Dear Neudesic Family,

As we get settled into 2024 and get ready to officially close out 2023, I wanted to take a quick moment and summarize and share my thoughts.

Reflect

Let’s start with reviewing and reflecting on what 2023 meant for us. The year saw some major changes, with our beloved founders, Parsa and Tim, leaving to take a well-deserved break. However, the strength of the foundation that they helped build at Neudesic was evident as we navigated the tough year. We saw the market conditions drastically change for the worse around April, leading to delayed decisions, no decisions and even reductions from our existing and prospective clients. We went through a phase where it seemed like bad news far outweighed good news. It was during these hard times that we saw the team rally like never before. We stayed hopeful and passionate, patient and disciplined and got creative and innovative in how and who we sold to. I am happy to report that through these behaviors we ended the year with the following results:

If we include our influence into IBM through the course of the year, some of these numbers are even more impressive.

* Please note that post our acquisition in Feb 2022, the way the revenue and sales were recorded changed a bit.

Riding on the momentum built in 2023, we have laid out the following goals for 2024:

Realize

Neudesic’s growth in a year that saw most companies shrinking and struggling is a testament to the value we bring to our customers. For me, personally, when I got a chance to visit each of the Neudesic offices, I saw the awesomeness of the teams up close. I walked away with the impression that our teams continue to do amazing work, build significantly innovative solutions and accelerators, but some of that is just a well-kept secret. It was critical that these silos be bridged and information flow between market teams, national teams and our global services teams be increased. We spent a significant amount of time enabling that, and while the job is not completely done, I anticipate that 2024 will see a much more increased and streamlined collaboration between individuals across the company. We must achieve this without stifling independence of thought and creativity, and the key theme needs to be enablement and not management! I am certain that as you all become more aware of what our team members are doing, you will REALIZE and are reminded that Neudesic WAS, IS and REMAINS a technology and consulting powerhouse.

Recognize and Reward

Once the realization of the tremendous work across the company came, it was natural that we became more focused to ensure that efforts that were relatively hidden but were impactful, be recognized and rewarded. I must admit that this turned out to be a much harder task, as we tried to understand the incentive models across various roles and responsibilities. We wanted to ensure that there was fairness and the reward be as closely linked to effort and impact, as possible. With the deteriorating economy, it became even harder to stay focused on this. We tried to target the lower hanging fruits as quickly as we could. 2023 saw us increase our 401K matching by 100% from 1% to 2%. As we get into 2024, we are further doubling it from 2% to 4%. We are reworking the current incentive plans to be more inclusive, and to ensure that EVERY person in the company benefits from our growth. We still have some work to do here, but I think we are very close to sharing the initial version of this plan with you in the coming weeks. It is my commitment to you, that throughout 2024, we will continually improve our ability to recognize and reward great work at Neudesic.

Refresh

Most of the content above is around who and what we are. As we enter into 2024, it was important for us to also take stock of the changing technology landscape around us and ensure that our brand and our messaging was reflective of who we want to be. We all talk about AI, but what does it mean to us as a company? What confidence do we give to our customers, for them to choose us as a trusted partner in their transformational journey? How and who would we partner with as we engage with our clients to help build innovative solutions to their business problems. With all this in mind, we went into overdrive to refresh our brand story, refresh our offerings, re-invigorate our partnerships with Microsoft, Databricks, Profisee and others. It was a herculean task, led by our Marketing and Alliances team, and I am happy to report that we are at the cusp of the launch of our brand refresh. I am super excited and impressed with what the team has come up with, and I think you all are going to love what you see. Stay tuned for more updates on this.

Reorganize

Building on the refresh theme, it is evident that for us to be a (multi) billion-dollar company, we need to think and act a little differently than before. It doesn’t mean that we forget what got us here in the first place, and it also doesn’t mean that we only concentrate on our weaknesses. The right approach is to take what works well and figure out how to scale that further. Increase the impact of good behaviors across the company and realign goals and incentives to dissuade bad behaviors. 2024 is not going to be an easy year by any stretch of the imagination and as with any business, we will have limited means to achieve our goals. We must ensure that our teams don’t burn out, and our team members are able to spend more time on doing what helps them achieve their and Neudesic’s goals. We need to identify, empower and enable every single person who is helping drive us forward. We must be more inclusive as a company and encourage and support a diverse set of views and perspectives without which we can hardly call ourselves innovative. We must excite and motivate those who are in doubt and may not believe in our abilities and cause as much as the rest of us do. We must also get ready to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Everything around us is changing and with that change comes an opportunity for us to refresh our own skills, abilities and thoughts. No one has the perfect answer for every problem, but the ones who will stand out are the ones who aren’t afraid to experiment and act on their convictions. To that effect, we have already started making improvements in how we do business. Over the coming weeks, you will learn more about the new and improved VBU model, the new EVP Org (Kunaal, Manzur and Ulichny), the big bet on our new Innovation team, realigned and improved incentive plans across all roles and responsibilities, our global and national expansion plans and many other business decisions.

