After years of laying the groundwork, integration and API management expert Yenlo is opening the doors to the next phase. It is doing so by sharpening its focus and adding specialized expertise. We spoke with CEO Dini Klaassen and CCO André Hageraats about the company’s direction, the challenges ahead, and its focus on platform-agnostic solutions.
As CEO, Dini is leading this new market approach and growth phase. She previously held this role at Fides, the first company Yenlo acquired. Following that acquisition, she held various operational roles within Yenlo, from COO to her current position. To prepare the organization for further expansion, significant investments in scalability were made over the past year.
“A lot has happened,” Dini reflects on the past twelve months. To continue growing, the company needed to be restructured. That is, to make better use of in-house knowledge and supplement it with external expertise. The collaboration between Dini and André is a perfect example of this: the CEO knows the company inside and out, and the Chief Commercial Officer brings broader industry experience from previous roles.
This new phase calls for new energy, structure, processes, and automation. “The most important thing we’ve done is focus on deciding what we won’t do, rather than what we will do,” Dini explains. With a longer-term focus, Yenlo is no longer pursuing ‘quick wins’ but rather more sustainable growth. The shoemaker sticks to his last, as they describe it, while the company prepares for a rapidly changing market.
From technology to industries
André highlights a key decision in the new direction. “We’ve shifted from being a purely technology company to a more vertical or industry-driven company.” Previously, Yenlo was primarily a group of technical experts who attracted clients with their knowledge. Now, the company proactively approaches the market based on client cases from selected industries.
This approach is reflected in the organizational structure. As CCO, André leads multiple teams, each with its own team leads. The most important teams for customer engagement are the large enterprise and enterprise teams. The large enterprise segment serves major multinationals in regulated sectors, such as government and healthcare. The enterprise team, in turn, focuses on mid-market customers in the supply chain, ranging from manufacturing to retail and e-commerce. In addition, there is a channel team for partnerships, including collaboration with business partners for migrations and integrations.
For integrations and API management, WSO2 and Boomi are by far the most important platforms. These are distributed quite naturally across the two go-to-market teams. For large enterprises, Yenlo primarily works with WSO2, while Boomi is often used in the mid-market. Nevertheless, the company remains platform-agnostic. “We’re strong in Boomi, WSO2, and AFAS,” says Dini. “We have a preferred partner strategy, but in principle, we’re agnostic. It’s really about solving the customer’s problem.”
Strengthening for maximum impact
The focus on further growth and professionalization also meant taking a critical look at internal roles. “It’s not so much about significantly expanding the team, but about very clearly defining the roles,” André clarifies. The goal was to identify where gaps still existed. For example, the C-level was strengthened with a CPTO to bolster the technology and product side.
Dini explains why this was necessary. “As a company, you eventually hit a ceiling.” In rapidly growing organizations, capable employees often take on multiple tasks. “That was both our problem and our strength. We have so many talented people on board who could actually handle it all.” But achieving balanced and scalable impact requires more. When André joined with an outside-in perspective, it became clear which specific strengths were still missing to take the next step. The additions to the team were deliberately and strategically chosen to maximize complementary value.
More than just an IT department
Yenlo no longer wants to be just the client’s tech expert. “If you let technology talk to technology and focus purely on that, the chance of failure is high,” says Dini. Understanding a company’s real pain points is crucial. That requires conversations at multiple levels within an organization.
That difference is also reflected in the offering. Yenlo doesn’t just provide consultancy (Plan, Build, Run); it also offers a suite of integrations, including long-term support. “If you walk in somewhere and leave again after the project, you make different choices than when you know you’ll still have to answer the phone for three more years when the client calls,” explains Dini.
She cites the example of a German bank where Yenlo conducted a product selection for integration that led to WSO2. Years later, that setup is still relevant. Yenlo now also provides them with an iPaaS platform, which is a complex territory for a bank with strict compliance requirements. “It proves that our solutions remain relevant and up-to-date over the long term.”
Customer focus in regulated sectors
In the large enterprise sector, Yenlo works extensively with organizations in regulated industries. This often involves complex IT landscapes with legacy software that is difficult to integrate. “We have a strong presence within local government and healthcare,” says André. “I think we’re involved with 60 to 70 percent of all healthcare institutions in one way or another.”
