Equifax USA
Scaling Agile Teams for Equifax USA in Santiago
Context
Equifax is one of the world's three largest credit information agencies, operating in 24+ countries and processing data for over 820 million consumers and 91 million businesses globally. Their Santiago Development Center (SDC) in Chile concentrates approximately 60% of Equifax's global digital development — making it the company's most strategically critical technology hub outside the United States. As the SDC expanded its scope and project load, Equifax needed a trusted partner in Chile capable of rapidly forming high-performance engineering teams in one of Latin America's most competitive talent markets.
The Challenge
Equifax required complete agile squads assembled in just 2–4 weeks — a timeline far beyond what traditional recruitment could support. The Santiago market was severely short on talent with cloud architecture expertise and the financial-grade security standards Equifax required. Additionally, new teams had no dedicated office space at Equifax facilities, and any gaps in team quality or continuity risked disrupting critical financial data systems serving millions of users globally.
Professionals managed
Simultaneous projects
Faster team ramp-up
The Solution
23people built a repeatable model for rapid team formation centered on three pillars. First, flexible recruitment: rather than hunting for narrow specialists, we sourced engineers with strong programming foundations and core technology experience, then delivered targeted upskilling. Second, complete agile squads: every team included a Technical Lead, developers, QA engineer, Scrum Master, and Product Owner — ready to deliver from day one. Third, accelerated onboarding: an 80-hour intensive training program cut typical ramp-up time from 3 months down to 6–8 weeks, ensuring teams became productive nearly twice as fast.
The Impact
23people scaled the Equifax SDC from 2 active teams to 6+ simultaneous projects with 50+ professionals under management. All team formation commitments were met on time with 100% reliability. Thirteen or more engineers transitioned directly to permanent Equifax employment through a contract-to-hire model, while maintaining team cohesion and product knowledge. 23people replaced teams from a leading international consulting firm with zero service disruptions during transitions. The collaboration evolved from a staffing arrangement into a long-term strategic partnership, validating that well-formed external teams can become permanent organizational assets.
More Information
For more details, you can visit this link with public information about this project:
Equifax USA - InterConnect Platform.Engineering Retrospective
Read the technical deep-dive in our Public Handbook — process, technical decisions, and lessons learned.
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