2010, there was no iPad. Cloud was a buzzword on conference slides, not a business model. And when someone said "AI," most people pictured chess-playing computers. On April 6th of that year, we founded an IT company in exactly that world. Today — 16 years, three technology waves, and countless projects later — we're still here.
This isn't a milestone anniversary. No occasion for grand speeches. But perhaps that's precisely why it's the right moment for an honest look: back, forward, and at what truly matters.
A Market That Would Barely Recognize Itself
When Golle IT launched in 2010, the dust from the financial crisis had barely settled. The German IT services market had a volume of around €32.9 billion. Today it stands at over €51.1 billion — growth of more than 55 percent. By 2026, forecasts point to €54.4 billion.
Those numbers sound like a success story. But they only tell half the truth. Because that growth didn't come steadily. It came in waves — and every wave swept away companies that weren't fast enough to adapt. Surviving 16 years in the IT industry isn't simply a matter of riding a growing market. It means reinventing yourself, repeatedly.
Three Waves That Changed Everything
Wave 1: Cloud. When we started out, many of our clients were running their own servers in the basement. Migrating to the cloud wasn't a technical upgrade — it was a cultural shift. We helped companies let go of control while gaining flexibility in return. That required not just technical expertise, but above all, trust.
Wave 2: Mobile. Suddenly, everything had to work on a smartphone. Apps evolved from gadgets into core business processes. For us as a software agency, that meant new platforms, new user expectations, and a whole new pace of delivery. It was during this phase that we built and sharpened our expertise in app development — web, mobile, and desktop.
Wave 3: AI. And now we find ourselves in the middle of the third transformation. According to the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft, artificial intelligence is a decisive competitive factor for the German economy — even as significant implementation challenges remain. According to Bitkom, AI adoption among German companies more than doubled within a single year. The pace is breathtaking. And this is exactly where we focus today: AI and machine learning solutions that don't stay in the lab, but make a real impact in day-to-day business operations.
Any one of these waves could have spelled the end. Instead, each one became a catalyst for what we are today.
What Has Never Changed
Technologies come and go. Frameworks get hyped and forgotten. But one thing has connected every single successful project over 16 years: conversations between equals.
Our clients — predominantly SMEs and mid-sized companies across the DACH region — don't need a vendor selling them the latest technology. They need a partner who understands which problem actually needs solving. And who is honest enough to say when a simple solution beats a complex one.
That principle won us our first client in 2010. And it still brings us new projects today — often through referrals. Reliability isn't a feature you put on a website. It's something you prove over years.
What Comes Next
Sixteen years in means we're in the middle of the next chapter, not at the end of one. The question isn't whether AI will transform the way we work — it's how quickly and how fundamentally. We help companies answer that question in concrete terms: through strategic consulting, through implementation, through solutions that actually work.
The market keeps growing. The technology keeps getting more powerful. And the companies making the right decisions now will be the ones leading the pack in five years.
We're looking forward to the years ahead — and to the projects we haven't even imagined yet.
Facing a technology decision and looking for a partner with real-world experience? Talk to us — we bring 16 years of perspective to the table.
What has changed most in your IT world over the past few years? We'd love to hear your perspective.