Our Story
Northalgo began as a global collaboration founded on trust, engineering excellence, and a shared conviction that world-class software can be built anywhere when the right people come together. What started as a small, cross-border partnership quickly evolved into a structured, high-performance organization—uniting specialists from diverse regions, disciplines, and technical backgrounds.
How Northalgo Began
Northalgo began from an unlikely collaboration between two software engineers working a continent apart— one in Finland and one in the Philippines. John was assigned to a client project through a Philippine-based software company, where he ended up working closely with Ryan. What started as routine teamwork quickly grew into a partnership built on trust, shared standards, and long nights solving complex technical challenges together.
Even after Ryan moved to a different company, they stayed in occasional contact, catching up not only about engineering work and project workflows, but also about the bigger patterns they saw in modern software delivery. Ryan, who had developed a deep passion for software engineering, AI, and machine learning, was also pursuing both a PhD and an MBA. Along that journey, he realized something important: many non-technical founders lacked access to the kind of technical insight, architectural thinking, and engineering discipline that modern products require. He wanted to help bridge that gap — to make advanced technical expertise more accessible to those who had the ideas, but not the engineering background. One day, Ryan sent John a simple message: “What if we built our own software company?”
That question became the turning point.
Around this time, Ryan met Markus — a respected IT leader in Finland known for his calm strategic mindset, Nordic discipline, and commitment to engineering excellence. The three quickly discovered they shared the same perspective: that combining Nordic-level craftsmanship with Philippine engineering talent and hands-on delivery experience could create a new kind of global technology company.
A startup where teams don’t just “work for” clients, but embed deeply within them.
Where quality isn’t an aspiration, but a culture.
Where distance doesn’t limit innovation — it empowers it.
What began as a global collaboration evolved into a shared mission: to build software teams characterized by Nordic craftsmanship, worldwide agility, and the kind of reliability that accelerates true digital transformation.
Today, Northalgo is still at the beginning of its journey — a young startup shaped by cross-border partnership, driven by discipline, and rooted in engineering excellence. We’re building with intention, growing deliberately, and proving that world-class software can come from the right people working closely together, wherever they are in the world.
Get to Know Our Founders
Ryan Ford
Chief Executive Officer
Ryan Ford is the visionary CEO of Northalgo Oy, where he leads a new generation of global engineering teams built on Nordic rigor, deep technical expertise, and unwavering commitment to quality. His mission is clear: to redefine how world-class software is built by uniting brilliant people across borders and empowering them with the discipline, culture, and craftsmanship that modern digital transformation demands.
Ryan’s journey into founding Northalgo is shaped by a rare blend of technical mastery, scientific curiosity, and strategic leadership. He holds a Master of Science in Computer Science—graduating with top distinction—and is advancing his expertise further through a PhD in Computer Science (in progress) and an MBA at Aalto University Executive Education (in progress). With earlier degrees in IT completed with distinction, Ryan has always pursued excellence with intention.
Before dedicating himself fully to Northalgo, Ryan worked as a Research Scientist at VTT and collaborated on international engineering projects where he developed a sharp understanding of what makes technical organizations succeed—or fail. He saw a recurring pattern: talented founders and ambitious companies often lacked access to the architectural thinking, engineering discipline, and strategic clarity needed to build modern, AI-driven products.
This insight became the foundation for Northalgo.
Today, Ryan is building Northalgo into a global engineering organization where craftsmanship is non-negotiable, collaboration transcends geography, and teams embed deeply within clients to deliver software that is reliable, intelligent, and built to last. Under his leadership, Northalgo is not just a company—it is a movement toward a future where great software can come from anywhere, as long as the right people are working with purpose.
John Kim Cazar
Chief Operating Officer
A graduate of BS Computer Science, from the University of the Philippines Cebu, part of the University of the Philippines System, the Philippines’ national university and one of the country’s leading public research universities. Over the past seven years, John has been deeply involved in software engineering, technical operations, and end-to-end IT project delivery. His experience ranges from building scalable systems to streamlining processes and guiding teams through demanding technical challenges. At Northalgo, John brings a balance of expertise, clarity, and steady leadership, ensuring every project is executed with precision—and with a bit of fun along the way.
Our Mission & Vision
Mission
To deliver Nordic-level engineering excellence through globally embedded teams — combining rigorous discipline, deep technical expertise, and close collaboration to build reliable, high-quality software that accelerates our clients’ digital transformation.
Vision
To become the leading global engineering partner — uniting Nordic engineering rigor with world-class talent to create intelligent, modern, AI-driven solutions that empower organizations and redefine what is possible in software development.