Meet Zeticon's managing partners!

Hi Chris and Nick, how did you become managing partners of Zeticon?

Nick: I joined Zeticon in 2012 as development lead. The team then underwent an interesting transition from department at Ghent University to an independent company. Zeticon has grown rapidly since then and I grew with it to a position as CTO.

Chris: I was hired as managing partner in the role of CEO around September 2018, shortly after the acquisition by Cronos. I already had a great career behind me in various roles of general and commercial director inside and outside the IT world. I immediately saw the incredible potential of the product and I have been putting my shoulders to the wheel every day ever since.

Nick, you've been taking over as CEO from Chris for a few months now, with Chris focusing more on international business opportunities. How did you come to this decision?

Nick: That decision came very naturally from looking at the future together.

Chris: So you mean I'm getting old? (roars of laughter) No, it's just that sometimes my retirement is starting to itch. I also feel that my passion for sales is taking over again lately. I really want to throw myself out there for a few more years and make new contacts in order to put my shoulder to the wheel of Zeticon's growing customer portfolio.
We also want to make sure that the transfer of responsibilities is carried and supported by our employees. We also want to maintain this continuity towards our clients. Zeticon distinguishes itself from other platforms by our customer-oriented approach and by building sustainable partnerships. We develop our products in consultation with them. Our team regularly meets with our customers to find out how we can further support them. That is why we also want to go the extra mile by preparing the transition on time.

Nick: Indeed, we always opt for open and clear communication. So also in this transition process. Although we do not like labels. I now have the title of CEO, but as always we stand side by side in all our decisions.

This leads seamlessly to my next question. So in what areas do you complement each other as managing partners?

Nick: We really are gigantic opposites in all areas. (laughs) But mutually we share the same values and vision of entrepreneurship. I'm rather introverted and thoughtful. And you...

Chris: ... Iam the man of wild ideas! But the combination of our characters really forms a good tandem. Nick tempers my many dreams by turning them into feasible and realistic projects with the available resources.

Nick: Also vice versa, when I am too cautious in my approach, Chris challenges me to be more ambitious. Our partnership is based on openness and trust and the knowledge that we are stronger together than individually.

Chris: Indeed, I think sometimes people really underestimate how much we talk to each other. We discuss literally everything. This good and open communication and mutual respect for each other is the basis of our cooperation.

Nick: Because of my extensive technical baggage and Chris his years of commercial experience, we each look at the challenges that come our way through different lenses, but in this way we also see each other's blind spots.

Chris: Within Cronos, most companies are run by 2 managing partners. It's a system that works.

Nick: To pick up on that, actually the principle is centuries old, even with the Romans you had 2 consuls who were elected. That system worked for 500 years, in terms of a well thought out basis that can count. Two different people pulling the same sail with the same intentions but a different approach creates balance.

So how would you describe each other's management style? And what is your vision for leading the Zeticon team?

Chris: We both have a no-nonsense style and carry ownership of our staff. Nick goes into more detail thinking and bullet-proofing. I, on the other hand, start from my gut feeling and pitch things conceptually. Our way of communicating is the same though: very direct and straight to the point.

Nick:(to Chris) You often say “swim or drown,” which can come across as harsh but actually we've never had anyone drown. Rather, it's a sign of confidence in our people by giving them a big challenge to work out. If they get stuck they can always come to you. We work with self-managing teams. In the past, we determined what needed to be done and the team chose the interpretation. With a growing organization, we felt that the model that way was no longer the most efficient way of working.

Chris: The teams now don't report directly to us but they each have a manager. They are given the autonomy to lead and optimally support their team within the commercial objectives that Nick and I set.

Nick: That middle layer of managers does not cause our vision to change, on the contrary. It is a way to still give people authority and opportunities. We put a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship and ownership. That way we can also give young people every opportunity and let them grow with the company in a sustainable way.

How do you balance responsibility between operational management and strategic growth?

Nick: That goes hand in hand. We continuously evaluate our strategic goals: where are we now and what do we need to do to achieve our goals? Based on this analysis, we design our organization and work processes.

Chris: Although I admit that it is not always easy to communicate our thinking to everyone. But we are taking steps to clearly explain the conceptual thinking to our employees as well.

You have a very demanding job. What do you do in your spare time?

Chris: Motorcycling and music. I totally unwind when I can ride through the mountains with my mind at zero. A few times a year I head out. While motorcycling you are in isolation: the concentration you need on the track allows me to let go of business for a while. In the end, business is also like motorcycling. You know you want to get from point a to point b, but you don't know which turns you're going to encounter. Before each turn you slow down, you look as far as you can, and once you can see far enough you speed back up. Simple right?

