Company announcement no. 68/2026
Announcement contains inside information regarding Columbus' 2029 financial ambitions
Columbus announces ASTRA 29, its new three-year strategy for 2027-2029. Building on its expertise in business-critical technology and deep industry knowledge, Columbus aims to expand its role beyond implementing business systems to orchestrate and operate them. The strategy focuses on AI-enabled delivery, new agentic services and an expanded role as an operating partner to drive growth, improve profitability and increase recurring revenue.
By 2029, Columbus targets DKK 2bn in revenue, DKK 300m in EBITDA and recurring revenue of 20% of total revenue.
ASTRA 29 builds on the capabilities and customer relationships developed through New Heights (2024-2026). As AI changes both how businesses operate and how technology services are delivered and priced, Columbus sees opportunities to strengthen its existing business and develop new sources of growth.
"AI is changing what customers need from their technology partners - and how we deliver our services. With ASTRA 29, we want to take greater responsibility for helping customers run and improve their business-critical operations. At the same time, we see an opportunity to build a more scalable and profitable Columbus," says Søren Krogh Knudsen, CEO & President.
Strategic highlights of ASTRA 29
ASTRA 29 has three strategic priorities:
- Strengthen existing services through AI-enabled delivery
Columbus will integrate AI, reusable tools and accelerators into its existing services to improve productivity, delivery quality and profitability. Greater efficiency will also enable new commercial approaches that are less dependent on billable hours. - Develop new agentic services
Columbus will accelerate the development of agentic services already underway, helping customers connect, orchestrate and govern AI agents across business-critical systems, data and processes. These services will complement Columbus' existing offerings and create new growth opportunities.
- Expand as an operating partner
Building on its industry expertise, advisory and managed services capabilities, Columbus will expand its role closer to customers' core operations, providing advice on how technology can improve business processes while taking greater responsibility for operating and continuously improving business-critical systems and processes. This will create opportunities for deeper customer relationships, longer-term engagements and a larger share of recurring revenue.
Building on New Heights
During 2024-2026, New Heights focused on strengthening Columbus' position as a digital advisor, deepening industry expertise, broadening its services and improving profitability. Columbus has developed its capabilities across business applications, data and AI, and managed services, supported by its experience with Microsoft and Infor M3 technologies.
AI is changing the technology services market
AI is transforming how enterprise technology is developed, implemented and operated. As automation reduces the time required for traditional consulting tasks, traditional time-and-materials models face increasing pressure. At the same time, customers increasingly need partners who can integrate AI into business-critical systems and deliver measurable outcomes.
From implementation to orchestration and operations
Columbus aims to extend its role beyond implementation projects to orchestrating and operating connected systems, AI agents and business processes, with appropriate governance and human oversight.
For example, in manufacturing, AI agents can coordinate sales, production capacity, materials and delivery planning to accelerate order confirmation. The potential lies in improving the coordination and performance of business processes, rather than individual systems.
Columbus will focus on medium-sized and large international customers within Manufacturing, Food & Beverage, Retail & Distribution and Life Sciences, primarily in its existing markets.
Developing a more scalable business model
ASTRA 29 places greater emphasis on capturing AI-driven productivity gains through reusable intellectual property and fixed-price, outcome-based and other non-time-and-materials commercial models.
To support this transition, Columbus will strengthen strategic account management, cross-selling and collaboration across service areas, while investing selectively in reusable solutions and AI capabilities. Clear project scoping and delivery discipline will be essential to translating productivity gains into improved profitability.
"AI is also changing the economics of our industry. As technology enables us to deliver more with less effort, we need commercial models that better reflect the value we create rather than the hours we spend. ASTRA 29 is about turning these changes into opportunities for growth, higher productivity and stronger profitability," says Søren Krogh Knudsen.
Financial ambitions for 2029
The financial ambitions for 2029 reflect Columbus' expectations of continued growth in the core business, supported by new service offerings, improved productivity and a gradual shift towards more scalable commercial models. Together, these developments are expected to drive revenue growth, strengthen profitability and increase the share of recurring revenue.
ASTRA 29 sets the following financial ambitions for 2029:
- Revenue of DKK 2bn
- EBITDA of DKK 300m
- Recurring revenue as a share of total revenue of 20%
Assumptions underlying the financial ambitions
The financial ambitions are based on Columbus' current business position, expectations of moderate growth in its core markets in which it operates and the anticipated contribution from the strategic initiatives under ASTRA 29.
- Revenue growth is expected to be supported by continued demand for business-critical technology services, increased spending from existing customers and a gradually growing contribution from new agentic services. The ambitions assume that growth in Columbus' core markets will remain positive throughout the strategy period.
- Improvements in profitability are expected to come from AI-enabled productivity, greater reuse of delivery assets, improved resource utilisation and a gradual shift towards commercial models that are less dependent on billable hours. These improvements are expected to more than offset continued investments in new services and capabilities.
- Recurring revenue is expected to increase through the expansion of managed services, longer-term customer engagements and licenses, contributing to greater revenue visibility and stability.
The financial ambitions assume broadly stable macroeconomic conditions and no significant deterioration in customer investment activity. The ambitions are based on organic development and do not include potential acquisitions.
Presentation of ASTRA 29 and Q3 2026 results at 13:00 CET on 5 November
Columbus is hosting a live webcast and conference call on 5 November 2026 at 13:00 CET. CEO & President Søren Krogh Knudsen and CFO Brian Iversen will present ASTRA 29 and the Q3 2026 results. The Q3 2026 Interim Report will be published separately following the release of this announcement.
To register for the webcast, which includes the option to ask questions in writing, please use this link
To register for the telephone conference, which includes the option to ask questions orally, please use this link
A recorded version of the presentation will be made available on-demand at Columbus Investor site as soon as possible after the event: https://ir.columbusglobal.com/
Ib Kunøe Søren Krogh Knudsen
Chairman of the Board CEO & President
| For further information, please contact: CEO & President, Søren Krogh Knudsen, tel:+45 70 20 50 00 |
