Globant is a company that bridges the gap between businesses and consumers through technology and creativity, utilizing experience as an AI powerhouse. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Globant’s Chief Business Officer for North America, Nicolás Kaplun, to learn more about the company.
Nicolás Kaplun’s Background
What is Nicolás Kaplun’s background? Kaplun said:
“I have been Globant’s Chief Business Officer for North America for the last two years. Before this role, I was Globant’s Chief Business Officer for Latin America for three years, where I helped secure record-breaking regional results. Throughout my career, I’ve worked on developing our company’s strategy, enabling revenue growth, and managing projects for multiple global businesses. Prior to Globant, I worked in several global companies, including Accenture, AIG, Korn/Ferry International, Zurich FS, Telefonica Media, and Citibank. I have worked mostly in Latam and the US during my 25+ years of professional experience.
Additionally, I’ve worked to provide support for organizations and causes that aim to advance social and economic development, including the Council of the Americas, the Wilson Center’s Latin American program, and Globant’s own Women that Build Awards.”
“As Chief Business Officer of North America, my mandate is to grow Globant’s business in North America, which is our largest market globally currently. In pursuit of this goal, I oversee business strategy and operations for the region, including the investments we make, our corporate development, relationships with key partners, and most of my time is dedicated to having the best talent.
My day-to-day is dedicated to identifying and executing strategic growth opportunities, strengthening our technological expertise, optimizing our allocation of resources, leading and mentoring senior leaders, and much more. Importantly, I am also responsible for ensuring that our global company goals are aligned with those in our region, and that our company culture and values are strongly embodied throughout North America.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Kaplun reflected:
“I really enjoy living our purpose of creating technology that dares to delight—transforming organizations and leveraging the power of AI to unlock new possibilities, drive innovation, and provide world-class opportunities for talent to make a difference around the globe. That is why my favorite memories are related to seeing how technology impacts the lives of people around the world.
For example, last year we were a key player in the creation of the phygital experience fans can now live at the LA Clippers Stadium in Los Angeles, we also announced our partnership with F1 and support the fan experience in such an exciting and tech-and-data driven sport.”
“But my answer would not be complete if I did not tell you about the great times and experiences that I have lived with our teams and our leadership. Every gathering and event is a reminder that what makes Globant different is the autonomy and authenticity of our people to do great things.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Kaplun explained:
“Globant’s core divisions include our Studios and Globant X. Together, our work in these areas help our customers digitally transform and deliver the products and services their customers love. Our Studios are how our company is organized into areas of expertise, knowledge, and experience. We currently have more than 35 Studios, which are divided into four different categories: ‘AI Reinvention,’ ‘Digital Evolution,’ ‘Enterprise,’ and ‘Globant Gut.’ Our ‘AI Reinvention’ Studios focus on our deep industry and tech experience, and include Studios like Media & Entertainment, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Finance, Sports, Hospitality & Leisure, and Automotive. Our ‘Digital Evolution’ Studios enhance efficiency by integrating AI into the software development lifecycle, and include Studios like Immersive Experiences, Robotics, Cybersecurity, and Data. Our ‘Enterprise’ Studios leverage specific technologies to streamline operations, and include Studios like SAP, ServiceNow, Salesforce, Oracle, AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft. Lastly, our ‘Globant Gut’ Studios focus on providing creative strategy and remarkable experiences, and are a result of our acquisition of Gut, the 2023 Cannes Lions Independent Network of the Year – these Studios include Advertising, Product, Design, Content and Social.”
“The unique aspect about our Studios is that they work together, cross-functionally, to integrate each other’s capabilities and expertise in order to help us develop creative, industry-leading solutions for our clients.”
“In addition to our Studios, our Globant X division houses our AI-powered, proprietary technology solutions that further help our clients accelerate tech adoption and revolutionize their operations. These include MagnifAI, which leverages AI for software quality assurance and testing; Augoor, which uses AI to enhance the coding process; GeneXus Enterprise AI, which accelerates the development of private and future-proofed AI solutions; and many more.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges have Kaplun and the team face in building the company? Kaplun acknowledged:
“It can be increasingly challenging these days to stay up-to-date on the multiple technology trends materializing, as well as make sense of the trends and determine which technologies are worthy of investments and long-term planning. During the last couple of years, in particular, the complexity of this has grown exponentially with the impact of AI. It’s been essential to keep as well-informed as possible and also listen to experts to stay ahead of the curve.”
