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BairesDev, one of the world’s largest bootstrapped technology companies, has appointed Darren Shimkus as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately, as the company accelerates its transition toward becoming an AI-first technology services provider.
BairesDev co-founder Nacho De Marco will move into the role of Chairman of the Board. He will continue serving as a strategic advisor to Shimkus while dedicating more time to new ventures related to BairesDev.
The leadership transition comes as BairesDev continues to expand its AI capabilities.
The company was founded 17 years ago without outside capital and has remained profitable every year since.
Shimkus joined BairesDev as an advisor in December 2024 before moving into a full-time role in June 2025.
According to the company, Shimkus experience scaling technology businesses made him the right leader to guide BairesDev’s next phase of growth and its shift toward an AI-first services model.
De Marco and the board selected Shimkus to lead the company as it adapts its technology services business to the rapidly changing AI landscape.
“We just had one of our best half-years in the company’s history, and that’s exactly why we’re making this change now,” said De Marco. “In my new role as Chairman, I will advise Darren on our biggest strategic questions and put my energy into finding BairesDev’s next engines of growth. I’ve watched Darren rebuild how our commercial teams work together and roll out our first purpose-built AI offerings since the day he joined. I believe he’ll run this company through the next phase better than I could, and that’s not a hard thing to say. That’s the entire point.”
Before joining BairesDev, Shimkus built and scaled several high-growth technology companies. He most recently co-founded Modal, an AI upskilling platform that BairesDev acquired in 2025. Following the acquisition, Shimkus also became BairesDev’s President.
Earlier in his career, Shimkus held senior leadership positions at Silicon Valley technology companies including serving as President of Udemy for Business.
During his tenure, he helped transform the business from a consumer-focused platform into an enterprise SaaS operation that contributed to Udemy’s eventual IPO.
“Nacho built something rare: an incredibly successful company driven by the long-term thinking and customer obsession that only a bootstrapped company could deliver without compromise. My job now is to preserve that discipline while scaling BairesDev for what comes next. We’ve been getting this company fluent in AI; how we sell it, how we build with it, and how our clients actually capture value from it. That work will likely never be finished,” said Darren Shimkus, Chief Executive Officer of BairesDev.
“Seventy percent of AI’s value comes from the application of technology to a business process you really understand, not from the technology itself,” Shimkus said. “That’s the opportunity most companies are missing, and it’s where I want to focus BairesDev: accelerating how we close that gap for our clients. That’s my priority from day one.”
The leadership transition does not involve any changes to BairesDev’s ownership structure. The company remains privately held by its founding shareholders.
BairesDev provides nearshore software development services to major global companies, including Google, Pinterest, Adobe, Rolls-Royce, Johnson & Johnson, and Salesforce.
With a workforce of more than 4,000 professionals across Latin America, the company has delivered software solutions across more than 130 industries.
The appointment of Shimkus marks a new phase for BairesDev as it seeks to combine its established software development business with an increasingly AI-focused strategy.
