Lingaro in Forbes: How Did a Polish IT Company Achieve Worldwide Success

How did Lingaro grow from a Warsaw startup into a global data services company? In an interview with Forbes Poland, CEO Sam Mantle and Executive Director of Transformation & Strategy and DEI Sponsor Paulina Bartoszek answered this question and discussed the key enablers of the company's dynamic expansion. 

Forbes: What values form the foundation of Lingaro's operations and help the company achieve market advantage? 

Sam Mantle: Lingaro is no longer a startup, nor a large corporation. We try to combine the best features of both worlds and work hard to minimize their weaknesses. Autonomy is one of our core values, and we truly practice it. We combine entrepreneurial spirit with trust — many employees have been with us for years and highly value the level or entrepreneurship that we have been able to sustain. At the same time, we have introduced a certain degree of rigor and discipline that is essential for a company employing nearly 2,000 people worldwide. Throughout our 17-year history we have always tried to give our people an optimal balance of freedom to excel combined with organizational and management support. This way, we preserve a mix of agility and stability that optimally serves both our employees and clients. 

Paulina Bartoszek: I like to think we apply Occam's razor to organizational design: We introduce as much discipline and structure as necessary and nothing beyond that. As scale increases, complexity grows, so we need to have oversight — but only the kind that supports good decisions. Our core value of autonomy is deeply embedded in our company’s DNA. Our people value freedom of action, entrepreneurial spirit, taking responsibility, and showing initiative — the exact factors that enable our dynamic growth and scaling. I imagine our managerial approach as dance choreography: We give people clarity about rhythm and direction so they can synchronize with each other, but we also leave space for movement and self-expression. Freedom and initiative drive our growth and success. My favorite Lingaro core value is "No Barriers" — we have open, non-hierarchical communication that particularly distinguishes us from larger companies. 

Forbes: How does Lingaro build a culture of inclusive leadership and high-performance teams? 

PB: For us, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is not an HR project; it is a pillar of our strategy and culture. While we have never reduced this area to statistics or numerical targets, Lingaro consistently promotes the active participation of women in technology. Above all, we believe that bringing together diverse perspectives and contexts allows for the constructive exchange of ideas, which is the foundation of innovation. We recently concluded a program with the goal of shaping inclusive leadership. Creating psychological safety is a key priority for us. Every employee should be able to freely express their thoughts and share ideas without fear. 

Forbes: What makes Poland and Warsaw in particular attractive locations for companies in the AI and data analytics field? 

PB: Lingaro is a global company with Polish roots. Our headquarters is in Warsaw and Poland remains our largest employment. Our accomplished specialists here include engineers, data scientists, and programmers with very strong mathematical backgrounds. They understand that success must be earned, not given. I value Polish talents’ "hunger to achieve" through hard work and pragmatism. 

SM: As a non-Pole, I would add that while the company originated in Poland and remains a strong brand in this market, it has simultaneously achieved global recognition in the worldwide technology services sector. This visibility creates pride in employees all around the world and makes it an exciting place to work. 

Forbes: What challenges does operating in foreign markets bring? 

SM: We are a partner to the world's largest brands, so we cannot operate exclusively in Poland. We have sites in the United States and Switzerland and chose to establish others in the Philippines, India, and Mexico because these countries are centers of strong engineering, technology and data talent. In all these locations we replicate the "remote first" model that has proven successful in Poland. This way, we can operate in many time zones and be close to clients around the world. We are not currently planning further geographical expansion; we are focusing on developing and perfecting our existing footprint. 

Forbes: How is AI transforming Lingaro from within, and how does the company support internal innovation initiatives? 

PB: Within a company, implementing AI differs from implementing traditional IT solutions for three primary reasons. First, it's difficult to determine the target state of implementation and when it will be achieved. The process is ongoing due to the rapid evolution of technology. Second, there is an element of emotional complexity. For example, people may fear being replaced by AI or having their roles redefined. Third, AI’s broad and diverse application possibilities mean that implementation affects everyone, right down to how they perform everyday tasks. Therefore, we give employees broad access to AI and the freedom to experiment with it. We reward pioneers of new solutions while accepting that failures may occur. We will consider it a success when all employees ask themselves how they can approach each of their tasks differently given that AI is available.  

SM: AI is a key area of emphasis for Lingaro, but we realize that our employees also have concerns about changes particularly regarding job security. We clearly communicate that artificial intelligence will not replace people but that the value of people who can use it will significantly increase. Our team includes top AI experts and, thanks to the company's size, we are agile. Our ability to quickly experiment, learn and then adapt to technological innovations allows us to stay ahead of the curve and authentically support clients. As a company specializing in sophisticated data-related services — from data strategy through data engineering to data science to advanced analytics — we are well aware that AI’s effectiveness depends on the quality of available data and that responsibility for AI’s output will always rest with humans. Good AI starts with good data. That’s our message to the world. 

Source: Forbes 10/2025