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When Shi Robson joined Attrecto in 2019 as a sales manager, he had a simple plan: take a six-month break from his previous startup, regroup, and move on. Six years later, he’s just been named CEO.
“I stayed, because I found meaning here,” he says simply.
This autumn, Shi stepped into the role of CEO after holding several key leadership positions at Attrecto. In our conversation, he speaks honestly about balance, ego and heart, why Attrecto feels more like a community than a family, and how technology, AI, and people will shape the company’s future.
I sat down with Shi the day after he spoke on a panel about the future software teams. He was energized, reflective, and characteristically honest about the challenges ahead.
Shi has that rare quality where trust isn’t something he builds, his personality simply generates it. Throughout our conversation, which stretched well beyond its planned timeframe, he created an atmosphere where curiosity flowed easily. The challenge wasn’t getting him to open up, it was resisting the urge to ask a million follow-up questions.
The Panel That Reminded Him Why This Matters
Shi recalls the recent panel discussion he joined for the first time as CEO.
“The room was full of people around 35 to 40 years olds, I shared this theory I have: when we’re all ready to retire at 60 or 65, the economy might be collapsing because there’ll be nobody leading companies anymore.”
It’s a bold statement, but it reflects Shi’s concern about emerging workforce trends and what that means for the future of work. ‘I think we’ll be needed again to drive business forward. Maybe not in 20 years, but even sooner.’
This long-term thinking isn’t just theoretical. It’s how he approaches everything at Attrecto.
From Sales Manager to CEO: An Unexpected Journey
Shi’s path to CEO wasn’t planned. After joining as a sales manager, he immediately saw opportunities for improvement. Within two months, he proposed the “My Company” workshops, Attrecto’s collaborative sessions where the entire team could voice concerns and prioritise solutions.
“I had no management position at all,” he says. “But I saw gaps, and I asked if I could try something. Many of those changes we implemented back then are still in place today.”
Initiatives like that caught the attention of his leader Benedek Kiss at the time, and co-founder Gergely Kiss. They had been looking for someone for Benedek’s role, but they didn’t tell Shi.“It was probably a very good thing they didn’t,” he laughs. “I could just focus on doing good work.”
In September 2020, amidst the height of the COVID pandemic, Shi received a call asking him to come into the Győr office.
“I was worried I was going to be fired. I knew that I worked hard, but because of the worldwide recession, I thought that it’s a possibility. Instead, they offered me the Head of Business Development role.”
Two years later, he became COO. Now, CEO.
The Moment Everything Changed
Ask Shi about work-life balance, and you get an answer that cuts straight to the heart of why he leads the way he does.
I asked him to reflect on a moment he mentioned to me long ago, one that has stayed with me ever since. It was a turning point in his previous startup that would reshape his entire approach to success.
“My daughter asked my wife, ‘Why doesn’t papa smile anymore?’ She was six at the time, and she saw it clearly that I wasn’t smiling. Probably not just the smile, but also how I felt. That was the point when I realised something had to change, and I left my startup.”
He pauses, then adds what matters most to him: “I don’t believe you should sacrifice being a good leader, a good husband, or a good father. Family comes first. If I can have a great job and be successful while my family is proud, that’s a bonus.”
This philosophy extends to how he thinks about Attrecto itself.
“I don’t like the analogy that companies are families. In a happy family, you don’t fire people and don’t get fired. I’d rather use the word community. We’re a community where we grow together, until we grow together.”
He’s a self-described night owl who found balance. “My day starts at 7 a.m. sharp, when my wife and daughter leave for work and school. If something is in my head at night, I put it in Notes on my phone and in the morning I work on them.”
The North Star: People, Authenticity, Growth
When I ask Shi about Attrecto’s unchanging principles, he is clear: “Putting people first should never change. But with an extra layer – loyalty is great, and it’s strongest when paired willing to change and adapt together.” True loyalty, he believes, means being willing to grow alongside the company. It’s the commitment to evolve together that makes loyalty meaningful.
It’s this combination of care and accountability that defines his leadership style.
“I want to build a company where people are proud to work, where they grow and become better versions of themselves. But we also need to be accountable and drive the business forward.”
He describes his leadership in (almost) three words: “Collaborative, people-focused, and development-oriented.”
But he adds an asterisk to the collaborative: ” I am aware that not every decision will be voted on. I genuinely take feedback and incorporate it, but someone needs to make the final call.”
AI: Friend, Not Foe
When it comes to technology, Shi is refreshingly direct and admits that he still couldn’t write a line of code.
“But I don’t need to. My job is to understand what solutions are available and make sure we have the right team to deliver them.”
