Meet Stuart Deignan, UK MD at Software Development Company: Globant

Globant is a digitally native company that helps organisations reinvent themselves and unleash their potential. Our company was founded in 2003 in Argentina by four good friends and engineers who had a passion for technology: Martín Migoya, Guibert Englebienne, Martín Umaran and Néstor Nocetti. In less than 20 years, the company has grown to more than 21,800 employees in more than 45 cities in 18 different countries.

We were recognized as a Worldwide leader in CX Improvement Services by IDC MarketScape, and we are also members of The Green Software Foundation (GSF) and Cybersecurity Tech Accord.
 
 

 

How was the idea for the company created?

 
The idea, like so many good ideas, was conceived in a bar in Buenos Aires in 2003, at the height of Argentina’s economic crisis. Its founders worked for a consultancy firm and after work one day they met in a pub to talk about their future and how they could redirect themselves having suffered the impact of the economic crisis with delays in salary payments and inflation going crazy.

At the dawn of the 21st century, they came to the conclusion that the telecommunications revolution would be the way out of the situation they were in, and they decided to launch the technology consultancy named ‘Globant’. Today the company is worth more than 10 billion dollars. An impressive growth for which we have been a case study at prestigious universities such as Harvard, MIT and Stanford.
 

How has the company evolved during the pandemic?

 
In the first few months, we experienced a sense of uncertainty, similar to many other businesses across the globe, but we also felt that Globant’s culture of agile and distributed teams could be a key differentiating factor, and we began to support our clients to help them achieve their redefined priorities as a result of Covid.  But what really differentiated Globant from its competitors during this time were the very intimate relationships we had built up with our clients of years of partnership and successful delivery.

In addition, there was a renewed demand for digital transformation across sectors as companies had very little time to adapt to the new normal and reimagine what their customers would expect. We helped our clients to drive those key transformations at scale, and at speed, and as a result Globant has been experiencing an unprecedented demand and we’re growing consistently.

As far as our internal talent is concerned, we have also been very conscious of what this extraordinary situation, coupled with remote working and social distancing, can mean for individual integrity and mental health. To this end, we promote a healthy work environment to unleash the full potential of all Globers.

As part of our Be Kind programme, we launched Be Kind to Yourself, offering our employees psychological help if needed, but also medical assistance of any kind, including nutritional assistance. In addition, we have a programme to take care of our spirit with targeted activities such as yoga, meditation, mindfulness and many other wellness activities.
 

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

 
Of course my focus is the UK, and we have some great plans around growth for the region, underpinned by an investment of £65m. We are recruiting some fantastic talent, and winning some great clients and that’s helped drive growth that has seen our revenues double, and we are on course to more than double again this year.  One of the sectors we are working closely with leaders in the Financial Services industry to identify new opportunities and help them develop hyper-personalised customer experiences while ensuring they have the most optimised data strategy in place.

With our specialist capabilities in digital lending, blockchain, agile delivery and scalable platforms, we have a lot more potential to support the fast-growing Fintech ecosystem.

Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do and as the creators of tech, we feel responsible to ensure the products and solutions we develop have a positive impact on the environment. To accelerate our efforts, we’ve recently signed up with the Green Software Foundation to lead the path for Cleantech.

From our sustainability studio we bring the expertise to help brands measure their carbon footprint, develop climate roadmaps and foster a culture of sustainable practises. Globant was at the centre of the conversation at COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, where we introduced the idea of creating business legitimacy in the new green economy with sustainable tech efforts. Going forward we will continue to bring innovative tools and techniques to help organisations achieve their sustainability goals in line with the 2030 Agenda.

In addition, to support our go-to-market strategy we’ve recently launched our new Reinvention Studios, which will consolidate our industry knowledge and will bring Globers with specialist capabilities in these sectors together to share their expertise and work with clients to help them fulfil their future digital aspirations. Our Bluecap Future Finance Studio, brings in-depth expertise to help financial institutions implement new business models and modernise the way they operate; our Travel and Hospitality Studio will help companies create frictionless customer journeys; and our Airlines Studio addresses specific challenges in this highly competitive and regulated industry with an exceptionally complex business landscape.

As part of our Digital Studios, we have recently launched our Metaverse Studio, with the aim to help companies create new virtual spaces using AR, VR and XR technologies, to expand their brand’s presence with new offerings positioned in a creative way, and to maximize engagement with their customers.