Reinvention as the Key to Resilience

With this 50th issue of our corporate magazine, we look back on decades of progress – but even more importantly, we look forward. The business world is shifting once again. While many suggest globalization is fading, we view it as transforming. Trade is evolving, rediscovering its traditional roots and adopting new, digital means. As we expand further East and reinforce our presence in new regions, we are reminded that resilience comes not from resisting change, but from reinventing ourselves to meet it. The essence remains the same: value is created when local expertise is shared, and global networks thrive on fairness, complementarity, and mutual enrichment.

Reinvention also means practicing what we preach. For years, we have encouraged our customers to design flexible, future-proof licensing schemes. Now, we are putting our principles into practice by introducing broader models and pricing options. This creates the freedom to tailor offerings to diverse needs and markets – proving that innovation in business models is as critical as innovation in technology.

Technology itself is facing disruption. Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) will alter the foundations of security, raising new questions even for long-standing leaders. We have not stood idle: by teaming up with brilliant academic minds and trusted industry partners, we are preparing a clear path for our customers to transition into the quantum age without disruption. Reinvention in this field means transforming potential risks into opportunities.

But features alone are not enough; usability matters just as much. Reinventing our user experience is therefore central to our roadmap. Licensing and protection must be as intuitive as they are secure, ensuring that powerful technology empowers rather than complicates.

The regulatory environment is also reshaping our industry. Europe is setting ambitious frameworks that will define the digital landscape for years to come: the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) with its five-year update cycles and stricter certification for connected products; the AI Act, setting boundaries for trustworthy and transparent AI; the GDPR, safe-guarding personal data with uncompromising requirements; the Medical Device Regulation (MDR), freezing AI models once certified; eIDAS 2.0, enabling European digital identity and the business wallet for secure cross-border trust; the Cybersecurity Act, strengthening the certification framework for digital products; and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), driving transparency across supply chains. While some see these frameworks as compliance challenges, we prefer to see them as catalysts for excellence. Reinvention here means building bridges between regulation and competitiveness, helping our customers not only comply but seize the opportunities that come with higher standards.

This philosophy is embodied in our R&D work. Two flagship projects are setting new standards: ResiKomp develops digital competence depots to strengthen resilience in value networks. With Wibu-Systems’ Chain of Trust as a foundation, companies will be able to share critical knowledge securely and respond to crises more effectively. GIMLI, in turn, extends the reach of our award-winning AxProtector CTP by protecting programs compiled outside LLVM. By lifting machine code into LLVM-IR, securing it, and lowering it back seamlessly, we open new possibilities for software developers worldwide.

In all these areas – global expansion, business models, quantum readiness, usability, regulatory alignment, and research – the unifying theme is the same: reinvention. It is the way to resilience in an uncertain world.

For over 35 years, Wibu-Systems has led by focusing on protection, licensing, and security. The next years will demand even more agility, more creativity, and more collaboration. Innovation is not just a project in our labs; it is the essence of how we think, act, and partner with you. That is how we will continue to thrive – and how we will help our customers do the same.

 

KEYnote 50 - Edition Fall/Winter 2025