About

Michel van Kessel

IT professional since 2000 with 25+ years across data centers, cloud, storage, servers, and networking. CCIE Data Center #44197 certified (2014), Cisco Champion for 10 consecutive years (2015-2025), Cisco Certified DevNet Associate, and certified in AI Solutions on Cisco Infrastructure Essentials. TOGAF and CompTIA Security+ certified.

That foundation taught me how complex systems break, scale, and evolve. Now I'm applying that expertise to the next paradigm shift: Agentic AI for infrastructure and full-stack platforms.

The Foundation

  • •25+ years designing and operating enterprise infrastructure at scale
  • •Deep networking expertise: Cisco CCIE Data Center, Palo Alto, Fortinet, LB, SDN, SDWAN
  • •Cloud architecture: Azure, AWS, GCP, hybrid/multi-cloud environments
  • •Storage and compute: NetApp, VMware, containerization, Docker
  • •Industry certifications: TOGAF, Cisco CCIE Data Center, Microsoft (Azure), NetApp Storage

The Transformation

Agentic AI is reshaping infrastructure operations. Moving from "tools that assist" to "agents that execute." I'm building production systems where AI agents autonomously:

  • →Deploy and optimize LLMs and RAG pipelines with built-in observability and cost control
  • →Self-heal infrastructure through predictive monitoring, data and network traffic analysis, and incident detection
  • →Orchestrate multi-agent workflows that handle planning, testing, deployment, and rollback
  • →Automate DevOps pipelines end-to-end, from code generation to production monitoring

I'm not just deploying AI. I'm designing agentic infrastructure platforms where AI agents become operational assets, enabling teams to focus on strategic work.

Real-World Impact

Secure, Multi-Tenant LLM Platforms

Enterprise-grade LLM deployments with governance and security frameworks

Internal AI Ops Assistants

AI agents that troubleshoot, analyze, and escalate infrastructure issues

Infrastructure-as-Code with AI

AI agents in secure environments that propose, test, and deploy changes

Predictive Systems

Configurations that prevent failures before they cascade

What This Means for Organizations

AI agents will reshape teams, with enterprises rapidly reducing human-in-the-loop involvement as agent autonomy increases. Infrastructure isn't just "being automated", it's becoming self-aware. Teams need people who understand both traditional infrastructure and how to build governance, orchestration, and security frameworks around autonomous AI agents.

Because of my background as Lead Technical Consultant and Senior Engineer, I bridge strategy and execution. I partner with teams to define and troubleshoot issues, architect solutions, and lead implementations into production.

Experience

Routz

IT Consulting & Infrastructure

Netherlands

Consulting for enterprise clients across various industries, specializing in data center infrastructure, cloud migrations, and network architecture.

Skills & Expertise

CCIE Data Center
Cisco ACI & SDN
Palo Alto / Fortinet
Azure / AWS / GCP
VMware / NetApp
LLM Deployment
RAG Implementation
Multi-Agent Systems
Infrastructure-as-Code
Python / TypeScript
Docker / Kubernetes
TOGAF Architecture

Languages

Dutch(Native)
English(Professional)
Portuguese(Professional)
Spanish(Elementary)
German(Elementary)
Italian(Elementary)

Certifications

CCIE Data Center #44197
Cisco Certified DevNet Associate
Cisco Champion 2015-2025
AI Solutions on Cisco Infrastructure Essentials
CompTIA Security+
Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
LFS211: Linux Networking and Administration
TOGAF Certified

Current Focus

Now expanding into Agentic AI and full-stack development, combining decades of infrastructure expertise with modern AI capabilities to build intelligent automation solutions.