EPAM and Vates become one to create new opportunities in Argentina 

EPAM’s recent acquisition of VATES, a company with more than 30 years of experience in Argentina and Chile, provides an opportunity for EPAM to grow in another important region rich in talent: LATAM's Southern Cone. 

Within weeks, dozens of team members from around the world were dedicatedto make the transition and integration smoother for both employees and customers.

"We traveled to Cordoba, one of the main cities in Argentina, where the VATES headquarters are located, with people from North America, but more importantly from Latin America: Mexico, Colombia and Chile,” said Ethan Matyas, Senior Vice President and Head of Delivery for North America. “There, we collaborated on the best approach on the integration process and helped accelerate the journey of newcomers and start living the EPAM experience.” 

Hugo Gomez, Vice President of Latin America considers the integration to be an enriching experience for both companies. "The collaboration and knowledge-sharing between our teams has fostered a deeper understanding and stronger connections across our diverse cultures in the region giving us positive results in a short period of time.”

EPAM and Vates teams come together in our Bogota office

A Perfect Match

EPAM and VATES were both founded in the 1990s. They share core values such as innovation and a commitment to their teams' professional growth. Over the past 30 years, VATES has focused on attracting and retaining highly qualified professionals in various areas of technology, which mirrors EPAM’s approach. 

“EPAM’s commitment to technological innovation has allowed us to offer solutions that not only address current clientneeds but also anticipate future challenges.” Mario Barra, one of the VATES co-founders shares.

The integration is expected to open new paths for sustainable growth in the region, specifically in the Southern Cone. “[This move will] help satisfy the demand of clients in the United States and the LATAM region,” Hugo states. In fact, the first success of this new teamhas already been realized, and we’ve partnered with one of the leaders in cross-currency money movement and payments. Our goal now is to help them adapt to the ever-changing realities of the market and provide better services for their customers.

Becoming One

The EPAM team embarked on an immersive journey to Cordoba, Argentina, spending an entire week in intensive workshops and training sessions. Both organizations mutually sharedtools and platforms and worked hard to find the best way to deliver great value to both employees and clients.

Emiliano Laborda, Senior Software Development Manager of VATES, emphasized the significance of accessing EPAM’s global knowledge. “This access will enhance our ability to define products, devise transformation strategies, and adopt business innovations, ultimately boosting the LATAM IT ecosystem.” 

The adventure continued as the team traveled to Medellin, Colombia, to learn from another successful integration. 

“They had the opportunity to see how JP Vergara, Colombia's Country Head, and his team operate one of our strategic locations in Latin America,” highlights Ethan. “Notably,The team learned from the experience  they obtained 3 years prior during a previous acquisition (S4N)e  had having been acquired 3 years prior (S4N).” Ethan shared the importance of this visit, confident that the collaboration would pave the way for the VATES team’s successful integration. 

A New Tech Hub

With goals and expectations set and an accelerated onboarding process supported by global teams, we are witnessing the expansion of EPAM Argentina, as the country becomes a key location within the company. Our regional leadership is optimistic about Argentina and the whole of Southern Cone becoming an attractive location for our clients and local IT professionals. 

Our goal is not only to become a new tech hub in Latin America as the leading provider of Digital Transformation services in the region but also a place where local talent can build long and meaningful careers, experience constant growth and develop their skills to position themselves, and EPAM as a whole, as true leaders in the global tech ecosystem.

If you want to join our team in Argentina or anywhere else in the world, visit our careers website and discover all our open roles.