This year marks 25 years since Cleverbee was founded. We did not want to treat this anniversary simply as a look back at the past, but rather as an opportunity to reflect on what has changed over that time — in technology, in business, and in client expectations. In this interview, CEO Michal Štěpánek looks back on what this journey has brought to the company, what has proven true over the years, and what he believes still matters today. He also explains why, today, it is just as important to keep perspective as it is to remain willing to explore new directions, technologies, and approaches that help companies grow and improve productivity.

Cloud services are great at scaling with your business. Unfortunately, the bill often scales just as fast. Costs spread across many items (individual services, add-on modules, data transfers, “surprise” fees) and, as more tools are added, companies gradually lose both visibility and the ability to act quickly. The result is economic dependence: not because the technology can’t be changed, but because changing it would be financially painful, complex, or slow. This article summarizes what today’s data shows about cost growth, why costs are hard to manage, and how to preserve freedom of choice—without ideology, balancing cloud, hybrid approaches, and open technologies.

Cloud services are great at scaling with your business. Unfortunately, the bill often scales just as fast. Costs spread across many items (individual services, add-on modules, data transfers, “surprise” fees) and, as more tools are added, companies gradually lose both visibility and the ability to act quickly. The result is economic dependence: not because the technology can’t be changed, but because changing it would be financially painful, complex, or slow. This article summarizes what today’s data shows about cost growth, why costs are hard to manage, and how to preserve freedom of choice—without ideology, balancing cloud, hybrid approaches, and open technologies.