Cybersecurity leader SentinelOne to boost Czech economy with major investment

The Czech Republic’s IT industry is going from strength to strength. A high level of technical expertise, a favorable investment environment and rapid digitalization of the economy in the wake of the Covid pandemic are leading to rapid growth and lucrative employment opportunities.

A major investment is set to enhance the dynamism of the Czech IT sector. On Thursday, global cybersecurity firm SentinelOne announced a CZK 1 billion investment in the Czech Republic. It will establish a major innovation center in Prague employing 300 people and operating as its Engineering HQ for Europe.

The huge investment over a period of three years will see the company hiring across all IT engineering disciplines at all levels, including kernel, frontend, backend, validation, and data engineering, as well as data science and detection. Product development in Prague will complement existing facilities in the Americas, Asia, and elsewhere in Europe.

The Czech Republic was chosen as SentinelOne’s new European engineering base because of the strength of the country’s local talent pool.

“We are on an extraordinary growth trajectory, which is the result of our unwavering commitment to technology innovation and delivery. We chose the Czech Republic with that in mind. The Czech education system produces engineers of a particularly high calibre, so we see the country as the ideal base to build industry-leading products. To help realize our ambitions, forming partnerships with leading Czech universities will be a top priority for us,” said Ric Smith, SentinelOne Chief Technology Officer.

As the Czech Republic seeks to encourage foreign investments in the wake of the Covid pandemic, the country’s IT industry is seeing a boom. Growth of around 3.7 percent is expected this year, and companies are now struggling to find enough skilled employees to meet their ambitious plans, leading to impressive wage growth for both employees and freelancers.

SentinelOne’s investment in Prague will only increase opportunities for local IT workers. Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhánek hailed the economic benefits of the move for the Czech Republic, noting the significance of innovation-based industries for the future of the country’s economy.

“This is exactly the kind of high added-value investment that the Czech Republic needs to support its economic recovery, and is squarely in line with our objective to transform this country into an innovation leader in Europe. SentinelOne’s decision to locate its innovation center here is a strong vote of confidence in the Czech Republic,” Kulhánek said.

Around the world, success in the fields of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and other advanced areas of IT developments is increasingly seen as key to future prosperity. From Western Europe to the Far East, countries are redoubling efforts to develop the technologies of the future. Dynamic recent growth in the Czech IT sector suggests the country is succeeding in its own attempts to become a global innovation leader.