Madalin Stefirca was recently named as Maxcode’s new Chief Technology Officer. We asked him to tell us more about his ambitions for the company’s technology and customer engagement landscape, and about how our ‘next level tech’ mentality aligns with the Maxcode Lifecycle Engagement Model.
1. As the new Chief Technology Officer at Maxcode, what aspects of the company’s technology and customer engagement landscape are you most excited about?
Maxcode has over 20 years of industry experience. In fact, you could say we started fintech before it was even called ‘fintech’! So I’m proud and honoured to have been part of this company for the past 13 years, and to have recently moved into the role of Chief Technology Officer.
For us, a ‘next level tech’ mentality includes engaging with clients in an appropriate way, but we realized that our clients’ specific requirements change as they evolve from start-ups to scale-ups and beyond. Therefore, to help them keep pace with today’s changing times and prepare for tomorrow’s high performing world, we have developed an engagement model that is designed to adapt and provide tailored solutions at each stage of their growth lifecycle: from the initial collaboration with us, to a strategic partnership. I am excited that Maxcode is deepening its focus on client satisfaction in this way.
As CTO, it is my role to ensure that our technology solutions are not only robust and secure, but also aligned with the unique needs and objectives of each client.
2. What are the core principles and strategies that constitute Maxcode’s lifecycle engagement model?
Our engagement model is made up of four levels of collaboration. Thanks to this model, we believe that all businesses can find a level that they feel comfortable to adopt.
We call Level 1 ‘Pivotal Projects’, because it revolves around project-based collaboration. The client sends us small, end-to-end requests with varying regularity. We analyse each request to estimate the cost and timeline before agreeing to proceed and deliver the work. Clients can continue collaborating with us at this level for months or even years if this meets their needs.
As they grow, some companies become ready for the next step: Level 2, which we describe as ‘Versatile Capability’. This provides an increased degree of flexibility alongside a more streamlined process. We provide a tech team for a longer commitment period. The team stays close to the client and their business and handles the workload as required. For longer commitment periods, such as six months or more, clients also enjoy financial benefits such as lower fees.
Next comes Level 3, which we refer to as ‘Sustainable Capacity’. At this point, the client has grown and matured, and our team has too; it starts becoming a part of the client’s core business. Collaboration at this level allows clients to influence hiring decisions, training, evaluations, salary costs and adjustments within the tech team. At the same time, they benefit from a hassle-free experience on all the other fronts, such as office management and security, hardware, human resources, accounting, legal and tax operations, and so on.
Eventually, some clients might find themselves in the fortunate position that their tech activities have become so mature and crucial that working with a third-party team is no longer the right solution for them. For this scenario, we’ve designed Level 4, called ‘Strategic Ownership’. In this setup, we help the client to set up their own company for the tech team, legally registered in Romania in full compliance with local financial and labour laws. All the engineers currently working in the team become direct hires of this newly formed entity.
3. How is the Maxcode lifecycle engagement model delivering real-life benefits for customers?
At Level 1, our pivotal projects address clients’ immediate development needs. We build trust through consistent delivery, and our scope of work gradually expands as their business grows. This approach has enabled numerous clients to efficiently launch their platforms, iterate on features based on user feedback, and scale their operations while keeping an eye on the budget.
When we reach Level 2 and assign a dedicated team to work closely with the client’s team, this seamless collaboration leads to a deeper understanding of the client’s business objectives. As a result, various clients have been able to accelerate product development, improve time-to-market, and optimize resource allocation for ongoing projects.
In the case of Level 3, the tech team becomes more integrated as an extension of the client’s internal workforce. These strategic partnerships have allowed several clients to benefit from our expertise, while gaining access to a scalable and highly skilled talent pool, with reduced operational overheads.
Last but not least, the real-life benefits of Level 4 are that clients retain full control over their technology capabilities and optimize costs, safe in the knowledge that the new company is in full compliance with local regulations.
4. How important is technology for Maxcode and the engagement model?
Very important! At Maxcode, we are passionate about harnessing next level tech to drive innovation and help our clients to achieve lasting success. Our lifecycle engagement model is meticulously designed to make sure that the solutions we provide closely mirror the evolving needs of our clients at each stage of their growth journey. But none of this would be possible without tech.
5. What are your longer-term ambitions for Maxcode?
Our own development processes must continue to fit with our ‘next level tech’ mentality. Therefore, my main focus will be on maintaining and further growing our capabilities and knowledge in fintech-related technologies, while always keeping a fresh overview at the overall company level.
To support this, I am committed to enhancing the culture of continuous improvement within our technology team and across the company, by encouraging innovation, learning and experimentation. We should never stop exploring new tools, methodologies and best practices to make sure we repeatedly deliver a superior customer experience.
Personally, I am particularly eager to explore emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and to find ways to harness it. For example, I believe it has the potential to help us develop better collaboration tools that boost communication between teams and clients, with increased transparency driving efficiency and productivity. Additionally, we can use data analytics and business intelligence to provide clients with actionable insights that will help in their decision-making and strategic planning.
By combining Maxcode’s technology capabilities and our lifecycle engagement model with a deep understanding of each client’s unique needs and preferences, our teams will be able to take the personalized customer experience to the next level. So I see plenty of opportunities to help Maxcode continue to exceed clients’ expectations and build long-term loyalty and satisfaction by generating as much value as possible for them in the years to come.