On AI specifically: “It’s definitely our friend. The marketing around AI creates bad expectations where clients often think something will take a day when it takes a month. But AI itself? It’s not going anywhere. It’s only getting stronger, and we need to use it in development, planning, and client communication.”
The challenge isn’t the technology but the business model.
“If we deliver projects 30% faster with AI, that’s great for clients. But it means 30% less revenue from the same work. So we need to find more business to grow. It’s a challenge, but also an opportunity that not every company will be able to do this well.”
The Project That Almost Got Away
When I asked about the project he’s most proud of, Shi didn’t hesitate: Snowflake, a data cloud company that’s become one of Attrecto’s anchor clients.
“That project taught me what it really means to stay committed,” he reflects. “There were moments early on when things weren’t clicking – the collaboration needed work, expectations needed aligning. But instead of walking away, we kept iterating.”
The key was recognizing when to adapt. “We evolved the team structure, bringing in people whose skills matched what the client needed at each stage. Now? The team runs brilliantly, and I’m barely involved day to day. That’s exactly how it should work.”
What stands out isn’t just the business win, but what it represents: “Yes, I’m proud we kept the relationship. But the real satisfaction comes from watching the team thrive now. They’ve taken ownership, they’re delivering exceptional work, and the client is happy. That’s the goal – build something that doesn’t need you to hold it together.“
The Speed of Change
Shi doesn’t sugarcoat the challenges facing Attrecto.
“Sometimes we’re stuck in this idea that we’re good at what we do, so we don’t need to change. But the speed of adoption has to be faster and faster each day. At every meeting, I’m asking: What’s stopping us from moving forward? And try to find the solution right there. ‘Is it a question of whether these approaches are right for us, or is it the challenge that’s universal across established software development companies: balancing stability with transformation?'”
He’s determined to understand the root cause. “We can support people with training, but we need to understand what’s holding us back from seeking change rather than just being forced into it.”
“We might have people who aren’t on the bus right now,” he acknowledges, referencing Jim Collins’ famous business philosophy. “And not everyone will want to be on the bus we’re driving. That’s okay. But for those who do, we need to be unified in our direction.”
He pauses, then shares what he hopes will be his legacy at Attrecto:
“I don’t expect everyone to retire here, but I want people to leave saying, ‘That was a good place. I learned a lot. I’m a better person than when I started.’ If we can build that kind of Attrecto alumni, that will be a real success.”
What Success Looks Like
When Shi talks about plans and strategy, something shifts. His face takes on a look of quiet determination, yet he never loses the human side that makes him approachable. It’s the look of someone who’s thought deeply about where he’s going.
Looking ahead, Shi’s vision is ambitious but grounded.
“I want us to keep being the trusted advisor to clients, locally and internationally, solving their business challenges with digital solutions. That might mean AI for some, custom development for others, or team augmentation for another.”
He pauses, then adds: “In 10 years, I’d love to see us as a multinational company with offices in different locations, different cultures, but all working toward the same goal. A high-performing team, which, by the way, isn’t a team that always agrees. It’s a team that challenges direction but comes with solutions.”
His personal goal? For anyone who knows Shi, this won’t come as a surprise: “To build a company so successful and self-sufficient that at 50, I could take two months off and travel Asia on my bike, knowing everything will run smoothly without me. Because if I wait until 60, I might be too old for that trip.”
He often talks about how meditative riding is for him and how his clearest thinking happens on those trips, how aligned he feels with himself. It just makes sense that his version of success includes the freedom to get back to that.
The Mirror is in Transit
Throughout our conversation, Shi returns to the idea of mirrors and how colleagues reflect back the health of the organisation through their openness and development.
“The biggest mirror is still ahead,” he says. “Right now it’s in transit. I need to wait for it to arrive before I can see the reflection clearly. But I believe that if we do what we set out to do, this company will be good. While it might change over time, it will remain a place where people are proud to work.”
When his close colleagues recently gave him positive feedback, he was moved.
“I’m not a soppy person,” he insists. “But knowing that’s how they think, that’s how I would have hoped they’d see me. I’m really proud of all of them for how much they’ve developed in the last two years.”
A Final Thought
As our conversation wrapped up after more than two hours, I asked Shi what he hopes people will think when he eventually steps down as CEO.
“That I fought for them. That I was fair. And that I was willing to make tough decisions, but that they were the right decisions. Anyone can make a tough decision that doesn’t work out. I want them to see that the tough calls I made were the right ones.”
That’s leadership distilled to its essence: care deeply, act decisively, and always put the mission first while keeping people at the center.
Welcome to the next chapter, Shi. We’re ready for the ride.