Thank you for all the hard work, effort and passion that you bring to Neudesic every day. I am certain that with your support, we will continue to evolve for the better throughout 2024 and make this an absolutely REMARKABLE year.

Sales Growth:

With the IBM acquisition getting into a mature state, this year has been nothing short of amazing.  I want to personally thank the entire IBM Integration Team for all their support and patience as we learned many new ways of conducting business.  We have a long way to go and many more areas to improve, but 2023 was a very encouraging year for our mutual success!

2023 Sales Financial Results:

I’d like to highlight some of our sales performance metrics that proved to be new record highs for Neudesic as follows:

• All Up Sales: $260M (2023) vs. $230M (2022) or 13% Growth
• Average Monthly Sales: $22M (2023) vs. $19M (2022) or 16% Growth
• Top 10 Account Teams Sales Performance:

1. Team Dead Quota’s Society (SoCal): $42M
2. Team Red Harvest (NorthEast): $16M
3. Team Trifecta (Desert): $15M
4. Team Wolfgang (NE): $15M
5. Team Transformers (Utilities): $14M
6. Team Midas (Denver): $14M
7. Team Endurance (Desert): $10M
8. Team Natural Born Sellers (Desert): $8M
9. Team Ink Masters (Dallas): $8M
10. Team Most Valuable Assets (Chicago): $8M

• Sales Classification Mix for Consulting Services:

1. Net New: $37M or 15%
2. Expansion: $114M or 48%
3. Extension: $87M or 37%

• Average Deal Size: $306K (2023) vs. $280K (2022) or 9% Growth
• Pipeline: $409M (2023) vs. $200M (2022) or 105% Growth
• Net New Clients Acquired: 145 (2023) vs. 120 (2022) or 21% Growth

All the above metrics couldn’t have been realized without the support of Neudesic & IBM Consultants, Executive Management, Sales & Field Operations, Field Leadership, Digital Innovation Group, Global Services, Solution Center, Marketing, HR, Recruiting, Legal, and Finance!

2024 Focus:

As we close out 2023 and head into our new fiscal year, our momentum will be strong, and I fully expect 2024 to be our best year yet. We’ll be adding new Account Teams and Vertical Business Units throughout the US, bringing us to a total of 35 MATs & VBUs, including our National Vanguard Team focused solely on selling with IBM.

All in all, it was a tremendous year filled with hard work, long hours, and a ton of fun!  We exhibited Teaming at the highest levels and became a better sales organization.  I’m convinced that we’ll realize even greater success in 2024 and beyond!  Have an outstanding Holiday Season!

 

Alliances

(Mike Graff)

As we close out 2023, I can’t help but reflect on a fantastic year of change, re-focus, growth, and impact from our national (and increasingly global) alliances team.

As we move into 2024, one thing that will remain is our new alliance team mission statement: Our charter is to drive engagement with, and referrals from, our channel partners. With this mindset, our team has been more focused than ever on deeper engagement with partners, directly co-selling with teams, driving inbound referrals and sales, expanding new alliance relationships, and partnering with our Market Account Teams and regional teams to drive revenue to Neudesic.

When I look back at specific alliance team achievements from 2023, there is one constant – we succeeded as a team, both within the alliance organization but also by partnering with broader Neudesic teams. Some of our biggest achievements and performance metrics from 2023 include the following:

• Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards – Our Best Year Ever!
  • Nine total global and US award recognitions
  • Global partner of the year in Migration to Azure and US Partner of the Year in AI
  • Global and Us finalist awards in Energy and Resources, Financial Services, Community Response, and Solution Assessment categories
• Record year for alliance-sourced opportunities, wins and partner relationships driving referrals.
  • $271M in alliance sourced pipeline across 550 opportunities
  • $60M in alliance sourced sales across 176 opportunities
  • 250+ unique individuals from partners driving inbound referrals.
  • $6M in Microsoft funding acquired
  • 114% goal achievement on our MS scorecard (in FY23 & FY24 to-date)

Next year is a year for significant global growth and with a new and growing alliance team – many of whom bring deep alliance experience and are ex-Microsoft – I have never been more optimistic about meeting our 2024 targets and driving some BIG BETS, that include the below:

• Accelerating new Microsoft partnership, engagement, and referral growth in International Markets including India and the APAC and ANZ Regions
• Reinvigorating tertiary partnerships like Profisee, Databricks, Snowflake, and others to define joint successes metrics with an executable plan to realize revenue and target achievement.
• Partnering with our Vertical Business Units – new and existing VBUs – to significantly scale our Microsoft partnership goals, GTMs, and revenue realization across all partner channels.

