A Chat with with Alexandra Jankovich and Tom Voskes, Co-Founders at Digital Consultancy: SparkOptimus

SparkOptimus is a leading digital strategy consultancy firm based in Amsterdam with further offices in Zürich and Düsseldorf.

Since founding in 2010, we’ve worked on over 1,000 digital projects with hundreds of companies, including large multinationals such as Nestlé, eBay, Nike, Henkel, ING and many others. We like to say we’re experts in the ‘why’ and ‘how to’ of digital transformation.
 
 

 

What do you think makes you unique?

 
We have a 100% digital focus and we believe digital isn’t about digital! Really it’s about serving customers better, faster, cheaper and more sustainably. If you learn how to use digital systems and data well, these upsides will come, but the systems are only ever a means to an end.

Only it’s very common to try to approach things tech-first, which is an invitation to drop a lot of money without delivering on any goals.

The other thing worth mentioning about having a 100% digital focus is that it means we’ve developed a unique depth of expertise. Most consultancy firms are structured around industries, and so will send consultants with a cursory knowledge of, say, mining, into a mining company to tell them how it’s done.

We leave the in-depth industry knowledge to the companies we work with, but bring expertise instead in how to do digital transformations. This is valuable because most people in business will only ever do a digital transformation once, or possibly twice. We’ve done hundreds, so can bring a lot of experience that our clients genuinely don’t have and can benefit from.
 

How has the company evolved over the last couple of years?

 
This year has seen the publication of our new book Disruption in Action, which tells seven stories of how global companies take on digital. We wanted to share our knowledge and inspire leaders in the dynamic times we’re now living in. The book is a natural evolution from our previous bestseller Make Disruption Work.

We’ve also significantly elevated our work around sustainability: we’ve gone carbon neutral, we’re certifying as a B-Corp, and we’re developing our services in sustainability transformations, which have a lot in common with digital transformations.
And finally, we’ve strengthened our processes to become more entrepreneurial as a company, and give our brilliant staff as much freedom as possible.
 

What can we hope to see from SparkOptimus in the future?

 
Data is changing the world, and we anticipate that by 2030, every global business will be defined by data-driven ways of working and – increasingly – AI-assisted decision-making. This means there is a huge amount to be done between now and then, and we’re working to help companies get there.

We believe technology has the power to make the world better: better products and services for customers, and companies that are more efficient, transparent and sustainable. In the future we’ll be looking to see more of that and in harder numbers.