“Sweden has indeed come very far, but there is still a significant amount left to digitise, and we want to be pioneers there. For us, everything is about automation. Making it even easier to run businesses and accounting offices in Sweden, rather than just selling a basic system,” says Charlotte von Sydow, Managing Director of Visma Spiris.

When the market demands a platform

When tech companies reach a dominant market position, there is a high risk of losing momentum and settling into a comfortable maintenance phase. To avoid this, and to meet a market tired of fragmented solutions, Spiris recently made a fundamental business decision.

“We operate in a market with extremely tough competition, which is completely natural. But we are undoubtedly one of the two market-leading players in Sweden. What truly sets us apart is our complete, end-to-end offering, brought together in one platform to deliver a truly seamless and efficient experience for both entrepreneurs and accounting firms,” Charlotte explains.

Visma Spiris has its historical roots in locally installed software and later shifted its focus to cloud-based products. But last year, the company pivoted its strategy. Instead of selling individual products, they are now building an interconnected platform.

“So we are absolutely in a phase where we are reinventing ourselves, which our rebranding also reflects. It is a fantastic position to be in. We are a market leader with enormous experience behind us, while constantly renewing ourselves. What makes it possible for us to keep evolving, as we have for the past 40 years, is our truly magical company culture.”

Redefining business value

The shift to a platform is about more than just technology; it is a repositioning of the company’s entire value proposition. The goal is to make administration so seamless that the platform acts as a knowledgeable co-pilot to business owners and accounting firms.

“We are far from a maintenance phase. Our main focus over the last 15-20 years has been the total transition from locally installed products, where we historically have had our large customer base, to building and running modern, cloud-based solutions,” she continues:

“Every day we work to simplify entrepreneurs' processes, for example, through tight integrations with the Swedish Tax Agency and between different systems and suppliers. Our goal is for administration to become so smooth that our platform is instead perceived as an active support in running the business. This way, we free up time so both offices and entrepreneurs can focus on business-critical insights and act on them.”

Executing such a vision requires an agile organisation. Just over a year ago, Spiris established a dedicated innovation team to ensure the entire company can rapidly adopt new technology.

“Innovation has never been more important. To avoid becoming slow, we continuously test new tools and ways of working, both to improve our products and to work smarter internally. We are constantly tweaking the organisation to match a fast-moving market.”

AI as an engine for scalability

In Spiris’ growth strategy, AI is the great lever. The technology is not used as a superficial feature, but to radically accelerate time-to-market and build customer loyalty.

“It’s actually both an evolution and a revolution. The evolution lies in how we constantly refine this, but the major shift is the new technology that is now exploding. The new AI tools accelerate the entire process in ways that were unthinkable just a few years ago – and in some cases, just months ago – because that’s how fast-paced things are now.”

The result is superior internal speed. Heavy processes are streamlined away, and the testing of new features is largely automated.

“Things that were previously impossible are now feasible. For example, we are applying AI to enable Open Banking services more efficiently.”

Automation is also applied internally. By letting AI automatically transcribe and analyse all support calls, the development organisation gets closer to actual customer needs. But fundamentally, it’s about freeing up time for human connection.

“Because even though technology is crucial for us, we are convinced that the personal meeting will become increasingly important. Technology frees up time so we can act much more proactively and support entrepreneurs with our collective expertise.”

Scaling securely with global muscle

For every leader building a company, there comes a point where you have to evaluate how to scale best. Spiris operates autonomously in the local market but benefits enormously from belonging to the Visma Group, gaining access to an ecosystem that spans across Europe and Latin America.

“We operate as an autonomous company, which is absolutely crucial for us to be able to act quickly in our local market. But the big difference between other ERP providers and us is that we have a global group behind us,” says Charlotte.

This global backing becomes particularly evident in business-critical areas like IT security.

“A clear example is IT security. Global security threats have never been greater. Within Visma, we have access to an army of experts who work daily to prevent incidents and who are there if, against all odds, something were to happen. It is a level of security and resources that is nearly impossible for a single company to build on its own,” she adds.

The power of the ecosystem

Beyond operational security, being part of a larger context provides strategic advantages in talent acquisition and leadership. The global network, combined with Spiris’ own technological leap, acts as a powerful magnet for expertise.

“Belonging to a strong brand like Visma is obviously a major advantage when we recruit. But we also place great emphasis on highlighting the specific innovation journey we are on here at Spiris, especially in exciting areas like AI and modern platform development. After all, it’s cool, cutting-edge innovation that attracts the sharpest minds.”

For other entrepreneurs and founders looking for the right partner for their next growth phase, Charlotte has clear advice on what truly drives long-term value:

“I would highlight the enormous knowledge bank that exists within a group like Visma, which you are free to utilise as a business unit. There is an incredible breadth among the companies here. No matter what challenge or growth phase you are facing, there is always someone else who has already made that journey and from whom you can seek support and advice.”

Looking ahead: insights that drive growth

As Spiris plans for the coming years, the vision is clear. The guiding word is simplicity, and the ambition is for the platform to be so intuitive that customers see Spiris as an indispensable strategic partner, characterised by zero hassle and cutting-edge technology.

“My genuine hope is that the personal relationship will have strengthened further, because technology now takes care of all the manual routine work we previously spent a lot of time on. The great value we want to deliver moving forward, which I have high hopes for, is about providing the customer with even sharper, data-driven insights based on their data. This way, we can truly help Sweden's entrepreneurs and accounting offices grow and become even more successful in their businesses.” Charlotte concludes.

Facts about Spiris

• Founded: Växjö, 1984
• Part of: Visma Group since 2001
• Employees: approx. 530
• Mission: Enable entrepreneurship
• What: Flexible financial platform. Everything is brought together and automated with smart features, from accounting to invoicing and payroll. This gives business owners time to focus on the right things: starting, running and growing their business without complicated admin. With several hundred thousand customers, Spiris is one of Sweden’s leading platforms for financial management.
• Focus area: Reducing complexity for Sweden’s entrepreneurs by delivering a seamless customer experience, intuitive and automated solutions on our financial platform, and personalised service. To do so, we must continue to evolve and improve. Our focus will be on greater automation, simplicity, and, as always, continued compliance with rules and regulations.