Georgi has been working in Daticum for ten years. Recently, he has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer at Daticum, one of the best-performing companies in Sirma Group. Georgi started as a Sales Director and successfully led the company through the challenging times in the so-called Decade of Change. To name but a few– the economic recovery after the global 2008-2010 crisis, the boom in cloud services and solutions with an overall migration of businesses to cloud, data migration, IT infrastructure; technologies moving to the edge, and the most recent pandemic lockdowns and the post-pandemic recovery. He has shared a positive and proactive attitude, no matter how good or how difficult the business environment was, because “Fortune favours the brave” and the right time will never come if one only waits for a better one.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of your successful career in Daticum. Please, share with us what challenges you have gone through, along with your team, during this decade?

So many things have happened in 10 years, it won’t be easy to pick out just a few. We have had many successful moments; of course, we sometimes met the down side of our business, namely lost deals or prospective customers. Overall, we have managed to build a solid relationship between ourselves as a team and with our customers, many of whom have been with us for about ten years, which is an excellent indicator for us about our work and our company.

What from your previous experience helped you to succeed in Daticum?

The main reason is my ability to strike a balance between different tasks and have the courage to make a specific decision when the situation requires it to happen. I am not afraid to bear the burden of responsibility.

What was your role in achieving the company’s overall goals? How do you feel being a part of one of the most successful companies in the Sirma structure?

As Commercial Director, I would say that my contribution was quite significant to achieving the bottom-line results. However, nothing is possible if the whole team and company do not work as a perfectly oiled engine, with a common attitude to achieve the set results and to constantly seek growth. In this regard, each of us, the employees of Daticum, played an instrumental role in being one of the most successful companies in the holding.

Where do you see the company moving in five years?

In the next five years, our goal is to raise the quality of our services and make Daticum the most recognizable brand in Bulgaria and the region, establishing the company as the finest and the most reliable cloud services providers.

What is going to change in terms of technology trends?

Cloud and cloud services will continue to be a top priority in the development of companies and the management of their IT assets. The global pandemic has intensified this trend for large companies which have not been so affected by the crisis. For this reason, some of them did not consider cloud migration as business-critical and, especially, for those activities that had received little attention before. As the economic crisis subsides, which we all hope will happen soon, such companies will also look to cloud services and see them as a necessity rather than as an exotic costly external service.

Describe your leadership style?

I consider my leadership style as democratic and results-oriented. I prefer to motivate colleagues to actively participate in brainstorming sessions and generate new proposals as well as to have the opportunity to fully manage a project, or process, without micromanagement or interference with their daily tasks.

How do you listen to your employees?

My door is always open, and everyone knows that they can speak with me at any time to resolve an issue, no matter work or personal.

How important are the enthusiasm and loyalty of employees for the organization’s success?

Both are vital factors for a company if it strives to grow and to move forward. Enthusiastic employees with the desire to succeed, contribute to better work and excellent company performance. Here we are not only talking about good pay but also an overall acknowledgement of the efforts made by each employee. The company can also show its loyalty and appreciation of the well-done work.

What keeps employees happy, in your opinion?

If they feel fully valued, not only as employees, but also as individuals.

How do you motivate people to go the extra mile?

I try not to put them in a predefined framework of behaviour and working pattern. A good manager should empower the employees by giving them the freedom to show what they can do and to demonstrate their positive qualities in the work process. However, each employee has a different personality and different positive traits. My attitude is to judge people after they perform the task, because I see our team utilizing the best qualities of the team-members to deliver the best output. At the very least such an approach and team spirit is encouraged by us.

Are any efforts being put forward to increase employee collaboration between the other companies within Sirma Group?

We support synergy at work and strive to join forces to achieve the best solution or service for the client. Every time we see an opportunity, we try to work together and collaborate with the other companies in the holding, when a particular case or project makes this possible.