As we enter 2025, the business world continues to evolve at a rapid pace, shaped by technological advancements, shifting market dynamics, and an increasing focus on sustainability and social responsibility. In this environment, effective leadership is more crucial than ever. The most influential business leaders of today are not only driving innovation and profitability but are also shaping the future of industries and society at large. These leaders are redefining what it means to lead with purpose, fostering cultures of resilience, adaptability, and inclusion.
Simon Hill is an expert in the document management industry. He has held leadership positions across a range of organisations, from small software companies to large global enterprises. As Managing Director for EMEA & Asia Pacific at Vasion, Hill is currently responsible for driving business growth in these dynamic markets.
From Insights to Innovation
Simon Hill’s journey with Vasion began with a recognition of a gap in the market. While working at a previous company, he observed a growing disconnect between customer needs and the available technology solutions. This observation, coupled with his extensive industry experience, led him to investigate alternative solutions. Upon discovering Vasion, he was impressed by their innovative approach and joined the company as Managing Director for EMEA & Asia Pacific to lead its international expansion.
Leadership in Digital Transformation
Simon Hill is a Managing Director at Vasion (formerly known as PrinterLogic), a software company founded in 2012 in the United States. With over 400 employees and growing employees across offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Netherlands, Singapore, the Philippines, and Australia, the company has experienced impressive year-over-year growth of 30-50%.
The company’s mission is to make digital transformation attainable to everyone, not just large international corporations with significant resources. This commitment extends to smaller organisations and individuals who may not have access to advanced technology. Vasion’s solutions aim to bridge the digital divide by enabling a wide range of users, including healthcare clinics, government agencies, K-12 schools, and non-profit organisations.
To achieve this, Vasion focuses on developing products that are easy to use, affordable, and capable of simplifying the digitization of processes for organisations with limited IT resources. Vasion software is implemented by some of the largest Logistics, Manufacturing, Healthcare, and Retail organisations throughout the world. In addition to these global enterprise companies, many government and education organisations within the US, Europe, and APAC also benefit from using Vasion’s SaaS solutions.
Revolutionizing Digital Workflows
Vasion specializes in digital transformation, focusing on streamlining processes that traditionally relied on paper-based systems. The company continues building upon its successful print technology across 13,000 organisations worldwide with a 98% retention rate The automation platform is designed to orchestrate the movement of digital documents, forms, and processes, allowing businesses to manage storage, retrieval, and interactions with these documents efficiently. The company is in the process of evolving beyond orchestration into an autonomous automation platform.
One of the automation platform’s key benefits is its ability to consolidate multiple software solutions into a single product. Instead of relying on 15 or more disparate systems across different regions, customers can reduce their IT overhead by using a unified platform from a single supplier.
Evolution from Orchestration to Autonomous Automation
By incorporating advanced AI tools, such as AWS Textract and Comprehend, the platform can convert and analyze documents for security purposes and deliver them back to the user. In the future, the platform will not only automate processes but also anticipate customer needs, enabling fully autonomous operations without requiring manual configuration.
The goal is to create even more efficient workflows by offering users the ability to streamline business processes further. For example, the platform will prompt users to bypass unnecessary steps, optimizing efficiency and accelerating decision-making. The company’s strength lies in its ability to integrate AI-driven automation into a single, cohesive platform that eliminates the need for multiple third-party tools and products.
Cloud Efficiency
Vasion provides significant support to IT teams by helping them with their cloud strategy. As a cloud-based solution, the company’s technology replaces traditional on-premise systems, reducing the need for multiple suppliers and simplifying IT management. This consolidation of services helps streamline overheads and reduces the complexity of managing various technologies.
Customers have reported a notable reduction in calls to their IT helpdesk, particularly in areas related to printing and document management. Traditionally, these types of issues are among the most frequent requests received by helpdesks. However, with the company’s technology in place, print-related issues have virtually disappeared, enabling IT teams to focus on more critical tasks and improving overall service delivery.
Path to Global Reach
Vasion continues to enhance its platform by integrating additional technologies and investing in advanced security measures. The company is combining various existing technologies into a single SaaS cloud platform, which it believes will offer a unique solution in the market. This expansion includes the integration of AI tools to further strengthen the platform’s capabilities.