The success we have seen in 2023 is the result of an amazing team of alliance and GTM professionals and I would like to call out all the individuals for their contributions: Amy Nelson (Lauro), Ashley Krigens, Colin Dvorak, Dena Eng, Justin Sheedy, Melissa Carpenter (Smith), Mike Graff, Nada Ungvarsky, Rachael Goodrich, Tony Kuo, Tyler Suss.

Wishing the best to all Neudesic teams during the holidays and looking forward to an even greater 2024! Let’s GROW!!

 

Marketing

(Tyler Suss)

As we approach the end of another incredible year, I am thrilled to share the incredible strides we’ve made as a marketing organization in 2023. Here are a few highlights:

Tyler Suss Takes Helm of Neudesic’s Marketing Evolution

In June, Tyler Suss started his transition to lead the evolution of Neudesic’s marketing organization, overseeing strategy and process across brand, growth, and content marketing. Having previously led alliances and marketing for our Data & AI practice, resulting in 85% growth, Tyler’s GTM track record made him the ideal leader to drive Neudesic’s marketing efforts into a new era of success. In less than 90 days, Tyler launched a new marketing service program called, “Marketing Launchpad”, which delivered better efficiencies with streamlined processes, repeatable playbooks, and new marketing services to support various business units.

Strategic Hiring for Growth Marketing and Content Marketing:

Recognizing the need for specialized expertise, we strategically expanded our marketing team by bringing in top talents in Growth Marketing (Erin Monday) and Content Marketing (Jordan Lampe). Erin joined in September 2023, and created immediate impact leading to 500 new marketing generated leads and $5 million in new pipeline. Jordan Lampe joined in July 2023, and under his leadership our Content Marketing programs have thrived, leading to over five million brand impressions across; 14 new blogs, 12 new win-wires, two public-facing case studies, three national press releases, and two thought-leadership showcase pieces.

Industry-Leading Microsoft OpenAI/Generative AI GTM:

One of the most significant GTMs of the year was the market launch of generative AI (OpenAI). Our teams acted promptly in response to the launch, swiftly developing assets to bolster new offerings that led to over 20 client workshops in the inaugural month, as well as one of Microsoft’s first public case study with Neudesic (client: Hanover Research). Our Generative AI Go-To-Market strategy led to $5 million in new business and helped catapult Neudesic’s brand to the forefront in our industry, being named Microsoft’s US AI Partner of the Year award for the second year in a row.

Stronger Alignment with Microsoft GTM Teams – $300k in Microsoft Funding:

In addition to forming stronger relations with Microsoft at the field level, we also nurtured and established strong ties with the GTM funding teams, which helped us secure over $300,000 in funding that were used to support multiple GTMs and campaigns throughout the year. These funds were acquired quarter over quarter through demonstrated results and agile execution.

Resumption of Event Marketing Across Major Metros:

We relaunched in-person roadshows across every major Neudesic metro and sponsored vertical specific conferences for the first time since pre-pandemic. These efforts drove hundreds of prospective clients to hear Neudesic’s perspective on Generative AI and industry solutions and generated $2 million in net new business. Events will continue to be a key brand and growth play for us in 2024, starting with roadshows in Irvine, Denver, Atlanta, Las Vegas, and a Microsoft Fabric community conference.

What’s coming up:

Brand Refresh – Evolution of Neudesic’s Story:

The evolution of our brand story and design systems has been a crucial initiative for the marketing team. Unveiling in mid-January 2024, our brand refresh includes a new compelling narrative and design elements that highlight Neudesic’s differentiators and people that make us a forward-thinking business innovation company. As part of the launch, you can expect to see new: corporate PowerPoint template, website design, sales assets, social media creative, and employee assets.

Neudesic’s 2024 Tech Vision

Marking the revival of Neudesic’s Tech Vision for the first time since 2018, this thought-leadership piece is a collaborative masterpiece crafted by our national DIG leaders in partnership with Marketing. Scheduled for a mid-January launch, this visionary piece will be available in both text and audiobook formats, providing accessibility to a wider audience. Further, the comprehensive 30-page eBook serves as a content cornerstone, with numerous content assets set to be derived from it (e.g., podcast clips, videos, blogs, and more).

Supporting New IP and VBU GTM Launches:

At the heart of our growth strategy in 2024 lies dedicated support for the launch of new solutions and Vertical Business Unit (VBU) Go-To-Market strategies. Neudesic’s marketing efforts will amplify the visibility of our new IPs and VBUs, but also help create compelling narratives that help us expand our target audience and solidify our position as leaders in the ever-evolving landscape of innovation and business growth. A few upcoming VBU marketing motions include; a Databricks Utilities GTM, blog programs for all VBUs, and a website refresh for Manufacturing, FSI, Retail, Transportation, and Utilities.

Dear Neudesic Team,

As we close out 2023, I extend thanks to each of you for your dedication and hard work. It’s been a year of significant achievements, and your contributions have been pivotal to our success.

