’ also improves user experience. For example, when you want to check your monthly usage (or for that matter, your bank account balance) on your smartphone, you don’t want to wait. Today, you have an answer in a matter of milliseconds. I love being part of this story, helping our clients (and their customers) to achieve their goals in a new and rapidly evolving world.’
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“My father told me that if I wanted to play games on a computer, I should build it myself”
‘Experiencing new environments and experimenting with new things teaches me a lot, regardless of the outcome. I always want to know the ‘why’. I use my inquisitive mindset at work but also in my personal passions. Building things from A to Z and making sure every piece fits together is what I like doing best.’
‘This probably began at a young age playing with Lego and Kapla, a building game. When I was 12, all my friends had PlayStations and naturally I wanted the same. My father told me that if I wanted to play video games on a computer, I should build it myself. What a great incentive! He bought me the parts and because I was so determined to play those games I assembled my first PC in less than one day. I remain convinced that by using logic and common sense, anyone can assemble a computer. It’s a bit like a technical jigsaw; the parts can only go in one place. The same goes for programming, which is in essence a series of instructions or actions you need to follow, like cooking a meal or going for a walk. The logic is not that complex; you just need to learn the language.’
Mathieu Beine (1990)
Studied: Bachelor in Information Technology & Master in Computer Science
Started working at Accenture: 2017
Relationship status: In a fulfilling relationship
Loves: A good beer with friends
Gets annoyed by: The missing little detail to make it perfect
Favorite food: My grandmother’s vanilla rice pudding (lukewarm)
On my nightstand: Smartwatch & phone
Listens to: Many genres, from classical to heavy metal, according to the context
Would like to sit next to in the plane: A friendly person with an exciting story to tell
Life-changing event(s): A four-month internship in Canada (British Columbia). Making a fresh start on the other side of the globe was cool but waking up in a city where nobody knew me was challenging. It taught me that investing time and effort in everything you do pays off
The best lesson life has taught me: It always looks impossible until it’s done
What I learned last week: The way you chop vegetables affects how they taste, but not chopping them makes the dish even better.
Most beautiful place on earth: Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park (US)
Hobbies/passions: Fixing everything, building anything, vintage cars, new technologies…
What nobody knows about me: A few years back, I had a Jimi Hendrix hairstyle, something to do with the fact I played guitar for many years
Life motto: Short cuts make long delays