A sit down with Or Lenchner: Q&A with the CEO of Bright Data

In a recent interview, Business Leader caught up with Or Lenchner, the CEO of web data platform Bright Data.

Before we jump in, tell us more about Bright Data…

We specialise in accessing, collecting, structuring and indexing public web data for multiple types of companies across almost every market sector. Whether it is for operational use, training smart systems, conducting market research or acquiring real-time intelligence about customers’ sentiments and more – web data serves similar to a close business adviser for the toughest and fastest decision-making processes.

I like to think that we’re innovative and really geek out about all things involving the scraping of web data. We have over 15,000 customers worldwide from enterprises to SMEs, start-ups, universities, and many others.

Your career background to date is certainly interesting, how did you end up as the CEO of Bright Data?

In 2015, I sent an email to the company’s then CEO, Ofer Vilenski offering my thoughts about the product. To my surprise, I received a reply from Vilenksi, who not only agreed with my feedback but asked me to meet him. After a very memorable meeting, I decided to sell the business that I was running at the time and join Bright Data as a product manager. Three years later, I became the company’s CEO.

My career path to date is reflective of Bright Data’s culture, values and brand. We lead by disrupting the web landscape. We keep challenging ourselves to be more innovative and push the data domain even further. I believe that disruption is the only way you keep anticipating and addressing market needs and with that ensuring that your customers continue to feel the value and see it in their own business results.

Today, Bright Data has around 450 employees and works with market-leading enterprises. Our disrupter mindset combined with our attention to detail and market needs are the driving forces behind our evolution and success to date.

What is your main priority now?

We are a product-led company first and foremost. We listen closely to our customers and make sure we offer them tools and products that take their business where they want it to be. This exchange-driven partnership is key to both parties’ success.

In addition, we have a comprehensive overview of our industry. We know that adhering to the highest standards of compliance and security is not just words – you need to keep putting it to practice and keep improving your own set-up. I like to refer to us as a self-regulated company. I hope and believe that the rest of the web data industry will follow.

Our focus for the future is firmly fixed on resolving those challenges that our customers continue to face daily, resting in the knowledge that the data they receive is reliable, quality-driven, and provides the right answers to their strategic decagons.

What are your future plans for the company?

The DaaS (Data as a Service) industry is now going through a revolutionizing type of progress. Data on demand in real-time is no longer just a slogan. Our company is actively shifting to address the full data cycle with a new set of offerings that addresses this gap.

In terms of our own growth, our team has grown rapidly over the last year, and we now have around 450 employees across our offices. We expect to see this level of growth continue, especially in the U.S., where web data platforms and services are being adopted by even the most once reluctant sectors.

This web immersive trend is becoming a new emerging fact, and all I can say is watch this space, an even brighter future is in our plans!