Orestis Tsakalotos, Executive Chairman of Qualco Group, was featured in TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year Edition, offering an exclusive insight into the journey and strategies of the international fintech organisation. From Qualco’s beginnings as a small software house to its recent listing on the Athens Stock Exchange, Mr Tsakalotos shares experiences, challenges, and vision for the future, revealing how technology and innovation have driven the company’s growth.

Below is an excerpt from the conversation between Time Magazine and The Intelligent Investor with Orestis Tsakalotos.

Q: Can you tell us about your background and what inspired you to found Qualco?
A: My journey started with a degree in mechanical engineering, followed by a PhD in control systems at Newcastle University in the UK. During my doctorate, I worked part-time to support myself, which gave me a real taste of the challenges of balancing demanding commitments. It was a period that strengthened my perseverance and shaped the way I approached challenges later on. The idea for Qualco emerged when I identified a gap in the market, a space where engineering, consulting, and software could converge to create real value. I wanted to build a company that not only developed smart software solutions but also treated people well. That principle has been at the heart of Qualco from day one.

Q: How did Qualco get started, and what were the early days like?
A: Together with my co-founder, Miltos Georgantzis, we started Qualco almost 25 years ago. In the early days, our first clients were friends and family, and our focus was on building robust technology and delivering tangible results, even with limited resources. From the very beginning, we spent time understanding complex problems and designing solutions that were both practical and forward-looking. Those early projects laid the technical and operational foundations that enabled us to scale and keep innovating as the business grew.

Q: What were some of the biggest challenges the company faced, especially during the Greek economic crisis?
A: We are a Greek company, shaped by one of the most challenging economic crises in recent history. What we offer today – integrated software, data and analytics capabilities, and tech-enabled services across the credit and lending value chain is rooted in that experience.

The crisis was both a curse and a blessing. It created immense pressure on the financial system and tested our ability to stay stable and make tough decisions. But it also pushed us to innovate fast, build resilient and scalable solutions, and deepen our expertise. What began as a means of survival became a source of strength, enabling us to support clients in other markets facing similar structural and regulatory challenges. We didn’t just study complexity. We lived, solved, and turned it into a competitive advantage.

Q: Qualco Group recently went public. What did the IPO mean for the organization?
A: The IPO was a major milestone. It was over five times oversubscribed, validating our vision and accelerating our growth. The IPO gave us greater visibility and credibility in the European tech market than just raising capital. It was a testament to the hard work of our team and the trust we’ve built with our clients and partners.

Q: What sets Qualco Group’s business model apart in the FinTech industry?
A: What sets us apart is how we separate software from platforms, which is rare in our industry. Our software provides the core technology, while our platforms combine that technology with data, services and operating models to deliver end-to-end solutions. This approach gives us the flexibility to serve both clients who want to run our software in-house and those who prefer a fully managed model.

Q: What role does technology play in Qualco Groups’s growth and diversification?
A: Technology is at the core of everything we do. We use advanced algorithms and software systems to help clients manage credit and receivables, especially in today’s volatile global economy. We’ve also diversified into real estate and defence sectors, leveraging our expertise to create value in new markets. Our investments in cybersecurity and AI keep us at the forefront of innovation.

Q: How does Qualco Group build and maintain strong client relationships?
A: Trust and long-term partnerships are at the heart of how we work with clients. Many of our clients have been with us for years, which speaks to the stickiness of our products and the value they deliver over time. We follow a comprehensive client engagement model that goes well beyond project delivery. This includes regular quarterly business reviews, dedicated client events that unite our entire community, and structured ways of measuring satisfaction to ensure we keep improving.

Q: What is your outlook for the future of Qualco Group?
A: When we started this company, we never imagined we’d come this far. The journey hasn’t been a straight line, but every step has shaped who we are today. We now look to the future with ambition and realism, ready to grow further, expand globally, and keep leading change in our industry. Our aim is to stay a trusted and innovative partner for the long run.