In the mid-market, the focus is on the supply chain. A well-known real-world example is nexeye, the parent company of Hans Anders.
André emphasizes that sales at Yenlo require solid technical expertise. “That starts right from the very first contact with a prospect.” Equally important, however, is understanding the customer’s business. “That is precisely the shift we have initiated: we want to gain a much deeper understanding of how the customer’s business actually works.”
End-to-end integration
Integration is a complex issue, both technically and organizationally, especially for large enterprises and the government. Yenlo aims to distinguish itself by addressing both aspects. “Usually, you get either consulting or just a product or platform, but we have everything in-house,” says André. While other providers address parts of an integration challenge, Yenlo takes a full end-to-end approach.
That journey begins with advice and consulting, transitions into projects and professional services, and culminates in a recurring engagement featuring platform delivery and 24/7 support, delivered by teams in the Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Valencia, Canada, and the U.S. “That’s unique for a company of our size,” says André.
At Yenlo, the focus is ultimately on WSO2 and Boomi, with preferences in certain situations. Yet during the conversation, we understand that customers do not suffer from vendor lock-in. “We are vendor- and cloud-agnostic. Our customers do not experience the lock-in they do with some major brands,” explains André.
Dini adds that this flexibility is precisely what sets Yenlo apart. “You might think we stand little chance in a market with major iPaaS players. But precisely because we are more flexible and approachable, we’ve been able to add some impressive names to our portfolio.” Names such as Utrecht University, Hanseatic Bank, and Gebrüder Weiss are featured on the homepage as existing clients.
That flexibility also applies to cloud choices. Yenlo aligns with current market expectations around data sovereignty, enabling clients to retain control over their data and ensure it remains within the EU. This is certainly relevant for governments and regulated sectors. “Clients want to know where their data is stored and don’t want to be solely dependent on American big tech,” André notes.
Conscious selection
Dini and André make it clear that Yenlo is now more selective about its partners. “Our focus is primarily on organizations with complex enterprise environments,” says André. “In those environments, security, governance, and data protection play a key role from day one, and that is exactly where we make a difference.” If the match is right, Yenlo then takes responsibility for the outcome. In addition to the technology, this also involves the associated controllability and assurance.
For AFAS migrations—of which Yenlo performs 50 to 60 annually—rapid assessment is essential. Dini: “We do this dozens of times a year, but for the client, it’s often their first time. You have to quickly assess their current status and the data quality so you can provide targeted assistance.”
Integration as the foundation for AI
Toward the end of the conversation, Yenlo’s position on AI becomes increasingly clear. The real value of AI within enterprise environments lies not in more automation, but in greater control. André explains that organizations only dare to deploy AI seriously once they can demonstrate that it is secure, compliant, and auditable. “We can slap AI on anything,” he says. “But in large enterprises, it’s all about governance. Who is allowed to do what? Based on what data? What exactly is happening? And can we prove it if security, risk, or legal teams ask for it?” In this context, Yenlo sees itself as an enabler of AI, but above all as the party that makes AI applications manageable. This ranges from integration to governance and from monitoring to audit-proof evidence.
The challenge for companies is often not the AI technology itself, but creating a clear AI policy. Yenlo helps with this by advising on responsible implementation and the underlying data integration. Data must be accessible and orchestrated in a way that works for AI. To guide companies in this process, Yenlo has developed a scan to measure AI maturity. “This allows us to identify exactly where we can truly help our clients,” says Dini. In this way, Yenlo aims to work in depth on practical solutions, rather than simply jumping on the AI bandwagon.
People make Yenlo
No matter how much it’s about technology, Dini emphasizes that people are the deciding factor. “In everything that makes us unique and distinctive, human energy is the true driving force.” Yenlo consciously invests in its employees, offering opportunities for advanced certifications and a corporate culture described as the Yenlo DNA. This is based on vulnerability, trust, honesty, and curiosity.
This culture applies worldwide, whether employees work in Sri Lanka, Valencia, Canada, or the Netherlands. “If the employee is happy, they’ll skip right over to the customer. And if the customer is happy, everything will work out,” says Dini. In a technical sector like this, that human factor must make the difference between a stalled project and a successful implementation.