Interview with Dimitri Osler, the Italian entrepreneur who brought Wildix to Odessa

Dimitri Osler, an experienced entrepreneur, co-founder of Wildix and technological mind of the company, has shared with The Odessa Journal some insights about his professional journey and life experience.

When did it happen for you to visit Odessa for the first time? Was it for business or for other purposes?

Actually, it was for business and it was back in 2005, when the story of Wildix started. Our lawyer at that time, told us about good opportunities for software development in Ukraine, since we were looking forward to starting our own development team. Besides Ukraine we were also considering Romania and Bulgaria, but we did not find anyone who could meet our expectations there.

Later on, we arrived in Odessa and were lucky enough to find like-minded professionals, who helped us develop the team, we found a historically interesting city, full of people that loved foreign languages, and that aspect was really important for our Contact Center business at that time. That is how our mission started, and of course there were a few bumps along the road. Later on, there was a personal part involved as well, as I started my own family here.

Your brother and you are the founders of Wildix. How did it happen? Did you work together since the beginning of your careers or you had previous work experiences?

We have been working together in computing since childhood and that’s how it all began. Steve previously owned an IT company where I started contributing during the summer period, and then I stayed there, basically working part-time, while I was completing my university studies. One of the projects we started at that time was developed into Wildix.

I can say that from childhood we have been developing together. Today, Steve is more business-oriented, he is involved in administration, sales and marketing and I am in charge of the technical development and support of the products that Wildix produces.

Why is your Company named Wildix? Is there a story about its origin?

Yes, there is a story about it. We were looking for a very good name for our product, the appliance of the system, which would allow customers to communicate over the internet. And we were thinking about a good name and wanted to combine something like “wild”, “Internet” and “exchange”. And wild card as well, as a symbol which can stay in place of other symbols. And that’s how we decided for the name “Wildix”: the “wild-Internet-exchange”.

How the decision of Wildix to invest in Odessa was taken? Today, many innovative companies in Ukraine approach the IT clusters of Kyiv and L’viv. Why did you not follow this trend?

We were very lucky here in Odessa, from the very beginning we got engaged with really professional developers, who specialised in the area we work in, namely communications and VoIP, which are part of a quite specific sector. There are several nice educational establishments here that prepare engineers in this specific field.

Your company works in all markets. I guess you have many competitors: which are the qualities of Wildix, which make the company different from other players?

Well, I would say that our approach is something that really stands us apart from the industry competition. From the sales perspective, we work through the Partner Channel only, and that has been the way since the very beginning. We do not do any direct sales to customers, we promote our solution through our channel of certified business partners in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, India, Australia.

We design bespoke business communication solutions for them and their customers. From a technical perspective we always believe in new revolutionary technologies, we like to change and disrupt how the existing market works, and that’s what we have been doing, against old competitors and new competitors that are appearing along the way.

Do you like your job? What makes it interesting?

There is something interesting, as well as new incredible challenges, every day.  Interact daily with our partners, with all the colleagues and sometimes also with the customers, who are using our services. And with technological partners, who integrate their solutions with ours. So, the best part is that you never get bored. Never, never, never.

Can you tell us an event at work, or an important deal, that you like to remember?

There are so many of them. One of the main challenges has been the Italian Pension Fund. It’s a forty - two thousand users installation and the previous system had been deployed over a two years period. They replaced that old system with Wildix all over Italy in just one month. That was the biggest Wildix installation up to the moment, so far. But there is not too much time to think about the past, we are working all the time on new projects like the incoming integration of Wildix Kite with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp Business.

If you were born again, whom would you like to be?

My first dream job, as a child, was to be a mechanic for Ferrari. You know, when you can play with the best engines of the world, right? I think that with the company we created, I am in some way helping fine tuning all Wildix products and services, the engine of Wildix.

Is there a song that you never get bored of listening to?

If we have to speak about the classics, I say “Light my fire” by the Doors.

In case of nuclear cataclysm, is there a book or a movie you would save?

The movie would be “The Seventh Seal” by Ingmar Bergman, for sure. It is really deep, you have all life in it. As a book, “Siddhartha” by Hermann Hesse.

A journey or experience that you would like to do, but never had the time to do it.

To travel India more extensively. I have been to India a few times but I would really like to travel all over the country, from the Himalaya to Sri Lanka.

A dream of yours that has not yet come true.

Well, it is an easy one: to reach the one hundred million of revenues with Wildix.

Which is the best way to contact Wildix to join your staff or for information about your services?

Go to our website and see our technology at work, press the Kite button and start to chat, video call with us straight from the website (www.wildix.com).

Interview by Ugo Poletti, Editor-in-Chief of The Odessa Journal