Michael Jentgens

Michael Jentgens works at the interface between research, business and language AI. As co-founder and CEO of laizee, he is head of a company that specialises in AI solutions for companies, municipalities and public authorities. laizee, a spin-off from FH Aachen, combines research with practical applications and focuses on intelligent language processing, automation and barrier-free communication. Its products include Fair Text - a solution for automatic translation into simple and easy language - and chatbots that access company documents and provide contextualised, fact-based answers. The portfolio is complemented by individual projects and AI consulting, with which laizee supports organisations in the use of AI.

His career began with a dual apprenticeship as a mathematical-technical software developer and work as an apprentice in the energy industry at a cooperating company in Hückelhoven. In his Master's degree, he combined energy economics and computer science at Faculty 10 and increasingly worked in the domain of energy economics. This was followed by research projects at the NOWUM Institute, close collaboration with Prof. Dr rer. nat. Bodo Kraft and initial work on AI solutions for extracting information from PDF documents - a topic that was later also included in awards. laizee was founded in 2021; Mr Jentgens joined in 2024 and is now Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of the company, which has dedicated itself to the goal of creating comprehensibility with AI with "language analytics made easy".

Mr Jentgens, you have a more technical and business background. How did you get into language AI?

My path was very pragmatic and experimental at the same time. The dual training programme taught me the craft, and later on in my Master's degree I became more involved in the energy industry. At the NOWUM Institute, we dealt with practical issues - such as how to automatically and reliably read product price sheets from PDFs. The whole thing was very hands-on and even became part of a research project that was honoured with an award. The collaboration with Prof. Dr Bodo Kraft and the lab environment gave rise to many ideas relating to language AI; this ultimately resulted in the environment from which laizee emerged.

What is behind the name laizee?

The name is deliberately ambiguous: laizee stands for "language analytics made easy" - that is our claim. At the same time, it sounds like "lazy" and suggests that you sit back and let the AI take over tedious, repetitive tasks. The idea is not to relieve people of work in order to erode jobs, but to automate routines so that people can concentrate on more demanding tasks. This is also part of our philosophy: users are at the centre, solutions must emerge from the bottom up - you have to understand the actual problem processes, not construct something from the top down.

What drives you personally?

I am attracted by the combination of research and practical application. I find it exciting to turn an idea into a product that solves real problems. It's also important to me that the technology helps users - comprehensibility is our ambitious goal. And quite simply, good teamwork and a great team motivate me every day. We cultivate a form of friendship in the team, we also spend time together privately and regularly have offsites, cook together or go wine tasting. That strengthens the teamwork enormously.

How is laizee set up in terms of organisation and content?

Technically, we are closely linked to research - most of our employees are still involved in research projects at the university on a part-time basis. This gives us access to in-depth expertise and at the same time the hands-on culture that we know from industry. We are a small, growing team and are working on developing a product that makes language AI practically usable for companies. We don't want to be the next big hype player that disappears from the market after a short time, but a sustainable provider for comprehensibility and productivity.

What role does the topic of hands-on experience play for you - also as a tip for students?

Software development is a craft. AI can be very dry in theory; my advice to students is clear: get started, do your own small projects, implement mini use cases. That's how you learn how to really put an idea into practice. Practice is crucial. Private projects, small applications, internships - these all help to make abstract knowledge tangible.

And how do you see the role of AI for jobs?

I don't believe in the image that AI automatically destroys jobs. If we automate tasks intelligently, there will be room for new roles, better counselling and more demanding activities. It is important to involve people, understand their processes and build solutions that deliver real added value. At laizee, this is exactly what we aim to do: use AI so that people can work better.

What do you do when you're not working?

I try to do sports and I like to go out for a good meal - culinary delights are a passion in the team and in my private life. These little breaks are important to stay creative and focussed.

What can we expect from laizee in the next few years?

We want to establish ourselves as a player in the field of comprehensibility. In the short term, we will continue to grow, expand the product and remain closely involved in research projects. In the long term, we see ourselves as a company that helps organisations to make language and information usable and understandable - without losing sight of people.

Any final personal words?

Be practical, try things out and don't lose the joy of working together. Technology is only as good as the people who use it.