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Careers guide: Ren Yee explains his move from designing buildings to imagining futures at UNSense

Ren Yee's experience in architecture led to him to head up the innovation and strategy team at Dutch firm UNStudio and its technology arm UNSense. He explains his career progression for the Dezeen Jobs careers guide.

After completing his architectural studies in Malaysia and the Netherlands, Yee moved through the ranks at a number of influential firms, before joining UNStudio and helping with the development of its digital-focused startup, UNSense.

"UNSense is an interesting mix of UNStudio’s evolving open, creative and inquisitive culture, with a tech start-up." Yee told Dezeen Jobs. "We work with cities to improve liveability through technological solutions."

Working in collaboration with international corporations including BMW, Apple and Microsoft, as well as academic establishments like AMS Institute, TUDelft and TU Tilburg, UNSense exists to "make bold ideas a reality in order to make a tangible impact", according to Yee.

"Exploring technology has always been native to UNStudio," he continued. "It is where we explore and design the relationship between technology, physical space and people."

Yee thinks that, with the increased automation of tasks and introduction of AI into the workplace, architects needs to be prepared to adapt.

"The requirements of work are changing so rapidly today," he said. "We need to constantly self-teach in order to update our skills and stay relevant."

Read the interview on Dezeen Jobs ›