Celebrating Our New London Office

Phil Turner, December 15, 2016

When we opened our first Okta office in London, nearly three years ago, it was a 100-square-foot room with eight desks. But times they are a changin’. We recently moved into our brand new office in the centre of London, which seats up to 100 people — a clear sign of our continued growth in EMEA.

Because we could not have reached this milestone without our customers and partners, it was important for us to celebrate the achievement with a get together. That’s why a few weeks ago, we hosted an office opening event and welcomed a panel of technology leaders from our partners Box and AWS, as well as a fireside chat with our CEO and co-founder Todd McKinnon and Russ Shaw, founder of London Tech Advocates.

Russ and Todd kicked off the event with an engaging discussion on the innovation gap, whether or not technology can solve the UK productivity puzzle (especially post-Brexit), and how London’s tech scene compares to other cities around the world. Todd also joined Box’s new SVP and GM of EMEA David Benjamin and AWS’ Danilo Poccia to discuss technology adoption and talent with moderator Kate Russell.

A question on everyone’s mind around the office opening was why we decided to continue investing in the region post-Brexit. Todd addressed the topic on CNBC Street Signs, emphasizing that an uncertain political climate doesn’t change the fact that businesses need to increase their productivity and security — something Okta can help them do. If anything, digital transformation and the need to stay competitive, find new channels for revenue, create even more efficiencies and scale securely is even more important in the face of change.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the event, and to everyone who has played a part in our EMEA story thus far. Here’s to the next chapter.