Octo Telematics said it expects to hire more than 100 people – a 30 percent growth of its headcount – in a bid to strengthen the talent it has developing current and future technologies.

The company, launched in 2002, is based in Rome, Italy and provides telematics services for insurance and other clients.

Paolo Codazzi, Octo’s Group Chief HR & Organization Officer, said in prepared remarks that hiring will focus on “top talent from diverse cultural backgrounds that will not only be well versed in current and emerging technologies, but also in designing the mobility of the future.”

New hiring will mainly focus on Rome, Octo said, though the company is growing in markets including the United States and Europe. Recent hiring rounds have taken place in the U.S., France, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and most recently in the UK, the company said.

The new UK hires are Vernon Bonse, who joined OCTO Telematics as UK Commercial VP, after 21 years spent in the Fleet and Video Telematics market; Travis Kenny, as Sales Manager UK; Andy Walters as Global Stream Leader Fleet & Trucks and Henry Peacock as Global Stream Leader Industrial.

Connected vehicle services, which rely on telematics components, reached $400 billion in 2018 and may hit $1 million by 2025, according to statistics cited by Octo.

Octo’s hiring surge is part of its ‘Smart Data, Smart People’ program, which is designed to strengthen the company’s technological and market leadership in connected services and solutions with an infusion of advanced technical skills in big data, data science, analytics and telematics. The talent is also expected to bolster the company’s commitment to capabilities that advance OCTO’s Vision Zero (zero accidents, zero congestion, zero pollution) efforts globally.

Source: Octo Telematics