FIAA: Assist Digital achieved its 5th anniversary in the Albanian market. Could you tell us a bit more about the business of your company and its experience in Albania?
Mr. Donati: First of all, we are very happy to have been working in Albania and we are still following a growth path of our business in this country. We like the country and we like the people we are working with. Assist Digital is providing Customer Experience services to global companies at a pan-European level. This means that we provide a wide range of services related to the relationship between brands and their customers. We provide consulting services, CRM and marketing automating services, UX/UI design services, as well as multilingual customer operation services. Since the beginning of our story, we have been leveraging a lot on digital technologies and ICT technologies blending Artificial Intelligence with Human Intelligence, with the aim to fully satisfy the end users and at the same time our clients. This strategy has been very successful so far giving our company the opportunity to engage with very important clients.
In the last decade the industry of Business Process Outsourcing has developed substantially in Albania. How do you find the labor market here and the existing legal and fiscal framework the country offers for this industry?
As I mentioned in the introduction, we like very much the country and the people of Albania. However, the market has become quite busy during the last few years. Many companies of our industry have selected Albania as a destination to develop their business. Thus, the market has become very competitive and attracting the best talents is every year more difficult. As Assist Digital we are not only looking for multilingual contact center agents, but we are strongly committed to develop an important team of digital and tech experts i.e designers, software engineers, marketing automation experts, and so on. From this point of view, the capability of the education system to prepare certain kind of profiles is very important and we would be very happy to strengthen the collaboration with local Universities to support their important effort in developing such skills. From the legal and fiscal point of view, considering also the international agreements, both with Italy and Europe, we consider Albania a friendly business environment.
The Pandemic transformed the last two years completely. How did the company cope with “The Smart Working Mode”?
When the pandemic started, we have been one of the first companies to provide the technical and procedural infrastructure to allow our people working remotely. The so-called Smart Working Mode has been very successful so far, both for our people and for the company. This positive experience will last for the future and we are now working also with our clients to transform this occasional working model in a long-lasting model. Of course, there are also important reasons to meet people periodically at our premises, both for business and organizational needs and also for developing and sharing knowledge through interpersonal relationship. Joining Assist Digital people will find a very open environment where Smart Working will be strongly supported, as well as an inclusive and innovative mindset.
How is the company performing? Are there any plans for further expansion?
At group level, Assist Digital is growing rapidly and continuously since its inception. In 2021 we have increased our revenues by 40% and this year we are targeting another 30% growth. With reference to our investments in Albania, we have already opened two operation centers and we are now working to set up a new fantastic operation center based in the new Business Center “The Urban Limit”. In addition, with the offer of the smart working opportunity, we aim to attract the best talents both in the BPO segment, and in the consulting and technology business.
What are your impressions of the current business operating environment in Albania? What challenges are you facing?
As I said before, the most relevant challenge we are facing today is to attract and retain talents. The market labor mobility is actually very high and Assist Digital will continue to offer the best place to work and the opportunity to collaborate with a very international and high skilled team, including the opportunity to spend some time abroad working in different countries and with great people.