This week, Techopia Live was joined by Steve Byrne, CEO of Thinkwrap Commerce. The Kanata-based firm was previous member of OBJ’s fastest growing companies list, and has consistently been inching its way up the Branham300 list of Canada’s top tech firms, this year coming in at No. 159.
The firm has recently hit the 100 employee mark, including an office in Valencia, Spain that it acquired in 2015. Thinkwrap is still hiring (Byrne says the company is always hiring if the right candidate comes around) and has been reaching out to local post-secondary institutions to provide scholarships and influence curricula to prepare talent for a job in at the company.
A regular misconception about the company, Byrne says, is its position related to Shopify. Thinkwrap isn’t a competitor, but works in a separate e-commerce space, building on platforms such as Oracle and SAP Hybris for clients such as Cineplex, TGI Fridays and Aldo Shoes. The rapid expansion of Shopify’s platform, however, has caught Thinkwrap’s attention.
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“We’re keeping a very close eye on Shopify. They’re moving their technology into a space that’s more our target market. Who knows, one day we may be a Shopify partner,” Byrne says.
The future of e-commerce will increasingly be automated, Byrne told Techopia Live, with the advent of machine learning and commerce experiences tailored to the customer through predictive technologies.
“The end result, for the consumer, is an easier shopping experience, much more automation in terms of things coming to you.”
To hear more about Byrne’s impressions of Ottawa’s “resilient” tech culture, watch the interview above.
