Operations in AI Safety: A One-Year Perspective and Advice
Jul 24, 2025
Hi, I'm Mick Zijdel
Program and Operations Manager | Software Developer | Theatre Maker
I run programs and events to get more people working on critical AI Safety challenges at Catalyze Impact. Previous experience in theatre operations, supporting ~370 student societies, and freelance software development.
Outside of work, I work on software projects and do theatre, and I like to dance. This Edinburgh Fringe, I am the sound technician for Mary: A Gig Theatre Show from 14-21 August.
My Projects
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Catalyze Impact
Incubation program for new AI Safety organisations
Edinburgh Festivals Chat
Chatbot providing information about the Edinburgh Festivals
Newsletter
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Recent Posts
I currently co-run Catalyze Impact’s incubation program for new AI Safety organisations. This includes recruitment, selection, program design, logistics, and participant support.
I make heavy use of my software engineering skills to automate repetitive tasks, and I make amazing spreadsheets.
A conversational AI assistant for discovering shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Developed using FastAPI and React TypeScript. Supports semantic search over festival data, category filtering, show recommendations, and RAG-powered chat responses with ChromaDB vector storage.
Made because I was frustrated reading through the ~3500 shows in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme and I just wanted to ask the program what I should go see.
Photo from “Mary: A Gig Theatre Show”. Credit: Carla Watson
I sometimes work as freelance sound designer and composer.
Theatre
- Mary: A Gig Theatre Show: Sound Designer
- 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee: Edinburgh Fringe (August 2024)
Music
- Ethics Town Podcast: Theme Composer