Looking back on an extraordinary year

3 min read

2020 is a year that none of us are going to forget, and we are all looking forward to better times ahead. However, while we have all been affected by broader world events, this has nevertheless been a watershed year for Sprout.ai, and one in which we have enjoyed record growth and development. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.

The year in numbers

  • The overall team has grown by 100 percent
  • The tech team has grown by 200 percent
  • Remote working has brought us an extra 410 hours by eliminating commuting time
  • We’ve devoted 40 of those extra hours to online team events
  • We are fully booked with client deliveries till the Q3 of 2021
  • We’ve won 150 percent of the RFPs we have entered
  • We are now working with more than half of the top 15 global insurance companies

The name tells its own story

This year saw the dramatic rebranding from BlockClaim to Sprout.ai. It seems like a lifetime has passed since then, but it was actually only a few short months ago that we announced the new name. This blog post from April explains the rationale behind the change. While the rebranding was important to reflect our overriding goals, it would mean nothing without the cutting edge solutions that drive everything we do, and of course the people behind them.

A growing team

We might be geographically dispersed, but we are a close-knit group of people here at Sprout.ai. That hasn’t changed despite the team more than doubling in size over the course of 2020. Lockdown was no barrier to welcoming our new colleagues onboard, as we all share the same virtual workplace in cyberspace.

We’ve worked hard to build and nurture that team dynamic, despite the obvious challenges and the limited opportunities to meet face to face. Of course there have been regular calls and online meetings, and tools like Gantt Planning with Smartsheets and virtual meeting rooms on Google Chat have proved invaluable.

However, the key to teambuilding is to make sure it is not all work, work, work. We’ve devoted around 40 hours to team events that included everything from virtual horse racing to a Halloween quiz to online exercise classes. We were also lucky enough to be able to fit in one team meal in London before the second lockdown.

Turning a negative into a positive

Proactively promoting remote working has done more than just blunt the impact of the various lockdown restrictions that have been in place this year. It has actually delivered some positive results. On average, each team member has saved one hour per day that would have been spent commuting. When you extend that across the team, it works out at more than 400 hours saved this year, just by working from home.

Those are hours we have been able to dedicate to developing our technology, working with our clients and growing the business.

Business growth

Sprout.ai has continued to enjoy success in generating new business during the lockdown period, and has been consistently winning more RFPs during this time. We are now fully booked with client deliveries to take us all the way into Q3 2021. Our client portfolio is also growing, and we are proud to say we work with more than half of the top 15 insurance companies in the world.

We will all be glad when the worldwide challenges that 2020 brought with it are consigned to history. However, it is important to also be mindful of the positives the year has brought. We wish you a happy, safe and peaceful holiday season and look forward to a successful and prosperous 2021.

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