A Houston-based IT services firm is adding experience to its leadership lineup and expanding its C-suite structure, with plans of hiring abroad.
Softeq Development Corp. named Craig Ceccanti as its new COO, Albert Esser as chief delivery officer, and Edwin Lemus as its new chief people officer. All three positions are newly created, and the executives bring over 50 years of combined experience to the company, said CEO and founder Chris Howard. Lemus, Ceccanti and Esser began their new roles in June.
"The company went through a lot of transformation in the last few years," Howard said. "We had politics in Belarus to navigate, then the Covid-19 pandemic, then war in Ukraine and now the economic situation. We've moved from having a single research and development location in Europe to having people working in over 20 countries. This told us we needed seniority, especially in the people function."
The company’s steady revenue growth, despite some flat years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, put Softeq in a position to begin looking for more experienced leadership, Howard said. Softeq reported 70% revenue growth from 2021 to 2022.
Ceccanti previously joined Softeq Venture Fund — launched in 2022 to support the Softeq Venture Studio — as one of three managing partners. He also co-founded the mobile ordering startup Rivalry Tech with current CEO Aaron Knape. Rivalry Tech, which created the sEATz and myEATz platforms, participated in Softeq Venture Studio’s October 2022 accelerator. Howard said Ceccanti will still be involved in Softeq’s venture work but will also take over the day-to-day side of the business.
"We started getting to know Craig really well; he was coming to the studio, mentoring startups," Howard said. "I had it on the roadmap to hire a COO and saw that he could be a great fit for the role."
Lemus was previously the head of people experience at Houston-based Alert Logic, which was acquired by Minnesota-based HelpSystems — now known as Fortra — last year.
Howard said Lemus' experience managing teams in Latin America will help Softeq, which has operations in 22 countries as of the end of 2022. The company will upgrade its sales teams to place more employees closer to clients both in the U.S. and abroad, Howard said.
"For a long time, Softeq mostly was your core team of people," Howard said. "In Texas and in Latin America is where we're going to be doing a lot of hiring."
Esser previously worked at Daimler AG as a staff scientist and held leadership positions at General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Dell (NYSE: DELL). He will work on Softeq’s global delivery offerings and will help the company stay ahead in emerging applications of technologies like cloud application, robotics and industrial automation.
Despite its global expansions, Howard said Softeq will remain committed to Houston for its IT businesses and for the growth of its venture activity. He also said Texas has yet-untapped tech potential, referencing recent reports that show Houston, Austin, and Dallas rank highly in terms of tech job postings and salary.
"There's always been a lot of tech in Texas, if you look at Texas Instruments, Compaq, Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprises, and so on," Howard said. "There's more tech here than people realize. I think the market is a kind of best kept secret in terms of what can really be achieved."
At the end of March, Softeq Venture Studios welcomed 14 startups to its three-month accelerator program, including early-stage health tech startup Aim7 and Houston Inno Madness competitor UpBrainery. Applications for the 2024 cohort are open on Softeq’s website and will close on Oct. 18. Howard said that engaging with the 64 total startups in the venture studio helped Softeq grow closer to the local community in Houston.
Howard was nominated as an Ernst & Young 2023 Entrepreneur of the Year finalist for the Gulf South region, one of 24 executives from 21 Houston-area companies.
