There’s been big changes since Petr Palas started Kentico in 2004. Since then, 13 versions of Kentico have been released with his guidance as CEO, and now, as chairman. See what Petr Palas has to say about how he’s built (and continues to build) the past, present, and future of Kentico.
The evolution of Kentico: From Brno to a global market
Petr Palas created this company in 2004 as a thesis project while studying in Brno, but it wasn’t long before Kentico was officially launched. Within a year, Petr Palas had formed a team for Kentico along with a CMS framework. Today, we are a globally recognized leader in digital experience platforms. Our most recent release, Xperience by Kentico, is a cutting-edge hybrid headless platform that functions as both a digital marketing platform and CMS. And it is proof that Kentico has come a long way since the start.
But Kentico wasn’t built in a day. “I think the best word to describe this journey is marathon. We started as a simple CMS framework for website developers, and we evolved our offering into a comprehensive DXP platform that caters to the needs of both developers and marketers,” Palas remarks. “We were patiently building a sustainable business step by step.”
The secret to Kentico’s successful evolution was a mix of Petr Palas’ vision and having the right team, Palas explains: “We were lucky to bring the right people from the very beginning–people who shared this mindset and worked hard to move the business, but also themselves, one step further and then again and again.” How far we've got is evident in our customer success stories–companies and organizations like La Lorraine, FERNO, Konica Minolta, and the Greater Miami Conventions and Business Bureau trust us to deliver a top-notch digital experience.
The key to keeping up? Building strong partnerships
Keeping up with tech industry trends amidst a constantly changing digital landscape is vital. Palas’ personal approach with an emphasis on partner relationships was a key factor in maintaining Kentico’s relevance and continuous success in a fast-paced industry. He explains his methodology: “I think it’s a combination of listening to customers and watching market trends. I believe we’ve been good at maintaining a close relationship with our clients and partners; delivering what they need at the given moment.”
Palas continues: “At the same time, we watched the market trends and we tried to be one step ahead of our customers. What we learned is that it’s not difficult to see the trends.” This was evident with the early adaptation of inbuilt A/B testing, a feature added to Kentico ten years ago that remains in high demand today.
Being one step ahead doesn’t always guarantee success, however, and over the years we’ve had to adapt our strategy to align with the market to maintain relevance. Staying realistic to provide features that are accessible in the moment for partners and clients is integral.
Petr Palas says: “The hardest part is to jump on the wave at the right time. In some cases, such as our first attempt to introduce a cloud offering back in 2012, we were too fast, while the technology and the market weren’t ready. I believe our approach is much more balanced today.”
The more balanced approach is all thanks to insights from our Partner Program, which has created a symbiotic relationship between our digital experience platform and our partners–who’ve been with us since the beginning.
Overcoming challenges with an innovative team
Challenges are inevitable, even for teams built with fortitude. Petr Palas’ proudest moment stems from the fact that he’s built a team that can weather any storm. He explains: “For me, it was around 2021, just as we came out of COVID lockdowns. I looked back and realized how strong of an organization we had created over the years. As a team, we were able to overcome many struggles and navigate difficult periods.”
The secret to surviving challenging times? A willingness to adapt. As the global pandemic changed our world, the needs of our partners and clients changed, too.
“We managed to innovate and embrace change over and over. This ability to adapt was key to our success.”
Twenty years of change in the tech industry
We have been around long enough to watch the industry grow and change. Over the years, we have released 13 versions of our platform and used the lessons we learned to build the new Xperience by Kentico. “We went through many changes in this industry in the past 20 years. On the technology side, it was cloud, mobile, headless, JAMstack, and most recently AI,” Palas explains.
Kentico has managed to keep up with the constantly evolving market, but it hasn’t always been seamless. There’s been a couple of technological advancements that have caught Kentico by surprise: “Combine that with major changes in Microsoft .NET framework that led to several major rewrites of our code. As I mentioned before, we usually adapt very fast. Still, there were two areas that caught us naked–responsive web design and MVC.
Both of these advancements required a significant rewrite of our code which we weren’t able to make overnight. On top of that, we saw major shifts in how software is made and distributed. We went from waterfall to agile, from on-premises to SaaS, and from perpetual licenses to subscriptions.”
It wasn’t just the internal team who helped with the transformations. Our clients and partners have played a key role in providing feedback and guiding change to help us create dependable digital experience platforms: “I’m grateful to our clients and partners who were part of this journey with us, many of them for 15+ years.”
The MVP program has been a major asset for our ability to rapidly adapt to the needs of our clients. Currently consisting of 11 developers and marketers worldwide, the MVP program gathers Kentico experts who provide feedback based on their experience working with the programs. Their feedback molds our product into a digital experience platform that actually meets and anticipates the needs of our clients and partners.
The change from CEO to chairman
Petr Palas’ day-to-day involvement with Kentico has shifted since Dominik Pinter took over as CEO. Palas explains: “In 2022, as we spun off Kontent.ai, I handed over the role of CEO of Kentico to Dominik Pinter. Technically, it wasn’t a big change–since Dominik had previously led the Kentico division as Managing Director.”
Changes to Kentico brought change to both Petr Palas’ personal and professional life. Going from the founder and CEO of Kentico to chairman gave him an outside view–leading to the development of fresh ideas: “Professionally and personally, it was actually a big learning experience for me. I see a big benefit when you can separate yourself from the daily execution. Watching the business from the outside leads you to asking different questions and thinking more strategically. On the personal level, I can spend more time with my family and my hobbies, and that’s something I’m hugely grateful for.”
On the horizon
Looking forward, there’s exciting developments in store for Kentico–as evident in the Xperience by Kentico roadmap. Kentico has big goals, but Palas explains that a primary focus is to stay true to Kentico’s foundation, even amidst digital landscape changes, “We’re well aligned around the strategy, so I can say we want to continue focusing on our strength that made Kentico what it is today. Kentico has always been a pragmatic vendor focused on the needs of the customers who are omitted by large vendors.”
Palas continues, “We serve customers who need to stay competitive against their bigger competitors, while operating with much smaller teams and budgets. Over the past 20 years, we democratized CMS and DXP for these customers and enabled them to do more with less. Now we’re doing the same with AI and other exciting advancements in Xperience by Kentico.”
For more about our journey, read the 20 years of Kentico: A tribute to our team and transformative journey.
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