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Member Spotlight: SoftServe

In the words of Guillaume Kendall—Director, Fintech & DLT, “SoftServe was founded in 1993 in response to a request from General Electric in North America to help them migrate database technologies.”  Today, SoftServe is headquartered in Austin, Texas and has 30 offices globally including: Lviv, London, Berlin, Sofia, and Wroclaw. The company predominantly specializes in: software development, big data & analytics, AI/ML, security, IoT, blockchain, digital platforms, cloud, DevOps, Innovation Platform, and experience design for clients across financial services, healthcare, media, and retail.
SoftServe has been growing over 30% organically the last 5 years. Today, it is proud to serve to over 300 clients on a global scale with a core focus given to financial services as the company is investing tremendous efforts into global retail and investment banks, insurers, and fintechs—with offices in 1 Canada Square, the heart of London’s banking district. Additionally, SoftServe has a number of deal negotiations underway in the Netherlands and is integrating into the Dutch market more closely by opening a local office in Schiphol as well.
Looking into Future
SoftServe prides itself on providing and advising its clients “for the future”. Guillaume Kendall notes that technology and business models are evolving at increasing speeds. “Well established companies simply cannot afford to sit still”, he notes. “We help them re-identify their differentiation and develop new services, and at the speed they expect.”
When asked about the challenges encountered in the digital journey for financial markets, Guillaume Kendall acknowledges there are many. However, he states, “SoftServe decided from the very beginning to focus on what we know best—how to deliver innovation and leverage the latest technologies from a deep understanding of the limits and possibilities of technology.” Mr. Kendall also believes that SoftServe’s concentration on client partnerships provide business insights that have been invaluable for delivering real value through joint endeavors, as well as assessing business processes, technology, and user experience. He adds that this method has enabled them to work with some of the most globally renowned financial institutions; some for nearly 20 years, and with a 98% retention rate.
Competition and beyond
SoftServe’s competitive differentiation is its agility and scalability. “The reason why our clients choose to work with us and why we are able to maintain a Net Promoter Score above 70 is because we take the time to get to know our clients’ challenges up front,” explains Guillaume Kendall. “This outside-in, bespoke approach means typically we are very well informed of the sorts of challenges our clients are looking to overcome.” He also believes that they are at a perfect size with 6,000+ employees, so that they are able to sustain enough depth in knowledge and breadth in coverage to compete at a pace its competitors can’t meet. Finally, he believes that SoftServe University—established to train up and certify much needed professionals in IT—makes SoftServe truly unique, while supplying the company with a “first look” at the best “up and coming” talent.
Opinions on the financial landscape
When asked about his views on the changing the financial landscape and SoftServe’s role in that, Mr. Kendall is vocal about the company’s ongoing commitment to agility and innovation while putting the customer at the center of every decision. “Our work in AI/ML, DevOps, and design thinking—as well as our growing capability in blockchain—positions SoftServe very well to work with our clients to reveal, transform, accelerate, and optimize to meet the demands of tomorrow.”
Near Future Plans
SoftServe continues to grow (in direct proportion to the size of projects and partnerships undertaken), while remaining dedicated to quality of results and depth of client relations. Mr. Kendall reports that the company has recently signed a DevOps strategy with a French retail bank. “Our European business has added 24 new clients this year alone, of which 5 are large financial institutions— all relating to data and digital strategy,”, he shares. “It’s a good start!”

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