askblue, a Portuguese technology and business consultancy company, achieved a turnover of 19.3 million euros in 2023, maintaining its turnover figures from the previous year.

“The uncertainty created by the international context, coupled with some unforeseen events at home at the start of the year, meant that we were unable to meet the billing targets set in the budget. Nevertheless, the last half of the year saw a slight and steady increase in our turnover, a trend confirmed at the beginning of 2024 with very positive figures,” says the CEO of askblue, Pedro Nicolau.

The company has seen an increase in activity in key sectors, such as Energy and Transport, contributing to the diversification of its client portfolio. Even so, it maintains a strong presence in the Financial and Insurance sectors.

In terms of internationalization, askblue strengthened its presence in Brazil and started a project in the United Kingdom. Last year was also marked by the consolidation of several of the company’s partnerships in the European market.

“In Brazil, progress has been positive: we opened our second office in São Paulo, managed to sign up our first client in the financial sector, and we have good opportunities to sign up more clients in 2024. In the UK, we started a project in the last quarter of 2023 which is already showing concrete results. The year was also about consolidating partnerships in various parts of the world,” explains Pedro Nicolau.

askblue was present at several leading industry events, such as IDC FutureScape, Next Step Exec in Brazil, and IDC Directions. This investment will continue and aims to strengthen the brand and enable the company to be well-positioned in the markets where it operates.

“In 2023, we celebrated our 10th anniversary at a memorable event attended by our employees and their families. It was important for us to celebrate this moment for the company because of everything it has achieved. Today, we are a credible and respected company in the market, with a stable and recurring business, a team of 410 employees, and, above all, prepared for a very promising future,” Pedro Nicolau confides.
The management team has been busy detailing the strategic plan aimed at doubling the company’s turnover by 2028, identifying the offers and sectors that the company wants to develop in the medium to long term. In a year of process consolidation, askblue renewed its IS0 9001:2015 quality management certification for the entire company, as well as the NP 4457: 2021 certification for innovation management.
 
Challenges for 2024
This year, askblue plans to resume growth, reaching a turnover of 23 million euros and hiring 80 employees. In terms of strategy, the company intends to strengthen its clients’ confidence in delivering increasingly complex projects, reinforcing its skills in the services it already offers, such as Application Management Services (AMS), Centers of Excellent (CoEs), Quality Assurance (QA) services, tailor-made development of low-code applications, Specialized Outsourcing and Consulting and Interaction Design services.
At the same time, the company wants to continue to grow in all markets and introduce new services, such as the recently launched Data & Analytics service, which seeks to address the growing demand for solutions that leverage organizations’ data.

“The Data & Analytics service allows us to take operational data to the highest artificial intelligence techniques, in an environment that is governed, cataloged, and based on modern data architectures adjusted to the needs and future challenges of our clients,” says the CEO of askblue, Pedro Nicolau.

This service addresses all the needs associated with data, from ensuring best practices in modeling, unification, and guaranteeing a single view of the truth, to exploring advanced analytical models, particularly for generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) use cases, Data Management, Data Governance and BI & Analytics.

“In 2024, we will continue to invest in the askblue brand, so that it has greater visibility and recognition in the market, not only by potential clients but also by candidates to work with us. The business can only grow if we are a good company to work for, with internal opportunities, support, the possibility of growth, and employee recognition,” concludes Pedro Nicolau.

Lisbon, April 3rd 2024