As FIC2021 approaches, we shine a spotlight on Saro KAMBER, Director of the Northern Region. He joined Squad at the beginning of the year and has big plans for this region. In this interview, he tells us all about his career path, his vision for the market, and his ambitions for 2025.
Can you introduce yourself? What were you doing before joining Squad?
I joined SQUAD at the very beginning of 2021. I have around 20 years of experience, half of which was spent in operational management within IT departments, and the other half in consulting firms. First in digital innovation, then in agile transformation, and now in cybersecurity and development.
What are the major challenges facing the Paris region?
The Paris office was founded three years ago, and the cybersecurity sector in general has experienced strong growth in recent years, but that's nothing compared to what we've seen in 2020 and 2021. There, demand has literally exploded. We realized that major clients, which are mainly players in banking, finance, insurance, and European governments, need to protect their data and ensure that their brands' reputations are respected.
This was an opportunity for SQUAD and more specifically for Paris, as the majority of large corporations are headquartered in the Paris region. Consequently, from our perspective, the potential is almost infinite.
The reason why we have strengthened the teams (in Paris and Lille), which we will discuss shortly, is because we firmly believe that cybersecurity and DevOps issues are concentrated in the Paris region.
Today, we have a team of around ten people who are responsible for customer relations and relations with our talent, as well as seeking out the best talent on the market. We are also in the process of opening an office in Lille, which is one of the growth areas for cybersecurity and DevOps in France.
How is Squad positioned in this region?
The two growth areas in the northern region are Paris and Lille, and within that, the real questions are: What is our added value? What is our positioning? What can we bring to the table? Why are we able to jump on this bandwagon? In reality, when we look at the cybersecurity market, the real difficulty is the market tension on talent, the difficulty in finding the right talent.
Today, we have a conviction. First, Squad has transformed itself to be able to attract the best talent and the best experts in the market to join us and deliver the best services to our customers.
Then there are two other categories. The first is new graduates who already have expertise and are passionate about their field, who are offered opportunities to work in large corporations and achieve great things elsewhere.
The second category includes experts who are retraining. Retraining is not a negative thing; on the contrary, these are people who have clearly understood the transformation of the market and market expectations, and who have said to themselves: "I believe in cybersecurity, I want to do it, I'm going to go for it."
Today, Squad Paris and Squad Lille, with their Squad Academy (learning and training program), position themselves as partners to our experts, teaching them new methodologies, helping them acquire new skills, and ensuring they understand new standards, thereby turning these employees into the experts of tomorrow.
That's kind of what makes SQUAD's model so successful: its ability to provide all of its clients with the best experts on the market, or, if it doesn't have them at a given moment, to train them for the future.
Squad#2025, in numbers, what does that mean?
The figures are very interesting, and they also reflect the reality of our market. In 2021, Squad plans to generate €65 million in revenue and have 700 talented individuals on its staff.
When we look ahead several years, in line with market growth and the opportunities that are opening up, we estimate that by 2025 we could have 1,500 talented employees and achieve €200 million in revenue.
This means that the potential is enormous for a company like Squad, which was founded less than ten years ago.
Meet the Squad#Family at the FIC from September 7 to 9 ⤵
