Podcast powered by RingStone

John White

Partner at RingStone
Host

Hazem Abolrous

CEO at RingStone
Guest

Iain Bishop

CEO and Founder at Damilah
Guest

In this episode of the RingStone Podcast, Hazem Abolrous (CEO of Ringstone) and Iain Bishop (CEO of Damilah) discuss the realities of distributed software development—from building trust across borders to the game-changing role of AI. What emerges is a refreshingly honest conversation on what’s working, what’s not, and why a new approach to nearshoring—partner-shoring—is proving to be the way forward.

Key Insights from the Episode

1. Partner-shoring: A better way to nearshore

Partner-shoring is reshaping how companies think about nearshore development. Rather than operating as a supplier at arm’s length, the external team becomes a fully integrated extension of the client’s business—sharing the same vision, ownership, and commitment to outcomes.

“My team feels like they own the product. They’re aligned behind the vision. That’s what makes it work.” – Iain Bishop

It’s not just a resourcing solution—it’s a mindset shift, building mutual accountability and a seamless working relationship across borders.

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2. Getting distributed teams right starts with people

Access to global talent and flexibility are undeniable advantages—but distributed development only works when teams are structured intentionally. Cross-functional, autonomous teams that are set up to own outcomes perform best.

Blending new distributed hires with existing team members helps transfer knowledge and build rapport. And in-person time—even casually over food or drinks—remains a powerful enabler of team cohesion.

“That’s when they stop being just colleagues and start being a team.” – Iain Bishop

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3. It’s not just tools—it’s the process around them

Success in remote environments isn’t about choosing the perfect tool—it’s about creating clarity, structure, and seamless workflows across time zones. Poor processes that might be manageable onshore quickly become blockers in a distributed setup.

“You can’t just copy-paste the same setup you had onshore. You need to rethink it entirely.” – Hazem Abolrous

Rationalising tooling, aligning data flows, and automating routine steps are all part of creating a distributed model that actually works.

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4. Leadership & loyalty are still human

No matter where a team sits, leadership remains the key to performance and retention. Respect, psychological safety, shared purpose, and team-based recognition go further than any perks or systems.

“Treat people like adults. Respect their input. Create a culture where people want to stay.” – Iain Bishop

Leaders who lead by example, stay close to their teams, and invest in growth and recognition help foster long-term loyalty.

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5. Scaling smartly means managing risk

Scaling distributed teams isn’t just about hiring—it’s about risk management. That means starting with blended teams, understanding cultural dynamics, and ensuring proper onboarding and ownership from day one.

“Don’t make big bets blind. Blend teams. Learn the culture. Then scale.” – Iain Bishop

Scaling should be measured and deliberate, not rushed or spreadsheet-driven. When done right, it unlocks speed and resilience.

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6. AI is here—and it’s changing the game

AI is already helping development teams get things done faster and better. From writing unit tests to untangling legacy code, the tools are taking care of the repetitive stuff—so engineers can focus on real problem-solving. In internal tests, developers using AI completed tasks up to five times faster, often with higher quality.

“Some people with experience of the AI tools were producing the same applications five times faster and to better quality.” – Iain Bishop

It’s not about replacing developers—it’s about accelerating them. As Hazem put it, the time saved should be reinvested in collaboration because building great software still comes down to people working well together.

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7. AI + autonomy = A powerful mix

Autonomous teams supported by the right AI tools are more agile, more efficient, and better positioned to innovate. AI becomes an enabler, not a replacement, helping teams prototype, analyse, and solve problems faster—without removing the human oversight that ensures quality.

“Good teams are agile. Add AI to the mix, and you have a very powerful recipe. But it takes planning.” – Hazem Abolrous

When AI is paired with team ownership and clarity of purpose, the results compound.

Check out the episode on:

More than anything, companies should be considering how they can achieve a better balance in their workforce. UK-based businesses will always need to have employees in this country, especially those who are in customer-facing roles. However, when it comes to other positions, such as software engineers, it’s even more important to take a carefully considered view on where to base them.

Near-shoring – or, partner-shoring, where a client and near-shore partner work closely together as a single team to achieve common goals – is a solution that can not only help to keep costs down, but also reduce your risks and increase flexibility when it comes to resourcing.

It’s not just about the money…

One of the most obvious and immediate benefits of partner-shoring is financial, which can be a huge upside, especially when a lot of businesses are just beginning to emerge from some challenging years.

What’s more, partner-shoring can offer a greater degree of certainty, where your labour costs are fully known. Any company that has just hired a lot of UK-based employees will now be reeling from the shock of the Budget, as few anticipated the NI hike, or for it to be quite so extreme. And, of course, there’s no certainty that the costs to employers will stop there – there may well be further increases in taxation to come.

By partner-shoring, it’s possible to agree costs in advance and only pay for the work that is produced for you – so, for example, not having to cover people’s sick leave or parental leave which can often be an unknown quantity.

Having clarity on costs in this way makes it a lot easier for companies to plan ahead, particularly in these uncertain times when a wide range of external factors beyond mere NI rises – such as volatile market conditions – can create significant challenges for businesses.

Added to this is the enormous benefit of flexibility. The ability to scale up and down relatively painlessly is a valuable attribute for many businesses, and having a near-shore partner allows you to do this seamlessly, while the responsibility of employee protections remain the concern of the business you’re partnering with.

Acting responsibly for maximum value

That said, it’s important to emphasise that outsourcing some of your company’s labour requirements shouldn’t mean acting irresponsibly or turning to an unethical supplier that exploits its workforce.

In the outsourcing sector, there are undoubtedly bad actors in relatively deregulated markets who will underpay their employees and offer them few, if any, benefits in order to keep costs as low as possible.

In my experience, there is no value in this for anyone involved. Companies that do not invest in their workforce will earn very little loyalty from their employees. This can lead to not only lower productivity and poor outputs, but also high attrition rates that result in large amounts of key knowledge being lost on a regular basis.

On the other hand, near-shore firms that invest in their people and constantly work hard to ensure they have good employee experiences will always deliver fewer risks and greater benefits – and therefore greater value – to their clients. And that’s exactly what we believe in, here at Damilah. We invest heavily in training to ensure we enable our people to reach their full potential, as well as offering an attractive benefits package. By doing this, our employees pay us back many, many times – and our clients also reap the rewards of this.

In particular, we are proud that our annual staff turnover rate is just 2%. This saves on the expense of recruitment and onboarding (thus helping to keep costs lower for our clients), ensures that essential knowledge and experience remains within the company and is there for our clients’ benefit, and increases the quality, consistency and speed of our outputs.

Look before you leap

One final point to make is that, although the severity of the measures regarding NI may have come as a shock to many, you should avoid making a knee-jerk reaction.

It may be tempting, for example, to immediately cut your UK workforce or instantly put a freeze on recruitment, and transfer as many roles as possible overseas. While this may ultimately be the wisest course of action for certain businesses, it’s important to take a considered approach to finding the optimum balance in your workforce, rather than immediately jumping to the first solution that springs to mind. It’s also worth taking the time to find the right partner to work with.

Here, the benefit of experience and expertise can really pay dividends and help you to deliver the value for money and flexibility your company requires.

At Damilah, we have decades of experience that we are happy to share, as well as a team of highly skilled and motivated near-shore employees who partner effectively with our clients to deliver outstanding outcomes.

To find out more about how you can minimise the impacts of the Budget on your business, get in touch now to discuss our range of services.

Iain Bishop, founder and CEO, Damilah