What’s in a Name: Why co-founder Stan Callewaert gave his AI startup a medieval twist with ‘Squire’

Typically, doctors dedicate their efforts to treating and caring for patients, but a significant portion of their time is consumed by administrative tasks rather than direct medical care.

Writing consultation reports, filling out paperwork, and managing patient records take up hours each day, reducing the time available for direct patient interaction.

These administrative burdens can lead to stress, burnout, and inefficiencies in the healthcare system.

Meet Squire

Technology has the power to change this. And here’s where Ghent-based Squire comes into play.

With AI, the company developed software that creates a draft of such a report after each consultation based on the conversation between the GP and the patient.

Squire is on a mission to streamline administrative tasks across the board, supporting healthcare providers to reduce their admin time.

When building a company focused on transforming medical administration, choosing the right name is essential. It had to reflect the mission of supporting, rather than replacing, healthcare professionals.

A name is more than just a word—it tells a story.

Welcome to “What’s in the Name,” our new series where we explore the meaning and stories behind startup names.

This week, we’re featuring Squire. Let’s dive into their story and see what’s behind the name.

A name rooted in service 

When picking a name for the startup, the founding duo — Stan Callewaert and Ignace Maes wanted something that shows its mission – helping doctors with AI tools while keeping them in control.

“The name (Squire) means servant,” says Callewaert, CEO and co-founder of Squire.

Historically, a squire was a servant to a knight, always there to support but never to lead. In this case, AI acts as a helpful assistant, not a replacement, explains Callewaert.

“It’s also intended as a fun contradiction because Squire is a very old word and we are a very new-age AI company,” he adds.

Callewaert says it took around two weeks to finalise the startup’s name. Additionally, deciding on the name was a collaborative process where they gathered feedback from various people.

Navigating domain name

In today’s digital world, domain availability is a crucial factor in naming a startup, but we didn’t let it dictate our choice entirely.

“It was important but not important enough to not pick a name because the .com domain was already occupied. We wanted a short name and almost all short .com domains are either occupied or too expensive. We bought squire.eu 2 weeks ago and if all goes well, we should go live on that domain next week,” he says.

Does a name define a startup’s success?

An ideal name can certainly help with branding, marketing, and SEO, but it’s not the defining factor in a company’s success.

“What you do with your company and how you position it is more than 10 times more important,” explains Callewaert.

The future of “Squire”

Callewaert currently does not anticipate any changes to the name “Squire,” though he acknowledges that circumstances can change.

Moving forward, the company plans to expand the product and develop ways to integrate the solution directly into the software GPs are already using.

“I however do see the possibility that we’ll release multiple products which each have their name,” he concludes.

In addition, Stan Callewaert and Ignace Maes are looking into expanding outside of Belgium. 

They want to modify their software so that it can help automate administrative tasks for healthcare providers like nurses and specialists.