That colleagues would be able to attend the kickoff in person again in January was something most of them only dared to hope for on their way to the Crowne Plaza Hotel Düsseldorf-Neuss. In 2022, the kickoff had taken place entirely virtually; the last "live" kickoff had been three years ago – which made the joy of all those present all the greater as they rang in the new year in the old-fashioned way.
The opening of the day's event was fittingly spectacular: codecentric founder and board member Rainer Vehns took to the stage to the cheers of his colleagues with an electric guitar and thrilled the team with an improvised guitar solo!
Looking back at 2022
As in previous years, radio and TV presenter Sebastian Schaffstein hosted the day and interviewed Rainer Vehns and Lars Rückemann (board member) about the past fiscal year. Despite the difficult situation facing society as a whole, codecentric AG can look back on a satisfying year. For both of them, the highlights include the live events that are now increasingly returning: the company-internal Unconference and PopUp-Unconf, as well as the summer party, but also codecentric events such as the Cloud Love Conference or the virtual SoftwerkerKonf. In addition, new office spaces were opened in Frankfurt and Nuremberg.
In the interview, Lars Rückemann praised the time that employees invested in 2022 in their personal and professional development and innovation time as part of their Offproject Time. As a result, the relaunched blog was able to inspire and inform tech enthusiasts with many articles – just as the three published issues of the Softwerker magazine, whose specialist articles are written by codecentric employees.
The management circle of codecentric's clients was also won over by the "Business Acceleration Club" format launched in 2022.
As a successful result of the innovation projects, Lars Rückemann highlighted SHERLOQ, a tool for intelligent document processing using AI. The product "GitLab as a Service" (developed in collaboration with IONOS) also received a mention.
Introduction: Stefan Riedel is the new board member
Even though he didn't officially take up the position until three days later, the board took the opportunity at the kickoff to personally introduce Stefan Riedel as the new board member. He had already been officially announced, but now Sebastian Schaffstein asked him a series of informal questions so that employees could get a sense of the person before experiencing Riedel as a board member in day-to-day company life.
Quo vadis? codecentric in 2025
"We want to solve big problems, we want to be business-critical, we want to take responsibility," said Rainer Vehns in his keynote. In it, Vehns shared his outlook on where he sees codecentric AG in two years – and what demands its clients will place on it in the future. Vehns' speech aligns with the focus the company has been pursuing for years: "Our clients expect holistic consulting & delivery." Both remain central to codecentric's mission.
It's going to be great
After Rainer Vehns' keynote and a shared lunch, the afternoon continued with Markus Zink's contribution. This session was all about large clients – not only those who are already large today, but also those with significant growth potential. Working with large clients also ties in with Rainer Vehns' desire, described in the keynote, to make a big impact.
"We enable clients to intercept even the high and difficult balls and get them over the net. This is a matter of attitude (...): attention, speed, communication, action and reaction at eye level," Zink explained using a sports metaphor.
Building trust in projects
Following his session, Zink invited several colleagues onto the stage to present a selection of major projects. According to Felix Braun, site manager in Frankfurt, codecentric is already considered a "Trusted Advisor" by a major client in the insurance sector, with whom they have "already achieved a great deal" together. Thomas Ehrenreich, site manager in Solingen, presented a streaming platform project. Colleague Daniel Hartung from the team particularly praised the close collaboration with the client, which built trust in the competence of the codecentric colleagues. Simon Bruns then reported on his project with an automotive client. "We drove technical decisions forward and challenged digital products," said Bruns. "We were perceived as a proactive partner who not only raises problems but also suggests possible solutions." Markus Zink picked up on the thread from the previous speakers and confirmed once again: "Building and sharing knowledge is part of the codecentric DNA." It is through this, and through the excellent work of the teams, that the trust clients place in codecentric AG is built.
Excellence in everything we do
Excellence was also the focus of the day's final session by board member Lars Rückemann and Matthias Niehoff, Head of Data & AI. In it, Rückemann addressed the dichotomy: how does codecentric, as a continuously growing company, preserve its startup culture and mentality? "We are a strong brand and excellently positioned in the market," Rückemann said with satisfaction. This is due in no small part to the well-utilized OffProject Time, as described at the outset. "This time helps us build new skills and deepen existing ones. It also allows us to keep an eye on market trends and tendencies, so that we continue to have the right topics and skills on board to serve current and future clients in the best possible way," said Rückemann.
Matthias Niehoff then addressed the question of which skill sets are currently present within codecentric AG – "our bread-and-butter business" – and which ones the company and its employees still wish to develop in the future. "Non-core" skill sets will also become increasingly important in the future, meaning roles that are not purely technical.
With that, the exciting day's event came to a close and employees were able to enjoy a few free hours of networking before coaches took them on to the evening event. After all, no kickoff would be complete without an evening party!
At the Seifenfabrik Dr. Thompson's, there was plenty of celebrating and eating, enjoying the company of colleagues and discussing the day's topics together.