Meet Jakub: The Apprentice Pushing Boundaries in AI, IoT & Team Culture

Jakub joined Parallax in October 2024 as our Software Engineer Apprentice, following a standout placement year with the UTC Leeds. Even during his part-time placement, he impressed the team with his mature approach, rapid learning curve, and relentless curiosity. Now full-time, and nearing the end of his apprenticeship, he’s become a core part of the Parallax family. Fuelled by an insatiable appetite for knowledge and an equally strong love of coffee.

Why Jakub Stands Out

Jakub doesn’t wait to be told what to do, he gets stuck in. He embraces every challenge, willingly tackles new technologies, and consistently delivers work far beyond his years. He’s contributed to a wide range of internal and client projects, and even built an AI-powered API integration tool prototype in under two hours when asked if it was theoretically possible.

Jakub hasn’t just grown behind the screen - he’s stepped confidently into the spotlight too. Over the past year, he’s presented at multiple industry and community events, sharing insights on AI, rapid prototyping, and his hands-on approach to emerging tech. Whether demoing an AI powered cocktail machine live on stage or walking audiences through the thinking behind an AI cat flap, he brings clarity, energy, and genuine enthusiasm to every talk. 

His impact hasn’t gone unnoticed either: Jakub was named in the BIMA 100 list for Students & Apprentices, won Rising Star at Leeds Digital Festival, and has been nominated for Apprentice of the Year at the National Apprenticeship & Skills Awards. His ability to communicate complex ideas while inspiring others makes him not only a standout engineer - but a powerful ambassador for the next generation of tech talent.

Driving Innovation from Day One

Over the last year, Jakub has thrown himself into every challenge with energy and ambition, delivering meaningful impact across technical projects, internal culture, and experimental AI work. Alongside large data projects and AI integrated platform development, there's been a few fun things too;

Bringing Teams Together – Parallax Radio

One of Jakub’s most-loved creations is Parallax Radio - a fully branded internal radio platform that unites our remote and in-office teams through music. Built with Laravel, a React Inertia frontend, and the Spotify API, it allows a different team member to become the weekly DJ while everyone listens via their own Spotify account.

Securing Spotify approval wasn’t easy, requiring creativity to navigate branding restrictions and UX limitations. But the result has become part of Parallax folklore: a weekly event that boosts culture, sparks conversation, and helps the whole team feel more connected.

Mixing Innovation & Mixology – The AI Cocktail Machine

As part of our Applied AI showcase, Jakub also played a key role in developing the AI-powered cocktail machine - a fully automated system that takes a user prompt, generates a bespoke recipe using an LLM, and dispenses the drink with precise hardware control. Jakub integrated the vision model, automated the ingredient selection logic, and helped refine the real-time messaging layer to synchronise the UI with the dispensing hardware. 

The result was “a stand out event at Leeds Digital Festival” - a playful, tangible demonstration of how AI, creativity, and engineering can combine into an experience that feels almost magical. He’s just got to wait a few months before he can actually try anything from it… 

AI Meets IoT – “Purr-mission Granted”

Hackdays are part of the culture at Parallax - and during one shortly after Jakub joined, he engineered an AI-powered cat flap designed to stop pets from bringing rodents indoors. Using PyTorch, synthetic training data, and rapid prototyping, he achieved 80–90% accuracy within hours.

The model didn’t just classify images - it controlled a real, physical device. A complete AI IoT system built in a day. With minor tweaks, it could feasibly be a commercial product. It’s a brilliant example of Jakub’s ability to apply emerging tech to real-world problems with imagination and precision.

Strengthening Culture – One Cup at a Time

Innovation isn’t just technical. Jakub hosted a latte art workshop that brought the team together in an unexpected - and brilliantly fun - way. It’s a small moment that reflects a much bigger theme: his desire to build, share, and uplift the people around him.

What Others Say

Andy Fitch, Co-Founder & People Director, Parallax:

“Our apprenticeship scheme is part of our Academy here at Parallax, and one of the most important parts of how we grow our talent. It gives motivated individuals like Jakub the opportunity to gain hands-on experience, develop technical and professional skills, and make a real impact as soon as they feel comfortable doing so.

For us, it’s a fantastic way to build a strong pipeline of skilled people, whilst also investing in the next generation & bringing fresh perspectives into the business.”

Lawrence Dudley, Co-Founder & IoT Lead, Parallax:

“Jakub has a monstrous appetite for knowledge. In his first year he’s memorised half of Wikipedia, developed key skills in AI and product prototyping, and delivered billable work at a level I’d expect from a master’s graduate. Despite being a genius, he’s humble, supportive, and a genuinely great person to work with.”

Interested?

If this sounds like a bit of you, then we're always interested in speaking to talent that want to thrive, learn, and achieve their career goals. Get in touch today.