“Another challenge we’ve faced is how to effectively motivate talent in turbulent times. Managing teams and keeping people motivated is always one of the biggest challenges in our industry. Providing multiple resources for navigating common challenges both in and outside of work – such as continuous education and employee assistance programs – has been helpful. It’s also important to ensure your leadership team continuously shares their excitement for the future and trust in your employees, which helps motivate people to tackle challenges together.”
“It’s also been difficult, generally, to differentiate in a sea of sameness. Many industry players are talking about the same topics and even expressing the same points-of-view. It’s important to constantly rethink what makes us different as an organization, and ensure that although the world is always changing, every step we take is aligned with our core purpose and values.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Kaplun noted:
“Since our founding more than 20 years ago, the technologies we have created for our clients have naturally had to evolve at a faster and faster pace, as the global technology landscape continues to change rapidly. We have consistently succeeded in such a fast-changing landscape because of our belief in the power of innovation to change the world and our ability to make quick decisions, take smart risks, be bold, and unleash creativity at every level.”
“Take, for example, AI. We first launched our Data & AI Studio in 2013, now over a decade ago. Since then, we’ve continued to actively invest in developing our global AI capabilities as the technology evolves, including training for individual Globers and deploying proprietary AI Agents. As a result of this outlook, we were named a Leader in IDC’s Worldwide Artificial Intelligence Services MarketScape (2023). This is just one example of how the products and services we create for clients continuously evolve as a result of the transformation that occurs daily within Globant. In addition to internal growth, we also prioritize strategic acquisitions and partnerships that help us stay ahead of clients’ needs, which enables us to continuously launch new Studio offerings.”
Customer Success Stories
When asking Kaplun about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“One of my favorite recent customer success stories is about our work with FIFA. In October 2022, we launched a groundbreaking partnership with FIFA to support the digital evolution of all things sports, fandom, and football. As part of this partnership, we worked together to develop the FIFA+ platform into the globally recognized digital destination for football fans that it is today.
Modern sports fans are looking for an integrated experience, where they’re able to feel that they’re in the thick of the action whether they’re at the stadium, in their home, or on the go. This made the development of a top-tier mobile application a must. In April 2022, FIFA+ was launched as a go-to platform for football fans, serving as the digital home for FIFA’s flagship events, digital content, live matches, and more. Achieving this required the development and implementation of multiple enhancements and features that could support the growing use base and provide an unparalleled user experience.”
“With our cross-industry experience in media, gamification, AI, and data, we supported the development of FIFA+ by bringing an innovative approach to stats and performance that allows fans to gain relevant and instant insights on their favorite players and teams, while gathering and processing significant data that offers users a hyper-personalized, real-time experience. Today, FIFA+ is a globally recognized digital hub that shows what’s possible for the future of fan engagement.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates Globant from its competition? Kaplun affirmed:
“While there are many offerings and attributes that differentiate Globant from our competition, I think there are a few core pillars that really make us stand out. The first is our Studios. Our specialized Studios ensure that we can assemble the best possible team for each client’s needs by pulling from our broad areas of expertise. For example, if a client is looking to break into the sports streaming industry, we can select experts from our Sports, Media and Entertainment, Immersive Experiences, and CloudOps Studios – among others – to ensure we are leveraging cross-industry expertise to create one-of-a-kind, industry-leading solutions.
We also differentiate ourselves through our daring innovation. From our founding in 2003 in Buenos Aires, today we have more than 29,100 Globers in 33 countries across five continents. We were named the fastest-growing IT brand and the 5th strongest IT brand globally (2024), according to Brand Finance. This wouldn’t be possible without the curiosity that drives us to learn every day, break paradigms, and apply creativity to deliver consistent superior work.”
“Additionally, we believe that diversity is at the heart of innovation, and we are committed to uplifting people from all backgrounds in the tech space, from those in underserved communities to people with neurodivergent learning patterns.
“Whether through our partnerships with organizations like NPower or our creation of the Women that Build Awards to recognize inspirational and high-achieving women in tech, we take action to maximize inclusion within Globant as well as in the external tech industry at large.”
Future Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? Kaplun concluded:
“At Globant, our ultimate goal is to continue to shape the future of the digital landscape worldwide. We’ll do this by prioritizing our adoption of next-gen technologies, always leading with an innovation-forward mindset, not letting fears hold us or our clients back from disruption, and partnering with other like-minded companies who are daring to reinvent what’s possible.”
