About Me
Senior Data Scientist at Meight with 12+ years of industry experience and 4+ years of PhD research, bridging the gap between processed telemetry data and actionable logistics decisions. My work focuses on tour optimization, data strategy, and building evaluation frameworks for the company's new AI agents.
Previously at Glovo, I specialized in logistics simulation and optimization. I led the development of the discrete event simulator used to validate the dispatch and matching algorithms, ensuring that efficiency gains in the digital world translated to massive cost reductions in the real one.
I hold a PhD in Robotics from UPC Barcelona (IRI), where I researched algorithms for robots to find people. My work focused on handling the uncertainty of the real world and noisy sensors using particle filters and reinforcement learning.
Beyond work, I am a proud father to a 5-year-old daughter and enjoy active time with my family. For myself, I love running (both road and trail) to explore new places and occasionally join amateur races for the atmosphere. I enjoy riding my motorcycle on the road and exploring the outdoors.
I am also a food enthusiast, enjoying the best of both my worlds: Catalan traditions (Fideuà, Calçotades, Paella) and Dutch classics (Snert, Stamppot Boerenkool, Pannenkoeken).
📍 Based in: Tiana (Barcelona area), Catalonia, Spain
💼 Current setup: Working remotely for Meight (Évora, Portugal)
🗣️ Languages: Dutch (native), English (fluent), Spanish (fluent), Catalan (proficient)
🇪🇺 Citizenship: Dutch / EU citizen
Always happy to connect with fellow data scientists, discuss logistics optimization or LLM evaluation, or trade Barcelona running route recommendations over coffee (virtual or in-person).
Highlighted Work
Freight Optimization & LLM Agents
Meight (2024-Present)
- LLM Agents & Evaluation: Designed the evaluation framework for AI Agents, measuring faithfulness, tool usage, and cost for both structured and unstructured outputs. This ensures reliability for agents automating admin tasks for freight managers.
- Tour Optimization: Developing algorithms to optimize freight planning and reduce empty running. This involves integrating processed real-time telematics and EU driving-time regulations to boost Revenue Per Kilometer (RPK) for carriers.
Delivery Simulator & Route Optimization
Glovo (2019-2024)
- Delivery Simulator Leadership: Led the architecture and refactor of the discrete event simulator. This tool was the optimization and testing ground for the dispatch and matching algorithms, allowing the team to tune hyperparameters and validate logic for a network spanning 23 countries and 120k+ monthly couriers.
- Matching Optimization: Built the automated optimization pipeline for the matching cost function, enabling rapid experimentation to balance delivery speed, courier earnings, and operational efficiency.
- Route Optimization (VRP): Led the VRP implementation for bundling, enabling the system to dynamically batch orders and optimize routes in real-time.
PhD & Research: Robotics & Uncertainty
IRI, CSIC-UPC & University of Groningen (2006-2017)
- PhD Thesis: Searching and Tracking of Humans in Urban Environments. Developed algorithms (MOMDP, POMCP) for robots to find people, treating the problem as a "Hide-and-Seek" game under uncertainty.
- MSc Thesis: Solving Ambiguity in Global Localization. Focused on resolving robot position ambiguity in symmetrical environments using probabilistic sensor models.
- BSc Research: Early work on SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) using Growing Neural Gas (GNG) networks to map unknown environments.
View thesis → Interactive demos → 💬 Chat with my research →
Explore interactive simulations of ALV homing, GNG-SLAM mapping, and vehicle routing algorithms. Or try the AI-powered chat to ask questions about my publications using RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation).
Highlighted Projects
Personal projects and experiments exploring optimization, AI, and interactive visualizations. View all projects →
CVRPTW Solver
Personal project exploring vehicle routing optimization for last-mile delivery. Built to experiment with Google OR-Tools and constraint programming techniques.
Research Chat (RAG)
AI chat interface for my publications using Retrieval-Augmented Generation. Ask questions about my robotics research and get cited answers.
Career Knowledge Graph
Interactive force-directed graph showing 25 years of skills and technologies. Explore 100+ nodes with timeline filtering and search.
DS Cheat Sheet
Personal reference library for data science workflows with AI-assisted card generation. Python snippets, algorithms, and patterns.
Hide & Seek Belief
Interactive demo from my PhD research. Compare probabilistic search algorithms (POMCP, particle filters) for robot navigation.
ALV Homing
Bio-inspired robot navigation from my Master's research. Interactive simulation of desert ant navigation algorithms.
Featured Articles
Technical writings on AI evaluation, simulation, and optimization. View all articles →
System 1 vs System 2: Testing LLMs with Riddles
December 2025
An experimental evaluation of how 8 models (6 cloud, 2 local) perform on logic puzzles, revealing the gap between pattern matching and first-principles reasoning. Includes complete raw model responses and an interactive challenge.
🎯 Try Interactive Challenge → Read Full Analysis → 📝 Raw Outputs →
How to Simulate a Global Delivery Platform
February 2021 • Medium
Deep dive into building a large-scale discrete event simulation system for Glovo's global delivery network, covering architecture decisions, performance optimization, and real-world validation.
Get in Touch
Email: alex (at) goldhoorn.net