2023: A Year of Exceptional Achievements

This year has been exceptional in terms of client impact and value. Our collaborative efforts have deepened client relationships and expanded the value we deliver. We’ve received unprecedented recognition from Microsoft, highlighting our excellence. Additionally, our influence within IBM has exceeded expectations, underlining the importance of our contributions.

Looking Forward to 2024: Growth and Opportunities

I’m excited about the announcement on our All Hands quarterly call that in recognition of your efforts, we will be doubling our 401k matching in the coming year. As for our growth trajectory, we aim for a 32% increase in revenue for 2024. This ambitious goal is a testament to our collective potential.  I’m confident we will achieve this goal with our continued focus and hard work.

Several strategic role changes have been announced to fuel our growth in 2024. These adjustments are crucial not only for our organizational growth but also open new avenues for your personal and professional development. Throughout the upcoming year, we will continue to identify and promote team members into key roles to further accelerate our growth.

Our Commitment to Make a Difference

In 2023, we doubled our budget to support our ‘Aspire’ initiative, reflecting our commitment to corporate social responsibility. This year, we want to increase our involvement and impact even further. I encourage each of you to engage and contribute to this cause, helping to make a positive difference in the world.

Reminder of our Aspire Mission: “Foster a diverse and inclusive future workforce through increased access to STEAM education for marginalized students and families, creating impactful change within our communities”. 

In conclusion, thank you for the impacts you are making at Neudesic. Your efforts have made a difference. Here’s to a fantastic 2023 and an even more spectacular 2024!

As we approach the end of 2023, it is with great pride and enthusiasm that I reflect on the incredible journey we have undertaken together this year. 2023 has been a transformative period for Neudesic Global Services, characterized by resilience, strategic initiatives, and remarkable achievements. Despite facing challenges reminiscent of the 2022 slowdown at the beginning of the year, we swiftly laid the groundwork for the “sell-with-Microsoft” initiative and IBM synergy programs for Global Services. These strategic moves propelled us towards our 2023 targets, setting the stage for a promising year ahead.

On a global level, we experienced a surprising shift, with increased collaboration from many of our existing US and India clients. This resilience paved the way for substantial accomplishments, allowing us to surpass our targets for the US portion of our business.

Key Achievements:

Entering the year with cautious optimism, our delivery teams in India, under the leadership of Basant Patawari, achieved remarkable milestones. Some of the key highlights are:

• Account Expansion in AMN: Our team at AMN has grown to 230 people, adding 5 net new PODs, showcasing extraordinary faith from the client in our delivery capabilities.
• Account Expansion in Assurant: The Assurant team expanded to a robust 100-member force.
• Four Kites DC Exit: The client’s core logistics supply chain solution, initially on-premises with scaling issues, underwent a critical and time-bound transformation, migrating 420 applications and 3TB of data across 5 sources, accommodating a live feed data volume of 2.9 billion transactions per day within a record time of 7 months.
• Net New Acquisitions: Engaging with 25 net new customers across the US, India, MEA, and Australia throughout the year.
• Impact of IP in Delivering Engagement Success: Our IPs played a crucial role in project delivery, contributing to large-scale data migration, intelligent document processing, procurement solutions, and more. Notable instances include:
  • Kinisi for Avnet: A crucial tool employed for large-scale data migration, ensuring a seamless and efficient process.
  • DIP for Kleinfelder: This IP was instrumental in delivering an intelligent document processing solution, enhancing operational efficiency for Kleinfelder.
  • DIP for Adani: Utilized to implement a cutting-edge procurement solution, specifically designed for comparing contracts, thereby streamlining Adani’s procurement processes.
  • Ploceus for MetLife and Adani: Deployed to accelerate the creation of landing zones, contributing to the swift establishment of robust infrastructure for both MetLife and Adani.
  • Three Stripes and AI Launchpad in Finestra: Leveraged for hyper-accelerated DevOps and legacy code migration, demonstrating our commitment to innovation and efficiency.

These IPs were not only instrumental in project success but also played a pivotal role in creating compelling propositions for our engagements with IBM, such as the noteworthy collaboration with WestPac.

• Delivering Value in IBM Synergy Projects: Successfully delivering six IBM programs throughout the year, including notable achievements with Adani and Parle Industries.
• Clients from US Visiting Our India Offices: Hosting five client visits in the last few months, resulting in significant business expansion, including a $2M signing with PWC and promising developments with KBR, LivCor, and Revantage. These visits have turned into a winning proposition for our US markets, helping strengthen our relationship, win trust, and ultimately create long lasting programs. More than 90% of the clients that visited our global offices over the years continue to be us. We expect to double down on the approach of bringing clients to our India office every quarter next year.

