Andy Hilliard

Founder · Author · Global Software Engineering Authority

Andy Hilliard

Building better software organizations across borders, cultures, and technologies.

Andy Hilliard is a founder, author, and global software engineering authority who has spent decades helping companies build stronger software capabilities through global talent, trusted partnerships, and modern operating models.

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Portrait of Andy Hilliard
Andy Hilliard with community members during Peace Corps service in Costa Rica, circa 1989–1990Costa Rica · 1989–1990

The foundation

A career built across borders

Andy’s belief in global collaboration began during his Peace Corps service in Costa Rica. It continued through his early work at Cognizant, the creation of a nearshore software company, and the development of Accelerance. Today, Andy works with software leaders and development firms around the world, helping both sides make better decisions about talent, partnership, culture, delivery, and the true economics of software development.

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Areas of expertise

A practical global perspective

Global Software Engineering

Building resilient capabilities across regions, partners, and internal teams.

Global Software Partnerships

Selecting, integrating, and developing high-performing software partners.

Cross-Cultural Leadership

Using trust, empathy, communication, and cultural understanding.

Software Economics

Looking beyond hourly rates to understand total cost, risk, and value.

AI & the Future of Delivery

How AI changes productivity, team design, governance, and expectations.

Featured thinking

Ideas shaped by experience

Selected perspectives on global software engineering, leadership, economics, and the future of delivery.

01Global Software Engineering

Outsourcing Is an Outdated Term

Why the old language no longer reflects how the best global software organizations actually operate.

Read source article ↗02Software Economics

The Hidden Costs of R&D Outsourcing

The expenses that never appear in the hourly rate, and how leaders can prevent them from undermining a partnership.

Read source article ↗03Delivery Models

Captive or Hybrid? Choosing the Right Global Delivery Model

How leaders should evaluate control, flexibility, talent access, risk, and long-term economics.

Read source article ↗04Partnerships

Choosing the Right Pricing Model for a Software Partnership

How to structure an engagement around value, accountability, and flexibility rather than apparent cost alone.

Read source article ↗
View all ideas →

Books & publications

Ideas built to travel

Practical frameworks for leaders building stronger software organizations across borders.

Cover of Synergea by Andy Hilliard

Featured book

Synergea

A blueprint for building effective globally distributed teams in a new era of software development. Drawing on decades of experience, Andy explores how trust, cultural understanding, leadership, and alignment turn distributed groups into integrated teams.

Explore SynergeaBuy on Amazon ↗
Cover of Outsource or Else! by Andy Hilliard

Management fable

Outsource or Else!

An earlier exploration of how a software leader uses external capabilities to address talent, capacity, and business pressure.

Buy on Amazon ↗
Cover of The True Cost of Software Development

Executive publication

The True Cost of Software Development

A 120-page executive guide examining 16 dimensions of software cost, performance, risk, and value.

Download the guide ↗

Podcast

Software Without Borders

Conversations with technology executives, founders, software leaders, and global delivery experts about building, leading, and modernizing software organizations.

Watch on YouTube ↗Visit Software Without Borders ↗
How Leaders Can Harness AI Without Breaking Their Business with Kristina CraneHow Leaders Can Harness AI Without Breaking Their Business · Kristina Crane
Thumbnail for Everything Broke at Once: The Shift to AI-Native Organizations

Everything Broke at Once: The Shift to AI-Native Organizations

AI is accelerating software development at a pace most organizations aren’t ready for. In this episode of Software Without Borders, Duncan Grazier, Chief AI Officer at Build, breaks down what happens when code creation becomes nearly free—and why that doesn’t translate to better outcomes. From broken pipelines to misaligned metrics, this conversation explores how AI is forcing leaders to rethink how teams operate, how performance is measured, and what actually drives value.

Watch on YouTube ↗
Thumbnail for Infrastructure, Innovation & the Story Behind SXSW’s Growth

Infrastructure, Innovation & the Story Behind SXSW’s Growth

In this episode of Software Without Borders, Andy and Tomás sit down with Justin Bankston, CTO of South by Southwest (SXSW), to explore the remarkable evolution of one of the world’s most influential cultural and technology events. Justin shares his journey from playing in rock bands and reviewing demo CDs to leading the software, IT, and innovation groups that power SXSW’s massive annual footprint. We dig into the behind-the-scenes engineering challenges, the explosive impact of Twitter’s 2007 debut at SXSW, and the technical coordination required to support tens of thousands of attendees across multiple venues.

Watch on YouTube ↗
Thumbnail for Creating Alignment in Times of Chaos with Joe Forgét

Creating Alignment in Times of Chaos with Joe Forgét

In this episode of Software Without Borders, we sit down with Joe Forgét—founder of Igniting Momentum and a leader who has lived through mergers, global team integrations, and the uncomfortable-but-necessary transitions that define high-growth companies. Joe breaks down what really happens when organizations hit those inflection points: culture drift, misalignment, operational chaos, and the quiet pressure founders and leaders carry while trying to scale.

Watch on YouTube ↗
Andy Hilliard with a current Accelerance software development partner

The company he built

From one global team to a worldwide network

Andy began as the founder of a specialized nearshore software development company in Costa Rica. He later developed a different model: helping clients select the right partner from a deeply vetted international network while helping development firms better serve the U.S. market. That model became Accelerance.

8,000development firms evaluated
35,000+software engineers across the Accelerance network
Top 1%accepted into the network
30+countries represented
Explore Accelerance ↗Explore the Global Network ↗Read Client Reviews on Clutch ↗

The journey

Experience earned in the field

A career shaped by building, listening, and working across borders.

Andy Hilliard with community members during Peace Corps service in Costa Rica, circa 1989–1990
1989–1990

Costa Rica and the beginning of a global worldview.

Andy Hilliard at a Cognizant Technology Solutions event early in his career
Early career

Learning the potential of global technology services at Cognizant.

Andy Hilliard with colleagues at a Latin America business conference during the Isthmus years
Isthmus

Building a nearshore software development company in Costa Rica.

Andy Hilliard with colleagues in an early Accelerance office
Accelerance

Moving from one development firm to an independent global software authority.

Andy Hilliard greeting a software-development partner during an international partner visit.
Today

Helping clients and software partners improve together.

Andy and Tomás Hilliard together in Costa Rica
Next chapter

Shaping Accelerance’s future with Tomás and the leadership team.

Explore the full journey →

Stay connected

Software delivery is changing.
The principles behind great partnerships are not.

Follow Andy’s work on global software engineering, distributed leadership, AI, delivery economics, and the future of software partnerships.

Follow Andy on LinkedIn ↗Explore Accelerance ↗Connect with Andy →