Chemical engineer: "Seek tasks where you don't already know all the answers"

Jesper Madsen Wagner is an expertise director at the Danish consultancy Niras, where he helps clients use AI responsibly. The piece is a career interview with him in Ingeniøren's series on engineers' careers, under the title "Seek tasks where you don't already know all the answers." He is a chemical engineer by training.

Wagner began his career working with neural networks and data analysis, and he describes moving into AI as "coming home." He has been a consultant for 21 years of a 30-year career. He calls becoming a consultant the most important decision of his working life, because he thrives on variety, complex problems and the chance to use his full range of expertise.

The interview is built around questions about career choices and what he would do differently. A caption notes that he does not regret the experiences he has had, but that there are situations where he would now speak up or say no earlier.

Only the opening of the interview was available, so his full answers on advice for other engineers, his regrets and his work on responsible AI are not covered here. The title points to his main advice: look for tasks where you do not already know all the answers.

The interview is part of a recurring career series from Ingeniøren, the Danish engineering publication, which also features other engineers reflecting on their paths.