I want to start by saying how much of a pleasure it has been to work with, and most recently lead SSI along with, Darren for the past 20 years. As co-CEOs, we continued to grow the business into a global leader in shipbuilding solutions, and I am thrilled that Darren’s expertise will continue to strengthen SSI going forward.
As most of you know, I’m a lifelong SSI-er, and I’m reminded today of when I first started with SSI. What I first noticed was that Rolf had a clear awareness of what the reason for being of SSI (then ARL) was. But what I took most from those years was a need to look ahead and “go to where the puck will be.”
Many will say that shipbuilding is old-fashioned and resistant to changing its ways. Aspects of that are true, but look at how quickly and to the extent that shipbuilders have already embraced the concepts around digital twin, business transformation, and new innovations in general. That’s possible because we (and some others in the industry) are focused on creating easy, quick-to-implement, and quick-to-see-value solutions for the challenges shipbuilders are uniquely experiencing.
SSI came into being because shipyards asked for it. Rolf showed them what he was working on, and they quickly saw that even the (relatively) basic first concept of his vision would add value to their business that day. That shipbuilding focus has been a mainstay of our company since day one. Today, SSI is not just a tool used to build ships. We’re a core part of shipbuilders’ businesses and we make it possible for them to achieve their business and digital transformation goals. More importantly, we partner with them on their journey to achieving those transformations.
And we’re not done yet. Shipbuilding as an industry is evolving, and so are we. We are prioritizing the innovations that our clients need tomorrow and working on them today. We’re building relationships and partnering with other leading solution providers in the shipbuilding space to allow for transparent information sharing across the shipyard throughout design, build, and maintenance.
Most of all, I want to thank the team at SSI for the hard work they put in to make it possible to achieve these goals. I wrote in a blog post four or so years ago how I was proud to tell my dad that SSI didn’t need me to manage everyone because the team was full of leaders that understood our goals and the steps to achieve them. That is even more true today as the team has grown and become even better at aligning our work with our vision.
I am excited to keep our momentum moving as SSI builds on our next chapter.
To my team and our clients, partners, and friends: my door is always open.
Denis
CEO, SSI