Corporate Culture and Human Resources Are More Important Than Software

As one of the oldest domestic information technology (IT) companies, and after 26 years of existence, BiLog continues to develop and grow. From the beginning, emphasizes Tomislav Videc, a member of BiLog’s Management Board, the company has developed and continues to evolve alongside demanding clients, primarily in the financial sector, where security, reliability, and compliance are the basic standards of business. Working in such an environment, he points out, has strongly shaped BiLog’s approach to technology and business development.

What else has influenced the company’s development so far?

– The key to our long-term success is investing in people and developing their competencies, as well as close collaboration with clients and monitoring their needs. Through complex projects, we have built domain expertise and gained the trust of large systems. We have gradually transformed that experience into standardized approaches and solutions so that key processes are resolved consistently, rather than developing each project from scratch. Such a model allows clients greater operational efficiency, better process manageability, and decision-making based on relevant and timely information.

Why do you most often work with banks and insurers?

– It is precisely in the financial sector that we have the deepest domain expertise and the most complex integration scenarios. In such systems, the value of standardization, automation, and quality data management is most clearly expressed. At the same time, we also collaborate with large state institutions and companies from the real sector, especially those with a large number of employees, multiple locations, and a need for process standardization. Geographically, we are most active in Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a number of projects in Austria, Germany, or Switzerland. Such regional presence has proven to be very practical as the markets are similar enough for us to transfer good practices, but also different enough for us to continuously learn and further develop the flexibility of our products.

What are the trends in the digital transformation of financial industries?

– Currently, three trends are most pronounced. The first is the need to shorten the time to market for new products and functionalities, with greater adaptability without long and expensive development cycles. The second is a stronger emphasis on operational efficiency, standardization, and traceability of processes, and the third is an increasing emphasis on data-driven business management. Financial institutions are increasingly investing in reliable indicators, dashboards, and a unified view of clients, products, risks, and results because without this, it is not possible to manage complex systems effectively and make timely business decisions. In this context, interest in artificial intelligence is also growing, but its real value only becomes apparent when the underlying processes are adequately digitized, data is well-structured, and systems are well-connected. In banking, insurance, and other financial activities, AI therefore makes the most sense as an upgrade to organized processes and quality data.

What key solutions and services do you offer?

– We offer a combination of our own products and project delivery. Our portfolio includes Phoenitian, a core insurance solution that covers all key insurance processes and all lines of insurance, Product Studio, a tool for managing products and portfolios, Akira HRM, a human resource management system, and DataStudio, a data management and analytics solution. In addition, we provide business and technical consulting, implementation, integrations, support, and custom development when there is a clear business reason and real client need. In practice, we often apply a gradual modernization approach: retaining parts of the system that work well while selectively improving those that slow down development, complicate integrations, compromise data quality, or limit user experience. Such an approach allows clients better risk control, gradual phases of realization, and measurable business results.

What distinguishes Phoenitian?

– Phoenitian stands out by integrating all lines of insurance and all key insurance processes into one platform, from product development and sales to policy and claims management, finance, reporting, and regulatory compliance. In many companies, these processes are still distributed across multiple systems, and life and non-life insurance are managed separately, which increases integration risk and operational costs. Our approach is different: one platform, clear roles, and the ability for the insurer to take a large part of product and rule management into their own hands. Product Studio plays a special role here, as a tool that allows products, packages, rules, and variants by channel to be changed quickly and controlled, with clear tracking of changes. We also place a strong emphasis on data, and Phoenitian provides users with support for business decision-making based on information extracted from data, with the ability to analyze causes and trends.

What are the specifics of the domestic and European insurance market?

– The Croatian insurance market today, after more than a decade of EU membership, is strongly integrated into the European context and shares key trends with it. The level of insurance penetration in the private and corporate segments is still lower than in more developed European markets, leaving room for growth. At the same time, customer expectations are growing faster than the readiness of a large part of the sector: fast and transparent service, digital channels, self-service, and clear communication are becoming the standard. The biggest challenges are well known: raising the customer experience to the level of other industries, speeding up processes and reducing operational costs, shortening time-to-market, and developing segmented offers and packages of diverse services and products that customers increasingly expect. Quality IT modernization can play a significant role in this as it can accelerate delivery and reduce operational risk, but only if it is accompanied by discipline in data and change management. In other words, it is not enough to implement a new system; it is necessary to clearly define process management, set responsibilities within the organization, and continuously monitor business results.

What further movements do you expect in the IT market?

– In the IT market, we see several clear development directions. First of all, there is a stronger product approach with fewer custom solutions. There is a growing demand for security and cyber resilience, as well as pressure for measurable investment value. Clients are looking for faster delivery with risk control, i.e., solutions ready for integration, adaptation, and long-term sustainable change management. At the same time, there is an expectation that the supplier will take responsibility for operational usability, not just technical correctness.

How do you promote the company and solutions?

– The best promotion is satisfied clients and successfully completed projects, so a large part of our growth comes through recommendations and long-term relationships. Conferences are useful for keeping up with news, opening opportunities for partnerships and employee development, but also for validating our own ideas: what the market really demands and what is just a passing trend. Last year, we participated in conferences in London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Opatija, and Sarajevo, and this year we continue our conference activities and have just returned from the largest insurtech conference in London, where we participated as a sponsor and exhibitor. By exchanging ideas and experiences at conferences, we can better understand the industry’s priorities and direct product development towards solutions that bring clients the greatest impact with the least operational burden. This year, we have noticed an increasing interest in modernizing core systems, integrations, and embedded distribution models.

What could be the challenges for the future development of the company’s business?

– In a dynamic business environment, challenges change, but our response must remain the same: continuous development of people and capacities and discipline in delivering solutions. Specifically, this means for us scaling knowledge, support, security, and release management without compromising quality, while maintaining a focus on products and real client problems. Expanding into new markets requires process standardization and smart management of local specifics, and therefore we are developing solutions that can follow different business models and market demands without unnecessary complexity and compromising system stability.

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