In addition, music plays an important role in my life. As a child I wanted to become a professional musician, but my parents thought I should get a “real” diploma first (laughs). Currently I play in 2 bands and since 2 years I also teach accordion 2 nights a week. Those lessons have made me realize that I am a workaholic. Before, I would work every night, now teaching times are sacred to me. My big retirement dream: to open a music store combined with a music or talk shop.

Nick: A quiet life is really not for you.

Chris: I am indeed not going to sit still. Everyone is already welcome in my café!

Nick: I have a family with 2 young children aged 5 and 7. In my free moments I want to be with them to do as many fun activities together as possible. In addition, sports is also a common thread in my life. At least 5 times a week I go running, biking or swimming.

I firmly believe that sport makes you more resilient and resistant. It teaches you to deal with setbacks, to persevere in difficult moments and to make efforts to reach a certain goal. All skills that make you stronger in daily life and certainly as an entrepreneur. Since this year, therefore, I have also committed myself as a board member of a youth soccer club in the neighborhood. Our vision is to be a club where everyone is welcome, regardless of whether you have a lot of soccer talent or not. Everyone should have the opportunity to play soccer.

As Managing Partners, how do you stay on top of the latest developments around managing digital business information?

Nick: Thanks to our customer-centric approach, we know what's on our customers' minds. Those conversations are always very valuable. Our employees also contribute by analyzing market trends.

Chris: I often go out to have open discussions with customers and prospects. That way you can quickly test whether your idea is really interesting for that particular market. We also strongly believe in the principle of proof of concepts. Our team develops a basic concept which we then take to customers and prospects. In this way, we check whether they need it and, if so, where we can take it further to solve their specific problems.

Technological change is not standing still. In the last year, you see AI enrichment in existing solutions everywhere. Is Zeticon working on this as well?

At the same time: yes!

Chris: Over the last few months, we've taken some serious leaps. We started from the question of how we could bring more added value within the context of our existing platform. We were looking for answers on how to get started with the large amounts of data stored in our platform. Nick and I quickly agreed on how we were going to go about it.

Nick: We want to make our existing platform more intelligent.

Chris: Thanks to the evolution of AI in recent years, this should work. What if you could interrogate that rich source of information in a chatbot way, and get back intelligent answers? I always say that we can turn “dead” stored information into living answers. I think of dozens of business issues within contract management, HR administration, insurance, healthcare, you name it. Who doesn't currently have the challenge of quickly and efficiently retrieving the right information scattered in different files, stored across different folders and document management systems?

Nick: So we've created several POCs in recent months around OCR, automatic metadata enrichment, and alternative search capabilities such as semantic search and search by similar information. Think of image, video, and documentsAutomatic anonymization and pseudonymization is also on our radar These POCs have also allowed us to look at how current and future technology solutions can be integrated quickly and efficiently from a product standpoint.
The idea is to make smart use of existing technologies. So we are not going to create AI models ourselves. In a short period of time, we were able to accomplish a lot! For example, we have also made sure that standardized connectors can communicate with these hip technologies and our information platform. This way, we can also keep up with the lightning-fast developments that are going on right now.

Chris: That flexibility is also an added value for our customers. Suppose the generalist models we offer ourselves would not prove sufficient for a particular customer, then they can always be easily replaced by a customer-specific model thanks to our standard connector. In addition, thanks to Cronos, we have a wide network of specialists who can perfectly deliver this customization. In this way, our information platform grows along with the customer's needs and we ensure that the platform is future-proof.

In what sectors do you still see growth opportunities for Zeticon's information platform?

Chris: There is still a huge potential in the private market. I am convinced that we can offer added value to every medium to large SME in their administrative processes. Often there is still too much handling of paper or digital versions in folder structures. Or a maze of complex document management systems, in which the high investment often exceeds the return, let alone adding the necessary business intelligence. Zeticon's information platform eliminates these pain points.

Nick: For the public sector, we are mainly looking abroad. We already have a large market share in Flanders. Meanwhile, we also have our foot in the Netherlands. They have different needs but thanks to the flexibility of our platform, we can also help Dutch cities and municipalities with their digital information. Chris is also looking at and evaluating other surrounding countries.

To conclude, where would you like to be in 5 years with Zeticon?

Nick: I dream of an organization that can stand on its own with many people who have grown through. By focusing on ownership and entrepreneurship, I am convinced that we can achieve this.
Chris: Indeed, that the passion among our employees to continue to make Zeticon a success story still burns and that everyone feels they can contribute a worthy voice. It is not always an easy task as a software company to grow only organically, without large rounds of capital and the sometimes necessary raising of venture capital. The fact that we have been able to get this far, and that we think we can continue to grow in this way in the coming years, is something the entire Zeticon team can be very proud of!