"Need to create"

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July 27, 2020

Oranžérie Opening

My long-term dream has always been to have a headquarters for our team. A place where we can come together, collaborate, and achieve great things!

A place that we can fit to our needs and wishes, a place that has cozy interiors and a comfortable garden. A place where our people feel good. Also, the very name “Keen Software House” suggests that we should have a “house”!

I believe that what surrounds us has an impact on what we create. If there are ugly things around you, you are more likely to produce low-quality products. If you are instead surrounded by inspiration, you are more likely to produce beautiful things. We should be raising our standards, not stagnating or declining.

Last year we were finally able to achieve this goal. We finally found a property in Prague that has all the attributes we need, the beautiful 18th Century villa, Oranžérie.

 
 
 

Since then, together with architects and a construction company, we were able to fit it to our dreams. We were very fortunate that the project went according to plan, despite having to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I want to give a big thanks to Olga Afanasjeva (COO at GoodAI), who led the entire renovation project from both a design and project management perspective. Olga made sure that every detail was thought through and created a beautiful and practical environment that will encourage our teams to flourish.

Oranžérie has 1000 square meters, with a 2000 square meter garden, a garage, and a large conference room. We have our own gym, a fully fitted kitchen, a fireplace, and a garden hang-out spot complete with grills for summer barbeques!

This month we finally moved in. The teams at Keen Software House and GoodAI are getting used to this new place.

Oranžérie has quite an interesting history – you can read more on its website: www.Oranzerie.cz

Both GoodAI and Keen Software House are hiring and we look forward to welcoming new team members to the office! Check out some photos below.

Photos 

Comments

  • July 27, 2020
    Alison B Lowndes

    It looks absolutely stunning Marek, Olga, I can't wait to visit!

    Replies
  • It is absolutely beautiful, it looks like something out of a dream.. my dream is to be able to see it for myself one day… lots of good wishes and I hope it inspires everybody to create and share

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Biography

I have always been driven by the need to create — games, AI agents, ideas. That’s why I started Keen Software House: to create games that only existed in my head. After Space Engineers took off, I founded GoodAI to develop AGI, to help humanity and understand the universe.

These days I’m focused on Space Engineers 2, the VRAGE3 engine, AI People, and autonomous agents in general — powering NPCs in our games, or swarms of autonomous and intelligent drones.

It’s all part of my long-term plan: to make civilization stronger, greater, and more resilient.

Our home base is a 17th-century Oranžérie in Prague — but we’re a remote-first, global team of 100+ programmers, artists, designers, and engineers.

I am proudly European 🇪🇺, and in the last few years, I’ve come to love South Africa 🇿🇦 and its people.

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