MindWave is based in both Belgium and Greece. How does this dual presence shape your company’s innovation and growth strategy?

From the customer’s perspective, there is only one MindWave BV with one clear mission: solving one of the key challenges of the CIO, i.e., how to find IT resources at a reasonable cost. As the answer to this question differs in both countries, we are internally split into two legal entities: MindWave in Belgium is a cooperative (CV), the most cost-efficient legal structure for working with freelancers; in Greece, we are a “traditional” Société Anonyme, but we’re very attractive to candidate employees, a.o. Due to our “homeworking as the default” principle. When it comes to technological innovation (Data Management, AI, etc.), both entities collaborate closely. The Belgian team focuses on profiles where customer contact is key, but the bulk of the work is done out of Greece.

In a competitive landscape where many companies look toward East-European countries and further for IT talent, why did you focus on Greece? What advantages have you discovered?

Greece has ample advantages over other countries: there’s only an hour difference between Belgium and Greece, and as Greeks usually start working one hour later, you could even say that the working hours are the same. The majority of Greeks speak English as a second language. On top of that, education is very important in Greek culture. They are very ambitious and loyal; our team in Greece has the highest retention rate I’ve seen in my 20+ years as a manager in various IT consulting companies.

You’ve expanded rapidly in Greece. What challenges and opportunities did you face regarding local talent acquisition and retention, especially compared to Belgium?

To acquire local talent, you need a local presence, including a legal entity and a good support network. Moreover, the Greek government took some big steps in digitalisation. Their eSigning platform is an asset. This does not mean you do not have to deal with practical challenges. One of the best anecdotes was that we couldn’t get an appointment with the bank before we had a Greek mobile phone number… which you can only obtain when you’re in Greece. So, we travelled a lot back and forth when we were establishing our company.

When it comes to attracting people, Greeks use their social network a lot. They rely on their friends and family to check the reputation of a company, even more than in Belgium. So, we made sure that the people who helped us start the company had a strong network and an impeccable reputation. The HR manager we recruited is also very well-known and popular in the sector; whenever we go to a job fair, it always looks more like a gathering of friends than a professional networking event.

How do you see the role of CIOs evolving in the face of global talent shortages, and how can businesses stay competitive in attracting top IT talent?

The strategic sourcing plan of a CIO should be international and dynamic. Ten years ago, sourcing was about attracting the best IT people in the neighbourhood of your IT offices… or creating a new IT office in a region (or country) where IT people were available: these were long-term investments with a fairly stable plan.

Taking into account that remote and homeworking have become common practices, it is a lot easier to attract IT people regardless of their location; an office has become optional. But this also means that the competition has become a lot stronger and the conditions can change in a very short term. Locations that seem interesting today can become a lot less interesting in a few years: a long-term plan can quickly become outdated.

With the rise of nearshoring in Southern Europe, what lessons can traditional IT hubs like Romania learn from Greece’s emerging tech scene?

You should never rest on your laurels. I’m not in the position to say what governments should do, but what the Greek government did clearly worked: Moody’s is the last big credit rating agency that rates Greece as a (moderate) credit risk. And even they recently rated Greece as “Baa1 / positive,” which means that they are very optimistic that Greece’s next evaluation will result in a “low credit risk” rating.

The 2023 investments in data centres by giants like Microsoft in Greece show confidence in the country’s tech potential. How does MindWave fit into this larger ecosystem?

MindWave is a niche player focusing exclusively on senior professionals. As the IT sector grows in Greece, it becomes easier for us to find talent that fits within that niche. MindWave is not organised to give juniors the support they need; juniors are better off with other companies.

In any case, data centres these days do not require a lot of (on-site) people. Still, the fact that Microsoft and Google opted for Greece is a vote of confidence in the stability and overall cost-effectiveness of the country, but their arrival will not impact the availability of IT professionals significantly.

MindWave is poised to double in size within three years in Greece. What key growth strategies are you focusing on to achieve this ambitious target?

Since the start of MindWave Greece, we have been focusing a lot on employer branding, e.g., never missing an opportunity to sponsor a good job event. These years of investing now result in MindWave being a well-known brand in and well beyond Athens. This is essential to attract the right people and support the ambitious growth strategy we want to deploy.

With MindWave operating in Java development, how do you ensure continuous innovation in an industry where technological advancements move so quickly?

Juniors and seniors have a completely different approach to learning new technologies. With juniors, you would set up learning plans, career paths, etc. But a MindWaver is a senior. So, we opted for personal training budgets: every MindWaver can spend their yearly budget on their preferred type of training. No matter if this is a classroom online training or even a traditional book—if it’s relevant to the job, we will approve it.

Next to that, we facilitate knowledge sharing as much as possible: we organise “brown bag sessions” during lunchtime where a MindWaver presents something to the rest of the group, and informal meetings to get to know each other and find out what colleagues are working on.

You’ve highlighted Greece’s lower salary costs as a competitive advantage. How do you balance cost efficiency with ensuring the quality of service and communication?

In a post-pandemic world, almost every company has at least some homeworking. This means many of the tools and processes needed for nearshoring are already in place, only in rare cases where a language (other than English) is a crucial factor does the business case for nearshoring become negative.

What are the key factors you consider when deciding where to establish new hubs, and how does this align with your long-term vision for MindWave?

When it comes to local presence, we obviously go where our customers are. There’s an advantage (both in language and culture) to staffing on-site positions with local people over staffing them with those who are relocated for the assignment.

When it comes to the nearshore capacity, we will expand in Greece first. At the moment, we are focusing on greater Athens, as almost ⅓ of Greece’s population lives there. But there are other interesting cities, such as Thessaloniki, where we are just starting. When it comes to other countries, a lot will depend on how fast we can build a support network.

How does your experience working with Belgian and Greek teams influence your perspective on cross-cultural collaboration in the IT sector?

Working in cross-cultural teams is an enrichment not just to your professional life but also to your personal life. Opening your eyes to different views and values, and perhaps adapting your own to some of them, will not just make you a better worker but also a better human being.

In the post-pandemic world, hybrid and remote working models have become the norm. How is MindWave adapting to these trends in its operational model?

We were already using hybrid and remote working models before the pandemic. What changed after the pandemic is that every prospect already had some experience with remote working. Today, we see a trend, especially in Greece, where companies are demanding their people to start working in the office again. I can understand that, especially when you’re working with more junior employees, but in our case, homeworking will remain the default.

What’s your take on the role of CIOs in driving digital transformation across multiple regions, and how can they leverage nearshoring as a strategic asset?

Nearshoring is a key ingredient in getting the right IT resources at a reasonable cost. If you, as a CIO, do not have unlimited financial resources and/or are struggling to find the right people, nearshoring is an undeniable tool in your belt.

In a post-pandemic world, everyone has had some experience with remote and home working. The tools are there; the processes have already been adapted. It’s up to the CIO to take one of two paths: do I want to invest time and money in the knowledge of nearshoring so that I can start my own remote workforce, or do I work with a partner that brings in the knowledge and bridges the gap between the local and remote team? If you choose the second path, MindWave can be your ideal partner.

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