He joined Trask straight after graduating from CTU. He wanted to do something meaningful that would push him forward. He was interested in data and wanted to work with real artificial intelligence — not just deal with Excel and PowerBI. Today, after less than a year in the role of Data Scientist, Tomáš Holas has completed projects for Škoda Auto, Moneta Bank, J&T Bank, and several AI hackathons with Microsoft. From day one, he’s been going full speed.
Tomáš is among those who jumped into the world of AI directly from university and quickly found their place. In the interview, he talks about why he chose Trask, what his first weeks looked like, what he works on today, and what he would say to people who are just finishing school now.
Tomáš Holas, Data Scientist, Trask
CTUFIT – Artificial Intelligence
At Trask since: November 2024
Projects: Škoda Auto, Moneta Bank, J&T Bank
Technologies: RAG, AI agents, Azure, NLP
When Theory Isn’t Enough: From School to Real AI
Tomáš graduated from CTU, Faculty of Information Technology, majoring inartificial intelligence. While still in school, he looked for a job to earn some money. He started with Microsoft Dynamics 365. “What I do now has nothing to do with that,” he laughs. “It was good experience and it made sense alongside my studies.”
After graduating, he wanted to move into an area he truly enjoyed. “I was looking for something data-related, something with AI. Through a friend I learned about Trask — that they do real things with artificial intelligence. So I gave it a shot.”
People Made the Decision, Not the Offer
In the end, Tomáš had three job offers. “Financially, it was similar everywhere. But I was really drawn in by the approach of the people from Trask. From the first communication I felt it would be human and friendly.”
The interview played a major role: “It was led by Tech Lead for Data Science Andrej Svitek and Director of Data & AI Martin Tomis. At that moment I thought — yes, these people really know their stuff and can take me further. I felt I would learn a lot from them.”
Full Speed From the Start: From Škoda to AI for Banks
He didn’t have to wait long to get started — within a few days he was on his first project. “After a few introductory days they assigned me to Škoda. Iworked there with data scientist Pavel Schlesinger, who had the right approach— he guided me but gave me space. It wasn’t ‘you’re a junior, do this.’ More ofa mentoring relationship. It really gave me a lot.” Thanks to that, heimmediately got his hands on the technologies he joined Trask for. “It was exactly what I wanted to do.”
During his year at Trask, Tomáš has worked on several interesting projects. “With Martin Tomis we worked for Moneta — we developed an AI agent for handling complaints about banking transactions. We had it working in a month. Quite a rush, but we managed.”
Another project was J&T Bank. “There we’re building agent systems. This collaboration actually originated from a Microsoft hackathon we took part in. We from Trask acted as mentors, helping the team with the AI part and deployment in Azure.”
Tomáš has participated in several other hackathons. “It’s a great experience — you get to try working under pressure, while tired, with a team. And in my opinion, it’s extremely valuable for personal development.”
What You Learn in School Often Doesn’t Work in Practice, Says Tomáš
Tomáš describes his year in Trask as a major step forward. “I definitely learned a huge amount,” he says. “I wouldn’t say I ‘grew’ drastically, but I certainly got hands-on with a lot of things. Mostly I found out that what you learn in school often doesn’t work at all in practice. But that’s exactly what I enjoy — learning how to actually do things.”
From the technologies he works with, he mentions RAG, AI agents, Azure deployment, and natural language processing.
“I’d probably tell everyone finishing school: keep your feet on the ground. Yes, your degree was hard and cost you a lot of work, but realistically you still don’t know much. So don’t ask for crazy salaries right away — look for a place where you’ll actually learn something. Trask is exactly that kind of opportunity — you get to work on real projects and learn a ton about the field,” adds Tomáš Holas.
