In 2013, Ryan O’Grady and David Anderson took everything they knew about software development, combined it with the frustrations they had suffered trying to get products built, and used it to create SoftwareSeni – a software development house that would find success in a competitive market based on the expertise and dedication of its team.
The offshore and nearshore software development market continues to be marked by the high turnover of development staff. As Ryan and David know through experience, this turnover has a huge impact on projects. When developers leave knowledge and practices leave with them. In small teams even one developer leaving can cause a setback in delivery times and product quality.
When they started SoftwareSeni one of their key goals was to create a work culture where all staff were supported, where growth as an individual and advancement in the company was supported, and where everyone on the team could thrive.
After 12 years SoftwareSeni and its clients are still enjoying the results of that vision. In a sector where staff attrition rates can reach 30%, our 5.9% turnover and 4+ year average tenure stands out. It allows our team to give our clients the confidence to take on big projects and commit to growth.
Laying the foundation in Yogyakarta
Both founders had worked with offshore teams in Indonesia. They recognised the talent on offer and could see the potential a new way of operating could unlock, and they knew the best place to start was in Yogyakarta.
Yogyakarta is Indonesia’s largest university city, earning it the nickname Kota Pelajar – the city of students. Across its 100+ educational institutions it produces between 2000 and 3000 software engineering graduates each year.
This location gave SoftwareSeni access to top-tier engineering talent from the country’s leading universities and plugged them into the local tech scene. That vibrant local tech scene made its own contribution to SoftwareSeni’s staff retention. It made tech talent want to stay in the city after graduation and it allowed SoftwareSeni to connect with and recruit the top developers from each new graduating class.
Building expertise inhouse
For the first 2 years of SoftwareSeni’s existence, the company operated as an internal development team for Ryan and David’s own ventures.
This gave them the time they needed to build and train a team, discover and implement the processes that would be at the core of their high retention rates, and prove to themselves that their model would work.
In 2015 they “opened the doors” and began to offer the product development services of SoftwareSeni to their professional network. Some of those initial clients are now their oldest clients. Having working relationships that stretch 5-10 years or even more is further evidence that working for stability and retention pays off.
Taking care of your people
Under the SoftwareSeni model, taking care of clients starts with taking care of your people. Training is a big part of that care. It takes ongoing time and effort to stay up-to-date with software development practices (just look at AI over the last year!). SoftwareSeni works with its developers to help them deepen their expertise and widen the range of technologies they can work with.
Because SoftwareSeni is a big believer in hiring from within – making an effort to progress staff into more senior roles, not only to reward loyalty but also to keep hard-earned institutional and client knowledge intact – our training covers all roles, not just developers.
And at a company-wide level, we always have multiple English language proficiency classes running, each targeting a different level of fluency, and all of them available to all employees.
As mentioned, SoftwareSeni are big believers in hiring from within. We also believe in recognising the value that our staff provide and rewarding it. We perform twice-yearly salary reviews and twice a year we offer performance bonuses.
We also make it easy to start at SoftwareSeni, and easy to stay. We provide relocation support to new employees who are living outside of Yogyakarta, provide the full 80% health care coverage (as required), and 12 weeks of maternity leave at full pay.
A good team creates good clients creates good products
While setting out to build the software development services company they wished they could work with, Ryan and David knew it would take time to prove their vision was right.
It took 2 years from opening their doors to external clients for SoftwareSeni to say that they had clients that worked with them for 2 years. That was a good start.
At the 5 year mark they had clients who had been with SoftwareSeni for 5 years (and staff who had been in the team for even longer). It was around that point that they felt they were doing things right.
Growth was never easy. Competition and global events made it tough for everyone. But despite the struggles, SoftwareSeni has kept growing and our clients have grown with us. In 2025, we now have clients and team members that have worked with us, built with us, and grown with us for over 10 years. That’s the kind of enduring partnership that success is built on.
Don’t fix what isn’t broken
A dozen years, a solid 12, is a good point to stop and take stock. To reflect on what got us here, where here is, and where we are going.
We know how we got here. And here, now, is a crazy time. For a software development house, AI is a big part of that craziness. We’re already adapting to it and what we’re finding is the future remains bright for software developers. We can now do more with the same effort. Which is good, because there is always more to do than time and people to do it, even with AI.
As for where we’re going – the next 12 years are going to be interesting. We think we’ve already cracked the formula on how to make the most of them: attract the best people, take care of them, help them stay on the cutting edge, and help them grow. And SoftwareSeni will be carried forward by the skill and talent of our people. There’s no other way to do it.
