Since its launch in 2021, Wizeline Colombia has been a vital piece of our global expansion. The exciting journey to accumulate the best talent in Colombia and strengthen our ability to deliver innovative solutions for our customers has been great to witness across all of Wizeline.

With the exceptional pace of growth at our Colombia location, we wanted to engage our entire Wizeline community to explore the happenings around the Colombia office. We’ve interviewed Daniel Castañeda, Wizeline Colombia Director of Operations, who has been instrumental in driving this growth, to get his thoughts on the journey so far.

Can you describe what it was like opening the Colombia location?

One could go straight to the numbers and say that landing in the country came along with very rapid growth: in just eight months, we grew from five Wizeliners to 100. We have over 180 now. However, the true story has to be told through the experiences of our Wizeliners.

Every adventure, this one included, starts with those daring pioneers who paved the way for us. A small group of Colombian freelancers and a group of Colombians in Mexico were living proof of a passionate, committed, and rapidly growing community. 

The passionate, committed, and rapidly growing community of talent across Colombia made the country the perfect target as the next destination for expansion in the minds of Wizeline E-Staff.

Once legally established locally in early 2021, our pioneers were officially onboarded as Wizeliners. Partnerships with local educational institutions, government entities, and communities had contributed. Not to mention the exhaustive efforts from our Talent Acquisition team. Nonetheless, our talent and network of colleagues and friends have been the best force of attraction.

After a year and a half of operations, we are increasing in size and have talent in more than 40 cities and towns, including the five biggest cities: Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla, and Cartagena. We’re supporting more than 80 projects across three of our Business Units and aiming for more. 

How has the Wizeline brand grown across Colombia since its launch?

As in every other aspect of our organization, talent comes first. Our priority has been helping the local talent learn about the opportunities we offer, how we work, our culture, and our clients — all of which make us a great workplace.

We’re in the middle of an exceptional moment for IT talent due to the vast opportunities offered to them in the market. Far from being a secret, our biggest competitors (both local and global) are having issues both attracting and retaining talent. Even though we’re just recently making our brand and reputation known in the country, we’re seeing exponential growth in the number of applicants hoping to join us. 

Now, we’re extending our focus, on the one hand, to deepen our relationship with educational (formal and informal) institutions, local talent, communities, and even the media. On the other hand, we’re intentionally growing our partnerships and relationships with top local enterprises to start developing our business hub.

What makes the Colombia team unique? And what makes you all work so well together?

Whew! Where to start? We Colombians are warm, joyful, and welcoming people. We have an undeniable tendency to (over?) celebrate with friends and family, which somehow translates well in our work environment.

We may seem too direct or straightforward, as we usually openly communicate our thoughts and opinions. Still, we aim to bring the highest possible value to the best extent of our ability. We fear no challenge and are always full of ‘perrenque‘ (bravery and strength). In other words: always tough-minded, always warm-hearted.

Regarding our team composition and rapid growth, we’ve articulated a team with a complete diversity of abilities, roles, and depth of expertise. Our talent is shown in the vital roles that sustain our operation with clients and in our horizontal functions.

And while there are things that make us unique, there are many more that we share with every other Wizeliner: traits that are deeper and more relevant than the guilty pleasure of binge-watching soap operas and the time zone overlap with our friends across the Americas. 

Like all the Wizeliners I know across the globe, we’re passionate, caring, cooperative, oriented to success through high standards, respectful, permanently curious, and constantly eager to build and maintain meaningful relationships wherever we are. 

What is the team most excited about as you work through year two of operations?

We’re most excited about the growth and its materialization on multiple fronts. Expansion of our talent as they accelerate their abilities to generate value across projects, accounts, and clients. 

We look forward to the growth of our business with new customers and the possibility of enabling the Colombian and global teams to excel. The opportunity to grow in our local partnerships to better support our talent. Growth with more talent who have potential and expertise and are also ‘buena papa‘ (nice and cool).

More Excitement About the Growth of Wizeline Colombia

Here’s what some other members of the Wizeline Colombia team had to say about their experience so far:

“The Wizeline Colombia office gives very talented people the opportunity to grow. With academic programs, a great pool of clients, and a community that cares about its people, Wizeline is in a class of its own. Wizeline cares about our growth as individuals, which helps with our performance to ensure we constantly improve to deliver the best service. 

I feel very excited to be part of this growth and everything that Wizeline Colombia gives me as a person, employee, and overall professional. It took a while, but I’ve finally found a great place where I feel comfortable and want to give and receive more and more!” – Camila Orbegozo.

“I started working with Wizeline even before the Colombian office existed, and the growth of the Wizeline Colombia office has been amazing. I couldn’t be happier to be part of this great team. We get to maintain Wizeline’s core values, and we’re provided a proper life-work balance and all the resources we need to improve and work on ourselves.” – Juan Delgado.

We are delighted about the positive experience our Wizeliners in Colombia have had so far. We look forward to ensuring that Wizeline is integral to the country’s tech scene for many years. 

Our Wizeline Colombia team continues to grow. If you’d love to work with an enthusiastic team to solve complex problems with innovative technology solutions, head to our careers page now!