The Rest of the World (RoW) business, under the leadership of Jin Mathew, achieved key growth milestones despite market headwinds:

Partnership Highlights from RoW–

• Partnership with IBM and Microsoft in Adani: Significant achievements in creating a global landing zone and delivering a Floor to Desk insights platform for Adani generating nearly $1M in signings YTD and growing in other business units. The insights platform connects 36 cement factories across the country delivering key insights to personas ranging from the plant manager to chairman. Our work has propelled Adani Cements as a key business unit within the Adani group demonstrating agility to transform digitally. The teams are now imagining a future together with simulated digital twins and creating headless analytics with Gen AI converging IT and OT data.
• Partnership with Air India in their Transformation Journey and Brand Refresh: Expanding collaboration from Power Platform development to building a robust Data & AI platform and contributing to their recent brand refresh. The engagement grew from one to nearly seventy members in a span of 6 months. As an Indian, this partnership fills me with pride as the “transformed Maharaja takes wings in conquering the globe”.
• Synergy with IBM and growth in the Enterprise ISA and ANZ market: Working on over 60 proposals with IBM, securing key projects with clients like Adani, ICICI Bank, Parle Industries, HDFC Bank, and PepsiCo. The PepsiCo deal will be one of the first where we will deliver an Architecture Blueprint working on the designs for a period of 6 months. This will be a pure paper outcome paving the way for building their Supply Chain Control Tower. We now have an established GTM process involving our team members across delivery management and service line. In 2024 we will assign solution leaders in dedicated capacity to help grow the synergy business in India and Australia.
• Synergy with IBM and NordCloud and growth in EMEA: Announcing a partnership with NordCloud and IBM in Europe and MEA, activating opportunities in markets like Riyad Air. Expecting to grow in these global markets with IBM creating more opportunities for our teams.
• Our “Sell-with” Partnership with Microsoft: Establishing key segments and partnerships, with plans to fully activate the market in 2024.

In our managed services business under the leadership of Shameer Sangha, the focus in 2023 was creating modernization solutions that can be positioned for the long-term success of the Sustained Engineering concept.  The team focused on the creation of Intelligent Operations and driving the story path through the US markets and into ROW.  We launched the concept during MS ignite and completed a GTM readiness for the solution.  There is a lot of excitement in our existing client base to utilize a solution that helps modernize the operations landscape of cloud.  For 2024, we envision heavy sales positioning for Intelligent Ops.

From a people perspective in 2023, we achieved significant milestones by prioritizing employee engagement and well-being. The HCM engagement calendar envisioned by our Global Services HCM Leader Shyam Warrior facilitated diverse events, including impactful Townhalls, ‘Ask Me Anything’ sessions with leadership, and tailored ‘Manager Enablement’ workshops. Collaborations with IBM introduced ‘IBM Way of Consulting’ training, and Udemy licenses were rolled out to managers, with plans for broader implementation in 2024. Our commitment to well-being extended to upgraded health coverage and enhanced transparency and scalability. Automation streamlined monthly communications, while HRBPs and service line teams collaborated to foster a positive workplace environment. 2023 encapsulates a narrative of accomplishments and a thriving community, shaping a dynamic workplace culture.

2023 Performance Metrics:

Revenue– Robust growth in our US portion of the business, surpassing estimates at $54M against a goal of $52.8M, sustaining an 8% YoY growth. RoW business witnessed a 10% correction but was buoyed by contributions from our IBM partnership, resulting in nearly $1M additional revenue. In our brand-new synergy partnership with IBM, which we started early this year, we will end up recognizing nearly $2M in revenue for the synergy portion. We are also expected to achieve nearly $28M synergy signings paving the way for healthy growth in synergy revenue in 2024.

The managed services revenue grew at about 12% YoY. We have 2 net new clients for Sustained Engineering and 5 net new CSP customers. For the first time in 10 years, we had 6 clients that extended their contracts with a multi-year extension of the MS contract.

Utilization– We have a healthy 81% average billable utilization and a 90% overall utilization with an investment of around 9% towards innovation. One innovation we tried in our engagements this year is providing Associate Consultants to programs at no cost to markets and clients, shadowing regular team members. In large programs we have successfully converted most of the members to full-time consultants. We expect to create more success in the future with this program, bringing accounts into the fold to help expand.

Future Outlook

Looking ahead to 2024, we are targeting a 40% YoY growth in our RoW business, with key accounts signaling an uptick in demand. Nearly 65% of this target is already registered as our planned revenue. Partnerships with Microsoft, First American, Air India and Adani continue to thrive, and the “sell-with-Microsoft” momentum is expected to result in net new acquisitions.

Our focus on SMCC, coupled with Microsoft, promises increased rigor in the sector. Data & AI and Cloud Transformation remain pivotal, and our Open AI-based accelerators are poised to add significant value. Leveraging available Microsoft funding programs remains critical to our roadmap.

For our portion of the US business, we are targeting 25% YoY growth, with continued expansion in existing large accounts.

Our Mantra in 2024 is simple.

• Do more with less.
• Embrace innovation in everything.
• Place value delivery at the epicenter.

