Recommendations mentioning initiative.

Michael joined Fruity-AI as one of the very first hires alongside the two founders, which is not always an easy position to step into. But Michael has handled it in a very natural way from the beginning. He has always pushed things forward in a sincere and honest fashion, with strong care for both the people he works with and the product he is building. He is not afraid to speak up or challenge opinions, but it always comes from a good place and with a lot of respect for his peers. Michael has played a key role in shaping how we build AI products. He has almost managed to scale himself through AI and helped us do more than we otherwise could as a small team. On top of that, Michael has been a big part of creating the culture at Fruity-AI. He is social, energetic and always good at bringing people together, whether it's around a product discussion, a Slack thread or a Friday beer.

I worked very closely with Michael on designing the interactions and user experience on Paperpal features. Much of the trademark Scandinavian simplicity and intuitiveness that you experience on Paperpal is due to Michael's clean aesthetic. Edutech applications can be highly specialized and complex, and there's a bit of a learning curve; Michael's layperson POV helped us innovate and take more risks on — he never once felt compelled to copy from the competition. Throughout the time we worked together, Michael also supported product with UXR initiatives including prototype tests that helped us get a better idea about our users and their needs. Above all, I appreciated working with a designer I could riff ideas off, instead of just working in a directive fashion.

Michael is passionate about doing things in a way that makes the end result feel sharp and genuinely useful for the user. He is happy for a solution to be simple, as long as the user is left with the impression that we, as the provider, did our very best to help them with the need they had. That is why Michael immerses himself in the user's situation and combines it with his deep insight into trends and technical possibilities, so he can create the best possible user experience. Michael is never afraid to challenge the established way of doing things — both the solutions we are about to land on and the routines and habits we have built up in the workplace. Maybe it can be even better if we do something different or unexpected? Michael is a great colleague who often takes the initiative on social activities at work. On the whole, he places great value on the connection between the work-related and the social. Michael is not a typical nine-to-five employee; instead, you will very often find that he has come up with interesting new angles on the solutions outside so-called normal working hours.

This recommendation is translated from Danish.