Herman Verdoodt: The Belgian Analyst Inspiring a Revolutionary AI

A Belgian Credit Analyst Inspires an Innovative AI

Herman Verdoodt, a 57-year-old credit analyst residing in Leuven, Belgium, has recently found his name attached to an artificial intelligence developed by the Belgian company Oper. Working for the mortgage insurer Creafin, Verdoodt is also a passionate supporter of the national football team and a proud grandfather of three grandchildren. Although he does not consider himself a tech enthusiast, he welcomed this news with surprise and amusement. "I'm not a techie — I'm a credit technician — but it was a nice surprise," he shared. His colleagues now affectionately refer to him as "the real Herman," humorously noting that the human Herman consumes much more coffee than his digital counterpart.

The AI agent, named Herman AI, is used by clients to verify data and helps Creafin manage around 500 million euros in business each year. Geert Van Kerckhoven, CEO of Oper, explained that the credit analysis sector is ripe for AI automation, as it is often seen as unappealing and bogged down by paperwork. When asked why he chose to name the system after Herman, he humorously replied, "No one forgets a nice Herman."

Verdoodt highlighted the growing challenges in recruiting professionals in his field. In his team of ten, three members have already surpassed the age of 60, making their replacement difficult. "It's a job with a lot of administration and data requests. Imagine being a chef and the kitchen only takes up 15-20% of your time — it's a bit like that for us. We check or correct data more than we actually do real mortgages," he explained. It is not uncommon to spend hours on an assessment only to discover a blocking data error. "That just happened last week," he recounted. Herman AI takes care of this work in just a few minutes.

Thoughts on the Impact of AI

Does the idea of having an AI bearing his name lead Verdoodt to reflect philosophically on his work? "I'm too old to have the illusion that I'll work less because of AI," he stated. "It will give us the opportunity to respond to clients more quickly. And when you respond faster, you receive more loan requests, so your days will be just as long as before."

When Verdoodt began his career around 1990, everything was manual. "Buying a house is the most important financial decision of your life. Here, the system does it in 5-10 minutes. It checks every part and flags if there’s a problem or a solution," he recalled. Despite the efficiency of AI, Verdoodt insists that humans must always be involved in the process. "Our clients are humans. The final judgment must be made by another human — it’s too important. You don’t buy a concert ticket; it’s a house. It’s 320,000 euros or more, and it takes 25 years to pay off."

Verdoodt even envisions seeing the artificial Herman replaced before the end of his career. "Normally, I will finish my career at 63. I’m sure by then, Herman will be replaced by another system. This won’t be the end of evolution. In 50 years, they will laugh at the technology we use today," he concluded.