As part of Vasion’s international growth strategy, Simon Hill’s focus is on expanding across Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific (APAC). A key aspect of this expansion is the localisation of the platform, particularly through language support, to accommodate the diverse needs of global markets. This effort will include adapting the platform, which has primarily been available in English, to other languages for a broader international reach.
Over the next three to five years, Vasion aims to drive significant global expansion, with a particular emphasis on increasing revenue from the APAC and EMEA regions. With its innovative technology already gaining traction, the company is poised for continued growth on the international stage.
Post-Pandemic Growth Strategy
Scaling a company to meet market demand has been a challenge for many organisations, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a shift toward cloud-based technologies, Vasion’s products became a key solution for organisations adopting a cloud-first strategy. To meet this demand, Hill implemented a partner sales model, enabling Vasion to scale rapidly without needing to establish a direct employee presence in every market. This shift has helped the company expand its reach while maintaining cost efficiency. Vasion has seen remarkable growth post-pandemic, with a significant increase in customers transitioning to cloud-based solutions.
Sustainable Success
Simon Hill’s leadership philosophy is deeply rooted in the principles outlined by Stephen R. Covey in “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and “The 8th Habit.” He emphasizes a “whole person” approach, recognizing the importance of nurturing employees’ spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical well-being. This approach focuses on fostering a culture of trust, recognition, and empowerment, where employees feel valued, respected, and engaged.
Customer Centric Growth
Simon Hill, alongside the executive team at Vasion, prioritizes customer engagement as a core strategy for continued success. The company ensures that its leadership is actively involved with customers, listening to their challenges and understanding their needs. This close relationship allows Vasion to stay ahead of emerging technologies and innovations, assessing whether these advancements address existing customer demands or reveal gaps that Vasion can address through development.
Vasion’s approach involves thoroughly evaluating whether new technologies align with the company’s vision and whether they serve a broad customer base. While some customer-specific requests may be beneficial, the company carefully weighs their potential to impact the wider market. The process follows a five-step approach: identifying customer needs, staying informed about future technologies, aligning innovations with Vasion’s vision, assessing the business case, and conducting candid reviews to ensure decisions align with the company’s long-term goals.
With a 98% customer retention rate, Vasion enjoys strong financial stability, allowing for investment in future innovations. The company is shifting from single-year SaaS contracts to multi-year agreements, ensuring consistent revenue and enabling a long-term view for product development. This commitment to customer intimacy and consistent retention empowers Vasion to innovate without the uncertainty faced by smaller companies.
Leadership Philosophy
Simon Hill’s leadership philosophy centres around the belief that customer success is paramount. He emphasizes the importance of providing exceptional customer service and supporting customers on their digital transformation journey. Hill believes that by empowering employees, customers and business partners with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed, Vasion will not only achieve its own business objectives but also contribute to the overall success of its customers.
Building a Culture of Coaching
Simon Hill, alongside the executive leadership at Vasion, places great emphasis on hiring individuals who align with the company’s core values. He believes that fostering a culture of coaching and mentoring is essential for the growth and success of employees. Hill’s and Vasion’s leadership proves effective in reflection of the high Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) of 93 amongst the EMEA and APAC offices in 2024. Despite his extensive experience in the industry, Hill and all members of Vasion’s executive team have personal executive coaches, continually working on their own development. This commitment to professional growth is deeply ingrained in the company culture, ensuring that employees at all levels receive coaching to reach their potential.
Over the past three years, Hill has received more leadership training than in any previous role, which reflects the company’s commitment to continuous learning. This emphasis on coaching is not limited to the executive team; last year, Vasion extended the opportunity for professional coaching to all employees and their families, offering six professional coaching sessions and six therapy sessions at no cost to them. This initiative underscores Vasion’s commitment to the holistic well-being and growth of its staff.
Regarding his legacy, Hill envisions leaving behind a culture of kindness, approachability, accountability and support, helping others achieve great things both professionally and personally. He believes that being a good, friendly person who empowers others is the essence of a meaningful legacy.
