Quality assurance leader Brightest named ‘Gumption Company of the Year’

Brightest10years

100 employees, and more than 8 million euros in revenue - these are eye-catching results for Brightest, six years into their journey. Twenty company leaders at Gumption elected Brightest “Company of the Year”. We sat down with managing partners Koen De Wilde and Peter Chiau and asked them about the drivers behind their success.

100 employees, and more than 8 million euros in revenue - these are eye-catching results for Brightest, six years into their journey. Twenty company leaders at Gumption elected Brightest “Company of the Year”. We sat down with managing partners Koen De Wilde and Peter Chiau and asked them about the drivers behind their success.

Brightest pieter en koen van

Why did Brightest win this award?

Pieter: “Probably because of our impressive growth, and the fact that we launch innovative ideas on a regular basis. Early in our journey, for example, we decided to hire people without formal technology education and to provide training for them. In the world of IT, you don’t always need tons of experience. Motivation is important. Other companies are now following us.”

Koen: “We believe we should hire for attitude, and train for skills. According to our clients, our consultants all share the same ‘Brightest’ attitude. Integrity and drive are what we look for the most in our hiring process. You can be the smartest kid in the class, arrogance gets you nowhere with us.”

Pieter: “Our focus on soft skills makes us stand out from the crowd. In addition to professional development opportunities, we offer personal coaching to our staff members. Fitness pursuits, mental coaching, anything that can help develop one’s career path. One of our employees even chose to pursue speech therapy, to sharpen their public speaking skills. Our employees’ happiness translates to better services for our clients.”

Brightest pieter en koen van

Why did Brightest win this award?

Pieter: “Probably because of our impressive growth, and the fact that we launch innovative ideas on a regular basis. Early in our journey, for example, we decided to hire people without formal technology education and to provide training for them. In the world of IT, you don’t always need tons of experience. Motivation is important. Other companies are now following us.”

Koen: “We believe we should hire for attitude, and train for skills. According to our clients, our consultants all share the same ‘Brightest’ attitude. Integrity and drive are what we look for the most in our hiring process. You can be the smartest kid in the class, arrogance gets you nowhere with us.”

Pieter: “Our focus on soft skills makes us stand out from the crowd. In addition to professional development opportunities, we offer personal coaching to our staff members. Fitness pursuits, mental coaching, anything that can help develop one’s career path. One of our employees even chose to pursue speech therapy, to sharpen their public speaking skills. Our employees’ happiness translates to better services for our clients.”

My advice: aim high and dare to be ambitious.
Pieter Chiau
Brightest10years 2022 01 31 131743

Koen, Gumption’s shared services team (editor's note: 25 professionals who provide administrative and marketing support to companies) elected you Executive of the Year, with a narrow lead over Pieter. What makes you great leaders?

Koen: “We always try to be constructive and show a willingness to listen. We never resort to micromanagement. Instead, we focus on trusting people.”

Pieter: “We don’t pretend to be someone we are not. No hollow speeches, and we keep our promises. Walk your talk.

What are some of the most memorable moments of the first six years at Brightest?

Koen: “The first year was challenging. We owe a debt of gratitude to Gumption. When our bank account had a balance of zero 4 months in, I started to sweat. The trust and confidence Gumption showed us helped me get through that.”

Pieter: “At the same time, we had the freedom to do as we saw fit. We had the flexibility to develop, test and experiment. That resulted in great things, like our offices in Genk and Ghent. COVID didn’t throw us off course: we went against the grain and opened physical locations during the pandemic. And we succeeded.”

What is your advice for new start-ups?

Brightest10years 2022 01 31 131743

Koen, Gumption’s shared services team (editor's note: 25 professionals who provide administrative and marketing support to companies) elected you Executive of the Year, with a narrow lead over Pieter. What makes you great leaders?

Koen: “We always try to be constructive and show a willingness to listen. We never resort to micromanagement. Instead, we focus on trusting people.”

Pieter: “We don’t pretend to be someone we are not. No hollow speeches, and we keep our promises. Walk your talk.

What are some of the most memorable moments of the first six years at Brightest?

Koen: “The first year was challenging. We owe a debt of gratitude to Gumption. When our bank account had a balance of zero 4 months in, I started to sweat. The trust and confidence Gumption showed us helped me get through that.”

Pieter: “At the same time, we had the freedom to do as we saw fit. We had the flexibility to develop, test and experiment. That resulted in great things, like our offices in Genk and Ghent. COVID didn’t throw us off course: we went against the grain and opened physical locations during the pandemic. And we succeeded.”

What is your advice for new start-ups?

Brightest Office 13 zww

Pieter:“We probably could have worked more efficiently during the first two years. At the same time, trial and error is what makes entrepreneurship so exciting. You live, you learn. My advice: aim high and dare to be ambitious."

Koen: “Follow your intuition. Whenever we failed to do so, we got burnt. At the start, we would decide to work with a candidate, even if one of us had reservations about them. We’ve learned from those experiences. We rely on our intuition much more nowadays.”

What are your future plans?

Pieter: “Our regional offices were a slam dunk. Opening more offices is the obvious choice. Expanding beyond the border would be nice but is not an absolute must either.”

Koen: “We’re expanding our service offerings with security testing and computer system validation (CSV) services for the medical industry, for example. Making sure that software is fit for purpose. Initially we went after small businesses. At this point, we target large enterprises as well. CSV is our first venture into a specialized field.”

Pieter: “Aside from the Academy (our training centre), and the swITch-curriculum for recent graduates, we’ll be offering a new curriculum for our experienced testers: BEAST or Becoming an Automation Specialist!

Check out the company of the year website www.brightest.be

Brightest Office 13 zww

Pieter:“We probably could have worked more efficiently during the first two years. At the same time, trial and error is what makes entrepreneurship so exciting. You live, you learn. My advice: aim high and dare to be ambitious."

Koen: “Follow your intuition. Whenever we failed to do so, we got burnt. At the start, we would decide to work with a candidate, even if one of us had reservations about them. We’ve learned from those experiences. We rely on our intuition much more nowadays.”

What are your future plans?

Pieter: “Our regional offices were a slam dunk. Opening more offices is the obvious choice. Expanding beyond the border would be nice but is not an absolute must either.”

Koen: “We’re expanding our service offerings with security testing and computer system validation (CSV) services for the medical industry, for example. Making sure that software is fit for purpose. Initially we went after small businesses. At this point, we target large enterprises as well. CSV is our first venture into a specialized field.”

Pieter: “Aside from the Academy (our training centre), and the swITch-curriculum for recent graduates, we’ll be offering a new curriculum for our experienced testers: BEAST or Becoming an Automation Specialist!

Check out the company of the year website www.brightest.be

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