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Eelco van Bommel

Is SaaS Dead?, Here's a Senior Engineer's Perspective

Server racks in a data center

"SaaS is dead" became a talking point after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella used the phrase on the BG2 podcast in December 2024: if AI agents can take over the interface and the work, what is left of a subscription application? In his video, senior engineer Arjan from the ArjanCodes channel argues the opposite for a large part of the market — that the value of many SaaS products sits in work that has nothing to do with the code. This post summarises his argument and adds the figures and documents it leans on.

Software Architecture, The Hard Parts - Neal Ford

A traditional, non-SaaS application architecture

The Architect's Dilemma: A World of Awful Tradeoffs

In his insightful talk, "Software Architecture: The Hard Parts," Neal Ford delves into the core challenges that make the role of a software architect so demanding. The central theme is that there are no easy answers or perfect solutions in architecture; every decision is a complex tradeoff. This talk aims to illuminate these difficult areas and provide frameworks for navigating them more effectively.

  • in Economics
  • 3 min read

Import tariffs

Container ship in the Amazonehaven, Port of Rotterdam

An import tariff is a tax levied on goods entering a country. It's essentially an additional cost added to the price of the imported product.

How does an import tariff work?

Imagine a Dutch company imports shoes from China. The Dutch government might decide to impose an import tariff of, for example, 10% on shoes. This means that for every shoe the Dutch company imports, they have to pay an extra 10% of the shoe's value to the Dutch government.

Chat control: the EU proposal to scan messages for abuse material

The hemicycle of the European Parliament in Brussels, with the EU flag and the flags of the member states behind the podium

On 11 May 2022, the European Commission presented a regulation to tackle child sexual abuse material online (COM(2022) 209). The proposal obliges online services to map out risks, gives authorities the power to have material removed or blocked, and sets up a European centre for coordination and victim support. Its most debated part are the detection orders: mandatory detection of abuse material in communications. Member states and the European Parliament do not yet agree on whether that power should exist, and with which safeguards.

  • in Economics
  • 2 min read

ABN Riskmodel updates delayed

The ABN AMRO headquarters in the Zuidas, Amsterdam

ABN Amro has postponed the improvement of its risk models, which means the bank is currently holding more capital than necessary. The delay has also pushed back the decision on the share buyback until the middle of 2025. The bank has long struggled with the quality of its risk models and data, which do not fully meet the supervisor's requirements.

We are AI

Working with the robot Octavia during a technology demonstration at the Pentagon

The concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is in an important sense a reflection of the choices humans make: systems are trained on material people produced, and they are optimised for goals people set. That inheritance shows up in measurable ways — in who a model gets wrong, and in what it asserts with complete confidence.