Letter to Shareholders
Dear Shareholders,
2018 was a significant year for Reply. The Group’s turnover exceeded 1 billion Euros for the first time, up more than 17% compared with 2017. We have asserted our standing as a market leader in an extremely competitive environment. This is thanks to a constant commitment to placing innovation at the very centre of our approach, both in terms of skills and expertise, as well as the services offered to our customers.
Over the last few years, we have collaborated to build a solid group that is an acknowledged leader in international markets, driven both by technical excellence and our ability to adapt to change. This has enabled us to compete in an ever-more globalised environment that is now shaped by both physical and digital communications and interactions.
Reply distinguished itself in 2018 thanks to its extensive know-how across the full digital spectrum. These achievements are the result of our investments in research and development and the constant re-engineering and evolution of our products and services, which integrate specialist skills and expertise across artificial intelligence, technology platforms, digital experience and strategic consulting.
Extensive automation, triggered by the interaction between the cloud, big data and the Internet of Things, is affecting and redefining every sector. The use of robot technology will bring efficiency and cost reduction. The continuous development of 3D printing will dramatically affect production and business models, while other fundamental changes will be driven by the emergence of the latest immersive reality and quantum computing frameworks.
As a result of ever-more intelligent machines and systems, along with ecosystems based on collaboration between humans and robots, our lives will soon be supported by new technologies incorporating the internet, smart devices and virtual environments, in turn driven by artificial intelligence.
Soon, we will all face a new reality that will change our way of being, how and what we perceive, our conventions and our current rules. From the automotive sector to banks, from telecommunications to the media, from manufacturing to healthcare, from communication to logistics, everyone will determine their very own digital transformation, which will inevitably lead them to a new service economy.
This shift will not only affect customers, but also consulting firms. Reply is one of the few companies in the market with a unique mix of skills and expertise that extends from strategy to design, from digital technologies (cloud computing, big data, e-commerce, digital experience) to the enabling architecture.
It is, however, imperative not to cease this development and to continue actively investing in knowledge, capitalising on and interpreting this almost daily evolution and expansion of technology. Our ability to be competitive will be closely linked to the capacity to experiment and innovate, enabling us to bring new products and services to the market just as quickly.
Chairman of the Board
Mario Rizzante
