ImpacTech: ‘Companies that fail to automate now are going to get left behind’
ImpacTech co-founder and CEO George Larkou believes the challenge of efficiently and effectively processing data through AI and predictive analytics will define the success or failure of companies in the finance sector
ImpacTech CEO George Larkou and co-founder and CTO George Nicolaides have been navigating ImpacTech’s course to become leaders in Business Intelligence solutions for almost two years now. Central to much of their development work is the process of leveraging data through AI. During that time, they’ve overseen a considerable increase in personnel which prompted the move to the modern headquarters in Limassol.
“It’s an exciting time for us with the expo coming up. It’s a great platform to demonstrate how effective our new CRM is for the finance industry,” said Larkou.
In May we will present our data driven CRM at the iFX Expo where we are Gold sponsors. Our CRM marks a huge step forward for customer management systems, with its built-in business relationships for MT4 and MT5 trading platforms. It delivers genuine integration with the business’s other functions. It is the first time a brokerage’s primary functions – the trading platforms, marketing and telecoms – can be fully and seamlessly integrated, straight out of the box.
“Data from a brokerage’s touchpoints is leveraged by the CRM in combination with marketing tools so that you can predict customer behaviour and increase conversions,” explained Larkou. “It’s the complete brokerage solution.”
The telecom solution, which is a highly cost-effective tool on its own, also integrates seamlessly and adds more data for the Machine Learning algorithm to work with. While the CRM is a major milestone for ImpacTech, Larkou’s focus is already on what lies beyond.
“We’re also working on solutions for a broad spectrum of clients which presents a new set of challenges,” he explained.
TEAMS OF DEVEOPERS WITH EXPERTISE IN AI AND BIG DATA
Modern art adorns the building’s tall walls and catches the eye at every turn. Depictions of Ancient Greek philosophers and thinkers combined elegantly with tech symbols. They symbolise how ImpacTech fuse technological developments to address the challenges businesses face today in increasingly competitive markets.
At most of the desks within the open plan office sit teams of developers. Among them are experts in algorithms and Big Data analysis.
“We’re all about delivering more intelligent tools. Having ideas is great but we’re here to convert those great ideas into a productive tool that drives business,” explained Larkou.
“For me, solutions also have to be easy to use. A lot of work goes into designing the interfaces. Intuitive tools are the most effective.”
“The success of Apple’s iPhone is the case in point. The device is capable of doing a lot but what made it such an outright success was that performing all those functions was easy for an inexperienced user.”
“Within minutes you got a great user experience and that’s the same goal we have for our solutions. Apple didn’t need you to read a 50-page user guide to get a great experience from their phones and you don’t need one for our solutions either. They’re easy and intuitive to use.”
When asked about where ImpacTech will be in a year from now Larkou said: “Certainly, we expect to be much bigger in banking and gaming over the next 12 months.”
‘BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE IS ONLY GOING TO GET BIGGER’
“FinTech is a lucrative industry that’s only going to get bigger. At this point, it’s still immature. Only now is awareness growing about the impact of advanced technological data. Big Data, AI and predictive analytics are going to develop and disrupt many industries.”
“People are waking up to the importance of their data and how much value we can leverage from it. We’ve been working on data driven solutions for a long time now, we’ve enjoyed a lengthy runway on our competitors.”
“The critical trend is towards automation. Businesses that don’t automate functions like marketing will not be able to compete in the very near future.”
Clients from all corners of the world request presentations. They’re convinced that ImpacTech’s solutions offer value and are the best fit for what they want to achieve. It’s a view Sales Director Anthony Papaevagorou concurs with.
Papaevagorou recently left his senior role at MetaQuotes, where he led the sales division for many years, because he’s convinced ImpacTech is the right place to be. ImpacTech’s recent recruitment drive has been in preparation for a sizeable increase in the expected volume of work.
“Yes, we’ve been adding to all our teams,” explained Larkou. “We’ve taken on additional Full-stack developers, designers, Back-end engineers, mobile engineers. The important thing is to ensure they have the skills and are the right fit for ImpacTech. We’ve worked really hard to bring this group together.”
Larkou sees blockchain technology accelerating the shift towards greater automation and more efficient use of data.
BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY WILL DECENTRALISE DATA
“Blockchain technology is going to be a critical part of it. Clearly cryptocurrencies are part of this but I’m also talking about applying the blockchain to decentralise data. This will enable us to access true real-time analysis of data.”
“We will no longer need to react to a prompt or a notification, our systems will simply optimise as every new data input dictates.”
“The great thing about this technology is that it’s totally scalable. It makes no difference to the technology whether you’re processing 10 Terabytes of data or 10 Petabytes. The importance lies in the efficiency that your system can analyse this data and how quickly the business can use those insights.”
Larkou offers the example of two similar sized companies in the same industry and the advantage that the one with real-time analytics has over the other.
“While company A uses a monthly report to track how the business is doing, company B is adjusting in real-time. Company A finds out at the end of the month that their latest campaign actually lost them one million dollars, company B drops the loss-making campaign immediately, minimizing the exposure, and keeps tweaking the parameters until it finds a more efficient one.”
“How long do you think company A can survive in that environment?”
On the walls of the office hang numerous flat screens. They simultaneously display motivational quotes from famous people and industry figures. One reads: “You can’t always control what goes on outside, but you can control what goes on inside.”
It neatly sums up what ImpacTech is doing for its customers.