--- title: "Mikkel Schmidt | CEO and Founder | Azendo" description: "Mikkel Schmidt founded Azendo in Chiang Mai in 2010 and still leads it. He writes about dedicated offshore teams, managed delivery, pricing and AI engineering." url: "https://azendo.co/about/mikkel-schmidt/" --- 1. [Home](https://azendo.co/) 2. [About](https://azendo.co/about/) 3. Mikkel Schmidt # Mikkel Schmidt, CEO and founder of Azendo. Mikkel came to Chiang Mai from Denmark in 2010 and started a small agency called VSI GROUP. Today it's Azendo: around a hundred people in Chiang Mai and Bangkok, building dedicated, managed offshore teams for software companies in Europe and beyond. [Mikkel on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikkel-schmidt-69304710a/) ## From VSI GROUP to Azendo. The agency started with project work. Over the years its clients kept asking the same developers to stay on their product, so the company grew into long-term software delivery: one remote team per client, working full time on that client's roadmap. In 2022 it took the name Azendo, from the Latin _ascendo_, to climb. It's still one company in one place. Every specialist works from our own offices in Chiang Mai and Bangkok, with a service delivery manager a few desks away, and nothing is subcontracted. The [company story](https://azendo.co/about/) covers the rest. ## How he runs the company. Azendo is small enough that Mikkel still takes scoping calls with new partners, and Danish enough that progress gets reported plainly, good news or bad. He leads by _frihed under ansvar_, freedom under responsibility: specialists own their commitments and are trusted to keep them. That trust is part of why our specialists stay for 3.3 years on average, and why a dedicated team keeps its knowledge of your product. The [values behind every Azendo team](https://azendo.co/our-values/) start from the same idea. We built this company in Thailand around one belief: look after the people doing the work, and the work looks after itself. Mikkel Schmidt, CEO & Founder ## What Mikkel writes about. How to hire and run an offshore software team: engagement models, pricing, AI engineering and working from Thailand. * [Engagement models Team augmentation: what it is, when it works and what it costs](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/team-augmentation/) * [Engagement models Dedicated software development team: how it works and what it costs](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/dedicated-software-development-team/) * [Engagement models IT outsourcing: the models, the real costs and how to choose](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/it-outsourcing/) * [AI engineering Seven questions to ask any AI development partner](https://azendo.co/blog/ai-engineering/how-to-choose-an-ai-development-partner/) * [AI engineering Prompt engineering became a skill, and AI-native engineering became the role](https://azendo.co/blog/ai-engineering/prompt-engineering-is-not-a-role/) * [Engagement models IT staff augmentation services and the managed alternative](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/it-staff-augmentation-services/) * [Engagement models Offshore staffing: how it works and how it compares with a managed team](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/offshore-staffing/) * [Engagement models Offshoring vs outsourcing: two different decisions, explained](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/offshoring-vs-outsourcing/) * [Engagement models Outstaffing vs offshore staffing: one model, two names](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/outstaffing-vs-offshore-staffing/) * [Engagement models Staff augmentation: what it is, when it works and when it doesn't](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/staff-augmentation/) * [Engagement models Choosing a staff augmentation agency? Compare all three options first](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/staff-augmentation-agency/) * [Engagement models What is an offshore development center, and who runs it?](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/what-is-an-offshore-development-center/) * [Pricing and capacity How we calculate a fixed monthly fee that stays the same every month](https://azendo.co/blog/pricing-and-capacity/how-fixed-monthly-capacity-works/) * [Thailand and offshore Software development in Thailand: a practical guide for European companies](https://azendo.co/blog/thailand-and-offshore/beginners-guide-software-development-thailand/) * [Thailand and offshore Five reasons European companies build software teams in Thailand](https://azendo.co/blog/thailand-and-offshore/five-reasons-thailand-works/) * [Thailand and offshore Six offshore development mistakes, and how to avoid them](https://azendo.co/blog/thailand-and-offshore/offshore-development-mistakes/) * [Thailand and offshore IT outsourcing in Thailand: how the market works](https://azendo.co/blog/thailand-and-offshore/software-development-in-thailand/) * [Thailand and offshore Thailand vs the Philippines: why software teams are choosing Thailand](https://azendo.co/blog/thailand-and-offshore/thailand-vs-philippines/) * [AI engineering AI automation tools compared, and when to hire AI agent developers](https://azendo.co/blog/ai-engineering/ai-automation-tools/) * [Thailand and offshore AI in Thailand: the people, models and investment behind Southeast Asia's quiet tech riser](https://azendo.co/blog/thailand-and-offshore/ai-in-thailand/) * [Engagement models Staff augmentation vs managed services, and the one question that separates them](https://azendo.co/blog/engagement-models/staff-augmentation-vs-managed-services/) ## Plan your dedicated team with us. Thirty minutes with a service delivery manager. You'll leave knowing the team you'd need, what it would cost and when it could start. [Get in touch](https://azendo.co/get-in-touch/)