To achieve this, we will focus on:

• Leveraging IPs/Accelerators: Being IP-led to keep differentiating our advantage with competition.
• AI Pivot: Leveraging AI as a twin to enhance daily operations and drive delivery efficiency.
• Focus on Delivering Business Value: Innovating at the edges with our clients to identify and deliver a value proposition that matters the most to them.

As we conclude 2023, I want to express my gratitude to each member of the Neudesic family for their dedication, resilience, and commitment. Together, we have navigated challenges and achieved significant milestones, positioning Neudesic for a prosperous 2024.

Wishing everyone a joyful holiday season and a successful New Year.

As we reflect on the journey of 2023 in the East Region, it’s clear that it has been a year of resilience, innovation, and evolution. Despite facing significant challenges in Q2 – from economic uncertainties to client churn and sales delays, we’ve not only weathered the storm but emerged stronger than ever. Recovering from a monthly revenue drop of over a million in Q3, we are concluding the year in Q4 with our highest revenue run rate ever (almost double of Q2). As we enter 2024, our momentum is unparalleled, with a growing sales pipeline, strategic account expansions, and consistent delivery excellence.
Here’s a summary of our 2023 performance and 2024 outlook:

Strategic Investments From 2023:

In 2023, our regional leadership committed to three key areas, paving the way for a remarkable 51% growth in sales and a 18% growth in revenue Year-Over-Year (YOY) which will continue to pay dividends through 2024 and beyond:

1. Establishing Clear Accountability and Enhancing Communication: A renewed focus on roles and transparent communication improved our internal dynamics.
2. Elevated Client Experience and Relationship Building: Personal visits fortified client relationships, ensuring an enhanced experience.
3. Strategic Partnerships with Microsoft and IBM: Shifting from mere acquisition to impactful collaboration with our strategic alliance partners to fuel expansion.

Outlook for 2024:

With the groundwork laid in 2023, our region is positioned for unprecedented success in the coming year. With a robust pipeline, established customer relationships, and a strategic approach, we are poised to surpass our goals. Key areas of investment for high-growth yields include:

Sales​

• Onboarded three new ECE’s​ (and MATs) and added focus on Midwest growth
• 50+ Net-New Account Acquisitions and Most Accounts Expanding in Q3 / Q4​
• Solidified Ourselves as Go-To partner for Microsoft across Manufacturing, FSI, Northeast, Midwest, and (recently) Healthcare OUs.

Technology​

• New IPs like AI Launchpad and DGA (Data Governance Accelerator) are generating revenue and becoming our differentiators with Clients, Microsoft and IBM​ due to improved impact of Innovation Communities and Practice Forums
• Partner of the Year Awards For US Financial Services and Solution Assessments
• Record high certifications across the region and 85%+ team is AI 900 certified

Delivery​

• Strengthened delivery leadership team​ and established clear accountability between various delivery roles to ensure delivery excellence across all projects
• Many delivery success stories: Finastra, Simmons Bank, Chemours, Brunswick, Fortress, Chemonics, ​Truist and FCB etc. leading to 5X+ growth in expansion revenue in H2.
• Improved re-harvesting of assets to improve communication, estimation, and risk management

In summary, 2023 was a challenging yet memorable chapter in our journey. A heartfelt thank you to each one of you for your dedication, belief, and outstanding performance, which has propelled us to finish the year on a high note. I am thrilled about the growth opportunities that lie ahead as we step into what promises to be our biggest year ever. Together, let’s reach new heights and achieve greatness in 2024!

Wishing you all a fantastic year-end and a prosperous New Year!

2023 was a year of change, growth, and excitement in the Central Region.  The Region was able to effectively combine four markets into a cohesive team and build some remarkable solutions for our customers.  Anchor accounts were seamlessly serviced from our teams across the globe using advanced technologies, that many of our competitors can only dream of utilizing.  Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, and Automation were at the forefront of our innovation in 2023 and will be a cornerstone to our continued growth in 2024.

Key Achievements for FY23:

Innovation was at the heart of the Central’s strategy in 2023.  Building on Neudesic’s Azure Migration tool set, the Desert region continued its storied success in innovation by winning the 2023 Microsoft Global Migration to Azure Partner of the Year Award for its work on Discount Tire.  This innovation feat was amplified by additions throughout the year in the areas of AI and AR.  The team created the NewARtistry accelerator for Augmented Reality projects that takes advantage of new phone advancements in Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR).  These advancements will allow our customers to improve customer experience, reduce safety concerns, and increase employee efficiency in 2024 and provide Neudesic with a key competitive advantage.

Tachyon quickly became one of the most successful Azure DevOps extensions in the marketplace by utilizing OpenAI to build requirements, task out development, and build quality assurance plans.  Our Mobile Accelerator was updated to include React and Native languages, giving us a larger customer footprint in the Web and Mobile markets.  Each of these accelerators has been proven to reduce a project’s time to market by over 25% and is a key differentiator to our competitors.

