Growth is exciting. But it tests everything, especially culture. 

For consulting firms, growth creates pressure. Pressure to hire faster. Pressure to scale delivery. Pressure to improve flexibility and responsiveness for clients. Pressure to expand capacity without compromising quality or culture. Companies often respond by treating expansion as a staffing exercise: rapidly build a remote team, fill seats, lower costs, move on. For us, that wasn’t the goal.  

Creating strong human connections was at the core of our plan, because the complex CPQ and Q2C implementations we do are highly collaborative by nature. Therefore, when we began exploring international expansion possibilities, we looked for something that could become a true a part of PW, not just contracted out for hire.  

Our North Star wasn’t simply to add capacity; it was to grow responsibly and protect PW’s people-first culture. That culture has defined our company for two decades now and has served us and our clients well. It’s resulted in unusually strong client and employee retention. 

Following is a real-world example of how international growth can strengthen culture instead of weakening it. 

Building a Team vs Filling Seats 

Our search started with identifying best-fit regions, which led us to Panama. At first glance, Panama offered several practical advantages. The country operates in a compatible time zone for U.S. and European client support, making collaboration easier. English fluency is also remarkably strong, particularly for those coming from technical university programs.  

But what stood out most was not geography or operational flexibility; it was the caliber of candidates. We found people with intellectual horsepower, initiative, accountability, and genuine pride in their work. We quickly discovered a talent pool filled with highly motivated people who wanted more than just a job. They were eager to build careers. They brought impressive technical foundations, relevant internship experience, and a strong appetite for learning and growth.  

The Culture Test of Growth  

Finding smart, capable, and skilled people is important. But for PW, the cultural fit has become the biggest success story so far. Our new Panamanian teammates aligned naturally with our company values. 

For us, building a unified culture across international boundaries was non-negotiable. Our culture has always been grounded in low ego, high capability, curiosity, collaboration, and a genuine willingness to help each other succeed. We knew from the outset that if the Panama expansion was going to succeed long term, the new people would need to align with the human-centric culture we’ve intentionally built over two decades. They couldn’t be allowed to feel like a satellite office or outsourced extension. They had to feel like part of PW from day one. A “One-PW” mindset shaped our entire approach. Because if you are any part of PW, you are fully part of PW. 

We intentionally invested in building an on-the-ground presence instead of simply creating a disconnected remote workforce. This includes sending our leadership team and top architects to Panama to train on our methodology. That sense of ownership and commitment matter, and we wanted it to proliferate in Panama. So, early hires were treated as foundational culture carriers, not just technical resources. Leadership communicated clearly that these first cohorts would help establish and protect the culture for future growth.  

Our first group of new hires in Panama embraced the vision quickly. They bought into our company’s values, flexible nature, learning culture, and collaborative approach. And that momentum started compounding almost immediately. 

The second hiring cohort included lots of referrals from the original hires. By the third cohort, referrals had become the primary source of recruiting. In many ways, the expansion began snowballing organically. Existing team members trained newer hires. Internal knowledge sharing accelerated. Recruiting became easier because the culture itself started attracting talent. The momentum and organic inertia have been incredible to watch. One cohort trains the next. Referrals are replacing recruiting efforts. Knowledge is compounding fast and there’s a feeling of critical mass as it expands. PW’s relationship with the University of Panama and its highly regarded computer science program also became a powerful long-term talent pipeline.  

Culture Requires Action  

It’s easy to assume culture happens automatically. But this kind of momentum doesn’t happen accidentally. It happens when people believe in what they are building, and who they’re building it for.  

It’s work and must be reinforced intentionally, especially across borders and time zones.  

We approached the challenge proactively. PW leadership and SMEs were deployed to Panama and invested heavily in face-to-face interaction. U.S. executives, architects, HR leaders, program managers, and UK leadership all spent time on the ground in Panama to provide training, mentorship, and relationship-building. Team leads were established locally to help reinforce learning, accountability, mentorship, and cultural alignment. Panama team members were immediately included in the broader rhythm of the company. They were made part of our regular meetings, company events, and brief-but-bonding virtual happy hours. And, of course, we hooked everyone up with a motherlode of PW SWAG and encouraged them to proudly represent the company publicly. All of this quickly stitched new team members into the fabric of PW. 

What happened next surprised us. Our people in Panama began creating internal training sessions, lunch-and-learns, and collaborative learning opportunities on their own initiative. They didn’t wait for instructions. They took ownership and a snowball effect quickly started forming and gaining momentum. It was exciting to watch. 

Scaling Isn’t Just About Processes; It’s About Trust  

In a remote-first business, where employees are spread across geographies, human connection becomes even more important. Being deliberate about ensuring employees feel supported, included, challenged, and genuinely connected is the only way healthy growth happens. For PW, that philosophy did not change because we expanded internationally. If anything, we doubled down on it.  

The Experience Made Us Stronger 

Our Panama expansion has created benefits beyond additional delivery capacity.  

For clients, it improves flexibility and responsiveness. The nearshore model allows PW to support projects more collaboratively across U.S. and European time zones while expanding managed services and implementation capabilities.  

But internally, the impact may be even more meaningful. The expansion has created leadership opportunities for existing PW employees. Younger consultants now have opportunities to mentor, coach, and career-manage newer team members earlier in their own professional development. That kind of responsibility accelerates leadership growth in ways that traditional consulting structures often cannot. 

At the same time, the Panama team gains access to meaningful careers, mentorship, advanced technical work, and long-term professional growth opportunities. Many are working directly with modern AI, Salesforce, Oracle, and Quote-to-Cash technologies immediately after university graduation.  

The result is not just a stronger delivery organization, but a more connected and capable company overall. 

The broader exposure to different perspectives, cultures, and experiences also strengthens PW leadership itself. PW leaders involved in the expansion consistently describe the experience as personally transformative. Working across cultures creates better communicators, better mentors, and ultimately better business leaders. That inclusiveness makes the firm stronger. 

Building a Team is One Thing; Keeping it Together is Another  

Scaling consulting firms and multiplying SI talent is difficult. Retention and burnout are notoriously difficult in the consulting industry. So, most firms struggle with attrition, inconsistent culture, or unhealthy growth cycles. Many hire aggressively during growth periods only to downsize aggressively later.  

PW is focused on avoiding this. For us, growing globally without losing ourselves (and what’s made our company different/better) is vital. Our solution has been to build careers first; capacity follows naturally. Our approach has always centered on building sustainable growth around people, retention, mentorship, and long-term career development. Panama is yet another proof point.  

To date, the results have exceeded expectations. The team is scaling faster than anticipated. Early cohorts became productive surprisingly quickly. New hires adapted to the PW way of thinking and working sooner than expected. And most importantly, our culture held. In ways, it became even stronger. 

What started as an expansion initiative has evolved into something bigger: a model for how international growth can strengthen a business instead of fragmenting it.  

For PW, the lesson is simple: culture can scale. But only if you protect it intentionally.