Resilient and determined — that’s how 8allocate teams powered through another challenging year ridden by ongoing geopolitical tensions and economic turbulence. Heightened cybersecurity risks and growing concerns about the implications of various emerging technologies (like generative AI) also add to the conundrum.
Globally, the business climate remains challenging, but many leaders see disruption as an opportunity to innovate — and so does 8allocate.
Harnessing New Growth Opportunities Amidst Disruption
Driven by the increased pace of digitization, our business volume increased by 85% through 2022. In 2023, we added another 16%, effectively doubling our size by scaling existing client engagements and entering new partnerships. As the global tech talent shortages remain rampant and the demand for AI expertise increases, we expect 2024 to be another strong year for our company, as well as the global businesses we support.
Our core focus remains on data management, a segment that sees continuous demand. With greater adoption of data analytics and, more recently, advanced machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) models, business leaders are recognizing a stronger need for robust, scalable, low-latency data infrastructures. Custom large language models (LLMs), for example, require 570GB to 45TB of training data. Data generation, however, is often constrained by data privacy and compliance laws.
As we mentioned in our outlook of the key tech trends in 2024, new data architecture patterns are required to support faster, more affordable data provisioning for analytics systems. Better data governance and transparency are also in focus as companies start exploring new AI applications for achieving ESG targets.
8allocate has already helped our clients deploy advanced data analytics solutions for customer sentiment analysis (based on NLP), content recommendations, and financial market modeling. In 2024, we’re thrilled to support further feature maturation strategies for the existing clients and take on new challenging analytical problems for ML/AI application development.
Sector-wise, FinTech, EdTech, Logistics, and SaaS remain our key focus areas. This year, we expect some of the earlier technology trends in EdTech to further mature. Apart from test generation, Generative AI will likely expand to new use cases. For example, provide real-time voice guidance to language learners or facilitate information look-up in corporate eLearning platforms.
Similarly, we’re eager to see how the usage of AI in FinTech will evolve in 2024. Fraud detection, product recommenders, and claims processing are already some of the more established use cases. According to NVIDIA, 90% of financial services companies are either assessing AI or already using it in production, so 2024 will likely be the year of innovative financial products.
We expect further expansion of the “embedded finance” solutions — real-time, digital delivery of financial services through multiple interfaces and channel partners (e.g., insurance companies, online merchants, marketplace apps, etc). AI also holds great promise for wealth and asset management, especially for retail investors, dramatically reducing the learning curve for novice investors (which, in turn, drives user acquisition).
As global supply chains remain fractured and new sourcing strategies emerge, the logistics sector has also turned greater attention to emerging technologies. Location-based services (LBS), coupled with affordable sensor technologies, now allow shipping companies to track assets in real time and obtain new insights for route optimization. In 2024, 50% of supply chain companies plan to invest in applications with advanced analytics and AI capabilities to further streamline supply planning and execution. Other exciting areas of innovation include predictive inventory management, optimized warehousing operations, and a greater focus on sustainability as leaders are pressed to reduce their carbon footprints.
Broadening Our Operating Horizon
Over the last decade, 8allocate has forged strong client partnerships in the US and the UK markets. In 2023, we also expanded to South Africa and APAC, supporting local businesses on their journeys to digital excellence. We’ve conducted strategic operating sessions online and in person, looking for new ways to improve the synergy and alignment between our clients and our company. Our CSAT scores remain above 95% on average, and we’d strive to increase them to 99.99%!
This year, we’re looking forward to connecting with more companies in the Nordics and MENA region. The Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark) have a burgeoning tech scene, with 38% of funding going towards impact startups — companies committed to putting emerging technologies at the service of ESG.
The Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) also has emerging digital players in the FinTech, education, retail, and e-commerce sectors. In the first half of 2023, the local startups attracted a record $1.1 billion in funding. Creating a knowledge-based economy in place of a resource-dependent one is a key driver of digital transformation efforts in many MENA countries. And that’s a mission 8allocate would love to support.
Staying Committed to Operational Excellence
8allocate is an end-to-end software development partner. We’re supporting businesses at every stage of their new product development journey — from pre-project consulting on technology stack and product discovery to ongoing product development with dedicated teams.
Big data analytics, AI/ML solutions, and cloud remain our key focus areas, where we’ve proven to add the most value for our clients. But we’re also increasing our adjacent competencies.
Last year, we invested extra resources in expanding our UX/UI department, bringing new talent on board, and upskilling the workforce. Great customer experience has become the key differentiator for brands and delivers tangible benefits: Lower customer service costs, increased intention for future purchases, and higher price tolerance, among many others.
Our team has also improved our framework for minimal viable product (MVP) development. By combining Agile software development practices with an incremental approach to new product development, our framework allows small and medium-sized companies to launch new products faster and at a more affordable cost.
Internally, we’ve also been experimenting with generative AI — one of the biggest software engineering trends of 2024. To eliminate menial and manual work, our engineering team has adopted several commercial AI developer tools to optimize engineering and IT service delivery functions. During the pilots, our benchmarks showed a 2X increase in productivity among software engineers.
When used responsibly, Gen AI can act as a force multiplier, helping businesses accomplish more meaningful work with less effort and fewer resources. The technology is also highly flexible and can be adapted to multiple use cases. Besides coding copilots, we’re also experimenting with internal gen AI models to support our Sales and HR departments.
Great Talent is the Backbone of Our Success
8allocate continues to operate from three main locations: Poland, Ukraine, and Romania. Central Eastern Europe (CEE) remains one of the best regions to hire software engineering talent. Ukraine, Romania, and Poland are home to over 870,000 tech specialists with a broad range of competencies in application development, legacy software modernization, quality assurance (QA), and emerging technologies (AI, IoT, blockchain, etc). Great knowledge of English, close cultural proximity to Western countries, and strong work ethics come as some bonuses.
This year, we have welcomed many talented colleagues, including junior talents. We strongly believe that nurturing young professionals is essential to ensure strong industry growth and sustained interest in pursuing STEM degrees. In the past year, we have also launched several professional training programs and invested in professional certifications for our team. For 2024, we have already allocated a higher budget towards new learning and development (L&D) programs.
Apart from supporting our workforce, we continue to positively contribute to our society by bringing new business to the country. 8allocate also regularly shares some of our revenues with several non-profit organizations supporting social welfare and infrastructure restoration in Ukraine. Hence, we would like to thank our existing clients for their continued trust in our business, as it helps our country recover faster.
Accomplishing More in 2024
Over the past year, we’ve also made new connections with established and emerging digital leaders at the FinTech Connect, Dublin Tech Summit, TechEx London, and other leading industry events. They have helped us broaden our knowledge of the respective markets and develop new technical know-how for better product shipping.
In early 2024, the 8allocate team plans to head north for Stockholm Fintech Week and then catch up with our partners and make new friends at the MoneyLIVE Summit in the UK. We’d love to connect in person if you’re around!
As for the broader outlook, 8allocate remains confident in our ability to deliver stellar software engineering services for our clients through 2024. We’re entering this year with a renewed penchant for innovation, learning, and operational improvements.