The Central team was once again the most profitable region in Neudesic thanks to its commitment to customer experience.  The team worked tirelessly to keep over 90% of their customers from 2022, a testament to the partnership the Region has with its customers.  The Region accounts for 13 of the top 20 accounts in the company.  Delivery Excellence from each practice was key to this level of customer satisfaction, and the Central Region can look back at 2023 with appreciation as it once again delivered value to our customers above all our competition.

Looking Ahead to 2024:

2023 was truly a building block for growth in 2024 for the Central Region.  The investments made in our IP offerings in 2023 will lead to exponential growth in 2024.  Product Transformation, the Hydra Mobile Accelerator, Story Development, Tachyon, NewARtisty, Alchemy, Catalyst, and many of our other investments in 2023 have prepared the Central Region for exponential growth in 2024.  While these feats are truly impressive, it will be the amazing team that built this foundation that makes it happen.

Thank You for another amazing year full of Passion, Discipline, Integrity, Teaming, and Innovation.

FY23 will be remembered as a year of phenomenal growth in the West region. We continued to expand our capabilities, fostered innovative solutions, forged new partnerships, and significantly increased our market share. Furthermore, we have made significant strides in developing our presence in the State and Local Government (SLG) sectors. This growth in the SLG sector is not just a measure of our success but a testament to our commitment to serving the broader community.

Key Achievements for FY23:

The West region maintained its momentum with a 40% year-over-year increase in revenue. This growth is further amplified by a 29% increase in Gross Operating Profit dollars. Notably, our SoCal market consistently shattered its own records by setting the highest monthly revenue records, not once, but multiple times throughout the year.

Our growth trajectory also enabled us to welcome new talents into our organization, with a 23% increase in headcount for FY23. This infusion of fresh perspectives and expertise will fortify our capabilities and contribute to our ongoing success.

The West Market Account Teams closed over 168 opportunities at eight anchor accounts, demonstrating our commitment to nurturing and expanding existing partnerships. Additionally, we added 22 new logos to our West region portfolio, further diversifying our client base and broadening our reach.

Looking Ahead to 2024:

Building upon the momentum generated in FY23, we are setting ambitious targets for the year ahead. We aim to sustain our momentum by driving a 35% increase in revenue. Simultaneously, we are committed to expanding our regional headcount by over 30%, reinforcing our belief in the immense potential that lies ahead. This upward trajectory presents tremendous growth and advancement opportunities for each of us dedicated to supporting our continued growth.

Entering the Age of AI

In my career I have seen many significant technology shifts affecting how IT does business. The first I experienced was at the beginning of my career when .Net followed Java’s lead of introducing a virtual runtime and an extensive set of libraries simplifying things like memory management to help us be more productive as developers. Along with the world wide web and relational databases, we pushed forward largely the same way for a decade. Then came the Cloud building on virtualization of hardware and introducing scale and pre-built services for building our applications. This became the dominant foundation for digital transformation with whole new operating models. This was our focus over the last decade as a top Microsoft partner.

2023 marked a significant milestone in the technology landscape, which feels bigger than anything our industry and potentially our world has experienced with the introduction of AI to the masses through Chat-GPT. Many may not know though that Neudesic has a long history with AI.

Neudesic Is and Has Been All In on AI

We first created innovative solutions through Microsoft’s form recognizer as the foundation for DIP turning unstructured documents into structured data. We used the vision cognitive service to help the NBA show ad placement and reach through analyzing pictures. We helped a medical imaging company identify cancer through custom machine learning models. We also explored many predictive models including predicting energy usage to understand how much gas to buy for powering generators. All of this happened years before Chat-GPT reached 1 million users.

Chat-GPT 3 brought AI into the mainstream. It felt as though the genie had been let out of the lamp and there was no way to put it back. The widespread adoption of Chat-GPT brought excitement, fear, the feeling that most organizations (and people) were now falling behind. Organization felt compelled to act fast whether simply understanding what this technology was about or trying to find ways to leverage it. Our AI related pipeline reflected this going from 0 to 10+ million in a matter of months.

Recognizing this shift’s, Neudesic went all in on AI similar to how we adopted the Cloud. Our strategy was to be an AI driven organization focused on developer productivity, injecting AI into client solutions, and driving internal department AI adoption. For example, we adopted GitHub Copilot as a core tool on how we get work done. Great ideas emerged from hack-a-thons such as an RFP generator and Tachyon for story development and test cases creation using AI in AzDo. For out internal departments, plans are in place to use OpenAI in legal and IT.

