Collibra CEO Felix Van de Maele has made it clear that AI proficiency is no longer optional for job candidates at his data governance company. In a recent interview with Business Insider, Van de Maele stated that any job seeker who cannot demonstrate familiarity with AI tools raises immediate concerns during the hiring process.
“In any interview, you expect people to think AI first in all the ways they do their job,” Van de Maele explained. He emphasized that candidates who haven’t experimented with AI tools or lack understanding of how AI can improve their work efficiency are viewed as potential liabilities.
Collibra, founded in 2008 in Belgium, has established itself as a leading player in the data governance sector, achieving a valuation of $5.2 billion in 2021. The company serves major enterprise clients including McDonald’s, Credit Suisse, Adobe, and Heineken. With approximately 1,000 employees worldwide, Collibra has positioned itself as what Van de Maele describes as “ServiceNow for data.”
The specific AI skills required vary by position. For engineering roles, Van de Maele looks for candidates using AI coding assistants like Cursor. He wants to assess whether candidates are actively leaning into AI adoption or taking a defensive stance against these tools. The key is understanding their practical experience and genuine interest in leveraging AI capabilities.
AI adoption at Collibra has increased dramatically over the past year, with employees using AI for diverse applications ranging from meeting transcription to building custom agents and assistants. This reflects a broader organizational goal to fundamentally transform how work gets done through AI integration.
Van de Maele sees Collibra’s strategic position in the enterprise AI marketplace as an independent layer that connects vast amounts of company-specific data, unlocking AI’s full potential—particularly for AI agents. He draws an analogy to onboarding a senior employee who needs to navigate complex data access protocols. Just as humans struggle with these challenges, AI agents face similar obstacles unless the organizational context is formalized and accessible.
The CEO warns against vendor lock-in with single AI model providers, arguing that large organizations need flexibility to switch between models as the technology rapidly evolves. “If I’m a big bank, if I’m a big organization, I don’t want to be completely tied to one model vendor because who knows, maybe next month there’s another model that’s five times better or five times cheaper,” he stated, emphasizing the strategic importance of maintaining optionality in the fast-moving AI landscape.
Key Quotes
In any interview, you expect people to think AI first in all the ways they do their job. And so if we ask for that and people haven’t used or experimented with AI tools, they don’t have a sense of how they do their job better, faster using AI, that definitely becomes a bit of a red flag.
Collibra CEO Felix Van de Maele explained his hiring philosophy, making clear that AI proficiency is now a baseline expectation for all candidates regardless of role. This statement reflects the company’s commitment to AI-first operations and signals broader industry trends in talent requirements.
I think you can ask questions to get a sense of how are people actually using those tools and what kind of experience have they had. I think that’s really important. Do they have an interest and are they leaning into wanting to use those tools, or are they more defensive and taking a step back on the adoption of those tools?
Van de Maele outlined his interview approach, emphasizing that he’s looking for genuine engagement with AI tools rather than just theoretical knowledge. The focus on attitude toward AI adoption—whether candidates are enthusiastic or resistant—reveals how cultural fit around technology is becoming a key hiring criterion.
If I’m a big bank, if I’m a big organization, I don’t want to be completely tied to one model vendor because who knows, maybe next month there’s another model that’s five times better or five times cheaper. I want to have the flexibility to change. That’s strategically important to me.
The CEO articulated a critical concern for enterprise AI adoption: vendor lock-in. This quote highlights the rapid pace of AI model development and why organizations need architectural flexibility. It positions Collibra’s data governance platform as essential infrastructure for maintaining strategic optionality in the AI landscape.
Our Take
Van de Maele’s stance represents a watershed moment in how AI literacy is perceived in the job market. What’s particularly striking is that this isn’t coming from an AI-native company like OpenAI or Anthropic, but from a data governance platform—a more traditional enterprise software category. This suggests AI proficiency expectations are spreading far beyond pure AI companies into the broader tech ecosystem and likely beyond.
The emphasis on practical experience over theoretical knowledge is telling. Van de Maele isn’t asking if candidates know about AI; he’s asking if they use it daily. This distinction matters because it separates those who view AI as a buzzword from those who’ve integrated it into their workflow.
The strategic insight about avoiding model vendor lock-in also reveals sophisticated thinking about enterprise AI architecture. As the AI landscape evolves at breakneck speed, companies that build flexible, model-agnostic infrastructure will maintain competitive advantages over those locked into specific vendors.
Why This Matters
This story signals a fundamental shift in hiring expectations across the tech industry and beyond. When a CEO of a $5.2 billion data governance company explicitly states that lack of AI experience is a “red flag,” it reflects how rapidly AI proficiency has moved from nice-to-have to essential. This has profound implications for the workforce, suggesting that professionals across all roles—not just technical positions—need to demonstrate practical AI literacy to remain competitive.
The emphasis on AI-first thinking also highlights the enterprise AI market’s maturation. Collibra’s positioning as an independent data layer addresses a critical challenge: organizations need flexibility to leverage multiple AI models without vendor lock-in. This insight reveals the emerging architecture of enterprise AI, where data governance platforms serve as crucial middleware connecting proprietary data to rapidly evolving AI capabilities.
For businesses, this represents both an opportunity and a warning. Companies that don’t cultivate AI-native talent and maintain flexible AI infrastructure risk falling behind competitors who embrace these tools more aggressively. The message is clear: AI adoption is no longer about future-proofing—it’s about present-day competitiveness.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/collibra-ai-first-employees-felix-van-de-maele-enterprise-2025-12