Xerris: Made in Calgary, taking on the world
Xerris is a Calgary-based software development company that helps businesses accelerate innovation and improve results by breaking down technical barriers and providing custom cloud, microservices, frontend development, machine learning and other advanced technology capabilities.
Incorporated in 2019, Xerris started with four employees, no funding, no debt and a $2,500 dollar credit card. At the end of 2020, they were up to 80 employees, hit $10 million in revenue and were working with huge Calgary-based clients, including WestJet, Burnco and Nutrien. Today, they’re certified as an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Advanced Consulting Partner, a Microsoft Gold Partner and a member of the Google Cloud Partner Advantage Program. In May 2021, they were named “Partner to Watch in 2021” at the AWS Canada Keynote Partners Summit.
Basically, they’re taking over the world, in their very friendly, dedicated, no-nonsense way.
Jeremy Tooley, CEO and co-founder, Xerris
STRONG FOUNDATIONS
Jeremy Tooley, CEO and co-founder, maintains that Calgary is the foundation of Xerris’s success and that his company intends to strengthen and boost the community in the years to come. Before founding Xerris, he and the company’s other two founders, Jonathan McCracken and Greg Cook, worked in Calgary tech circles for 30 years, and the ranks of both the company’s clients and employees are filled with people they know personally.
“We’ve scaled up quickly because we've grown a circle of trust,” said Tooley. That trust has won the young company such A-list clients as Servus, SoulCycle, and ALDO. “All of our stories are success stories. We aren’t doing this to make money – and that’s why we make money. We believe in partnerships.”
When Xerris first started, their (not uncommon) ambition was to eventually end up in the United States, because the impression was that’s where the money and talent were. But the founders quickly realized that, in fact, everything they needed for success was right here in Calgary. They’ve become purpose-driven about helping keep Calgarians employed and contributing to the local tech ecosystem.
“We love doing this. We’re keeping people in Calgary working.”
Xerris intends to conduct more bootcamps, get more involved in the local tech ecosystem, and further support the civic community – and beyond. “Right now, we’re focused on Calgary, but we want to be involved Alberta-wide.”
Tooley notes that, while they look for employees first in Calgary, then Alberta, then across Western Canada, they do have team members in South America, India, and the United States. They’ve just hired a senior director from Toronto; despite the fact that employees can work anywhere they choose, this new hire is excited about the possibility of moving west. “We really sell this place,” said Tooley.
“We let them know how great Calgary is, and that, in our opinion, if they move here and are close to the mountains, their life is going to be way better. We make a pitch out of the province.”
HELPING NUTRIEN GROW
Among Xerris’s roster of A-list clients is Nutrien, the world’s largest provider of crop solutions. As a result of its work with Xerris, Nutrien has increased its productivity through the transformation of multiple legacy enterprise systems into a single user-centric digital experience.
Xerris made it happen using AWS Serverless technologies like Lambda, S3, SQS, and DynamoDB, with a minimum of disruption to ongoing operations. They also architected, developed, and delivered a technology orchestrator from which many digital solutions – including apps and a self-serve omnichannel customer platform – can be built and deployed quickly.
Efficient employees, happy customers and a more profitable company: Xerris ticked all the boxes for its client and continues its work at Nutrien, with some 30 of its employees embedded there.
CREATING SUPERSTARS
As Tooley puts it, Xerris believes in creating their own superstars. He notes that, while half of Xerris’s employees have been formally trained in school, the other half have been substantially trained up on the job. To help fill their own open positions, Xerris has conducted a number of tech bootcamps, out of which they’ve hired five people, including some former engineers ... and a restaurant worker who wanted to pivot into tech. This worker is now one of the senior leads in charge of the company’s significant Nutrien account and a stellar example of the Xerris model of on-the-job training.
Tooley points out that this person’s success also has a lot to do with the “soft skills” they learned while working in sometimes difficult customer-service situations.
“In tech, you’re dealing with difficult stakeholders, different problems and challenging outcomes. People skills are going to be in higher and higher demand as we go forward. ”
REMOTE BY DESIGN
The most obvious thing about the Xerris work culture is that it is remote by design – everyone works at home or wherever they want to work.
“We have lots of trust in remote working without micromanaging people. It’s an adult way of conducting business,” said Tooley.
As developers and technologists themselves, the company’s three founders had always relished working from home and wanted everyone they worked with to enjoy the same freedoms. There have been noises of late that the company might in fact establish a Calgary headquarters – or “landing space” – but that’s just to make it easier for the team to meet up, conduct client meetings, or even briefly enjoy a change of scenery.
Xerris recently introduced an unlimited vacation policy.
“When we support each other in creating a well-balanced life, we all benefit. We think this policy will strengthen our results-driven culture of respect and trust.”
Tooley is aware that other companies have tried – and ultimately backed away from – such a policy, but believes that Xerris’s trust-based, outcomes-focused culture will help make this pilot a success.
“Our culture is not that of the big consultancies of this world. It’s built on trust and openness, and that really comes through to our clients.”
The Xerris team bonds through lunch talks on Tech Fridays, open Slack channels, a buddy program for new hires – and a healthy dose of kids and dogs making Zoom cameos. And one other thing: Tooley’s “door” is always open. “I answer every question,” he said. “All the time.”
LearningCITY
In June 2020, Calgary Economic Development published a pair of research reports entitled “Calgary on the Precipice: Learning Our Way Forward” and “The Path to LearningCITY 2025.”
The LearningCITY project explored how Calgary’s learning system – as conducted by school boards, institutions of higher learning, companies and professional associations – could be optimized to create social and economic prosperity in the face of growing economic uncertainty.
Tooley emphasizes that the city possesses a highly educated, agile population who, given the proper training, can pivot towards tech with relative ease. He also pointed out that when hiring, Xerris regularly turns to a resource that Calgary has in spades: talent from the energy industry.
“We take these people who’ve got unique skills from oil and gas – relationship skills, stakeholder skills, communication skills – and move them into technology. It’s not a big lift.”
To help create a reliable pipeline of tech-savvy Calgary talent that’s committed to staying in the city, Xerris has set up a number of student-related initiatives. For example, Xerris employees are involved with a mentorship program that identifies and provides advice to high school students interested in technology.
The company has also partnered with SAIT to provide scholarships – one for women in tech and another for persons from underrepresented groups as outlined in SAIT’s equity, diversity and inclusion strategy. Xerris teaches scrum skills and agile delivery and consults on the curriculum. Finally, Xerris works closely with Lighthouse Labs, a Calgary-based technology bootcamp and currently employs several graduates of the program as junior developers.
WHAT’S NEXT
Tooley is excited and optimistic about what the next few years will bring. Xerris will be further branching out across Canada as well as developing capabilities in the data and analytics space, including building teams around Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.
Keep your eyes on this company that’s set to modernize industries around the world.
Are you ready to make moves in Calgary’s tech scene, working with forward-thinking companies like Xerris? Head to our Live Tech Love Life careers page and see what opportunities might be out there for you.