Continuing to Innovate

Key IP was enhanced or created with OpenAI like Intelligent Chat, DIP (FSI version as well), Three Stripes which address the entire development life cycle, and Intelligent Ops using Microsoft Copilots for Azure and security to improve all aspects of cloud ops. Client successes happened with Hanover who built an AI driven platform to help them generate research documents exponentially faster. Amidst this evolution, the essence of successful AI initiatives underscored the importance of good data—an enduring challenge, irrespective of technological leaps.

Adapting our technology vision and strategy remained pivotal with the rapid pace of AI improvements. AI Assistants, Small Language Models, and the ascent of Intelligent Apps have all become focal points for us to explore going into 2024. Large hyper-scalers continued rapid advancements in LLMs making sure all organizations had access to this technology with clear signals that multi-modal models will be available in 2024.

However, amidst these advancements, the core purpose of these technologies remained—to enhance our clients’ businesses and elevate employee productivity and engagement. Our vision is steadfast—to embed these benefits across all phases of technology delivery, necessitating focus, investment, and collective learning. What is also clear, our commitment to One Neudesic and all parts of the organization contributing to innovation has positioned us as a leader in AI.

Looking ahead, 2024 promises to be our most exhilarating year yet. Our commitment to guiding clients into the AI era remains resolute. It’s imperative we focus on value, innovation, and industry-specific solutions to lead the charge and deliver results that define us as leaders in this transformative journey.

Thank you for your dedication, innovation, and unwavering commitment to driving Neudesic’s success. Here’s to an exciting 2024 as we forge ahead into the age of AI!

Team Anniversaries

Hello Team! I like to always start here by recognizing those who have achieved milestone anniversaries during the past year. Congrats to each team member below for their continued contributions, leadership, and impact on the organization over the years. I really appreciate your steadfast commitment to our PDITI values and the Neudesic team.

20 Years

Wes Porter

Marc Huynen

15 Years

Eric Violett	Mike Scariano
Mike Holdorf	Michael Collins
Brendon Birdoes	Howard Dinet
Joe Ladas	Carolyn Fleming
Chris Davis	Brett Fisher

10 Years

Jagadeesh Chennam	Ken Kuzdas
Mahesh Pesani	Randy Lee
Mike Kalpas	Sai Sheshagiri
Mehrdad Pazirandeh	Barry Culhane
Chris Mitsch	Shameer Sangha
Ross Harrison	Paul Blackwell
Morgan Higham	Andi Ells
Frank DeSimone

Opportunity & Development

Since becoming a part of the IBM Family and leading the Microsoft focus within IBM’s Hybrid Cloud strategy – I continue to see opportunity for each of you to further grow your careers, and for all of you to innovate and make an impact at a much higher, global level.

With dedicated HR Business Partners now assigned to your markets – look for more initiatives and programming in support of your employee experience and development in such areas as Onboarding, Employee Relations, Benefits, Learning & Development, Diversity & Inclusion and many other important, employee-centric activities. Just as important, the team will be focused on expanding our employee benefits platform in support of you and your families – to include but not limited to 401(k) retirement savings, Health & Wellness, and other related programs.

With the continued focus on continuous learning and development for employees in 2023, this past year saw record results with over 85% of staff certified in one or more competencies. I want to again congratulate everyone who achieved a new certification this past year and for taking advantage of the various programs provided by Microsoft and Neudesic’s Learning & Development team to increase your overall skills and capabilities. Certification and training achievement is especially important to individual career development, as well as a difference maker in our offerings and go-to-market strategies.

Expanding the Team

Our ability to attract additional talent this past year continued to fuel revenue growth and expansion across all markets, business units and offerings. As I have said before, it takes a team to acquire talent – so for those of you who participated in the evaluation, selection, and onboarding of new team members this past year, again another huge THANK YOU!

This past year, Neudesic introduced over 150 new full-time team members into the organization. This has brought our total US Services count to just over 720 team members. The SoCal market led the way by adding 38 new team members, with the Desert and Northeast markets not far behind – adding just over 20 new team members each to their respective markets.

The Application Innovation Practice continued to be the highest concentration of hiring across all markets in support of cloud development, with Data & AI and Cloud Infrastructure capability not far behind. Employee referrals accounted for 20% of our new hires resulting in over $110,000 paid out in referral bonuses. Your continued referrals are key to our growth and much appreciated. As always, you can always find our current openings by visiting our careers site:  https://www.neudesic.com/careers/

To ensure continued growth, efforts will further be placed into enhancing our talent acquisition strategies, creating more diverse candidate pipelines and overall online presence to further highlight the Neudesic brand and career opportunities. I want to thank the Talent Acquisition and Human Resources teams for all the impressive work they have done in support of attracting, acquiring, and onboarding new team members across the organization this past year.

Thank You

In closing, I would like to again express my sincere gratitude once again to all of you for your dedication to your teams, customers, and innovation. As we head into the near year, the Human Resources team will continue to do its very best to show its continued appreciation for everything all of you do – by working extremely hard to make Neudesic an exceptional place to grow and thrive. Thank you all and Happy Holidays!