Iwo Szapar

Hybrid Work Expert

🚀 Remote-First Activist | Top 50 Remote Influencer | Since 2017, shaping the future of remote-first world

Aloha, I'm Iwo Szapar! Over the years, I've helped transform how over 3,000 companies approach work, leading to more efficient and enjoyable professional lives. 🌍

Key Achievements:

▪️Co-created the AI Maturity Index with Harvard researchers, democratizing access to enterprise-grade AI readiness insights
▪️Advised Ministry of Communications and Technology of Saudi Arabia on AI up-skilling for startups
▪️Launched world's first certification program for remote workers: Remote-how Academy, back in 2018.
▪️Established strategic partnerships with 150 companies, including Asana, Deel, Remote, and Safetywing.
▪️Created an expert community of 250+ consultants from companies such as GitLab, Netflix, and Hubspot.
▪️Co-organized 3 editions of Remote Future Summit, reaching over 11,000 attendees and featuring 140 speakers.

Born in Gdansk, Poland, I've embraced the 'slowmad' lifestyle, living in various countries while working remotely. This journey has enriched my perspective and fueled my passion for innovation. When I'm not working, you can find me reading history books, following international affairs, or indulging in my hobbies as a dog lover, amateur surfer, and DJ.

Connect with me to explore how you/your company can work smarter! 🚀

🚀Remote Work Advocate & Co-founder

Remote-how helps companies make remote & hybrid work, work. Since 2017. 

🤓 Remote-how Marketplace - the world’s leading remote & hybrid work experts marketplace. Work on your consulting and advisory projects with 200+ pre-vetted practitioners from top distributed companies. 

🚀 Remote-how Campus - a community where leaders of hybrid teams come to connect, learn and grow together with access to live leadership development programs, mentoring services, and more.

🚀 Our AI Maturity Index got acquired by ISG (Information Services Group).

Didn’t think a random virtual coffee with a stranger would turn out this way...

18 months ago, Eryn and I started talking about AI adoption chaos.

Everyone had opinions.
Nobody had data.

We launched this as a research project.

It evolved into a diagnostic tool.
Using AI to assess… AI maturity in under 15 minutes.

Our system interviewed 6,000+ professionals across 75 countries.

The data was clear:
• 92% of companies are increasing AI investment
• Only 1% consider themselves AI-mature

Companies weren’t struggling with AI tools.

They were struggling with knowing where to start.

ISG noticed.
They partnered with us.
Then became our biggest client.

Today, they acquired us.

That’s not how acquisitions usually work.
But maybe it’s how they should.
They knew the product deeply.
We knew their vision.
The fit was obvious.

ISG brings research capabilities we couldn’t build alone.
Global reach to take this from thousands to millions.
Resources to turn our platform into enterprise infrastructure.

I’m genuinely excited about what we’ll build together.

Now, zooming out for a second.

It’s been 8 years of building.

First Remote-how.
Then Remote-First Institute.
Now AI Maturity Index.

Many mistakes.
Many lessons.

And now — first exit.

I’m relieved before I’m excited 😅

Eryn — you made this possible.

That “virtual coffee stranger” became an incredible co-founder who pushed me, challenged me, and helped me grow fast.

Thank you. Truly. ❤️ 

Fun fact: we met only twice in real life. 
Once in Lisbon (where we decided to launch the company together - see picture), and second time in Saudi Arabia.

This entire journey was 100% remote.

To the 6,000+ people who took the assessment and trusted us with their data:
You made this possible. Every benchmark came from you.

To Steven, Hannah, and the entire ISG team: You believed in the platform long before the acquisition. That partnership gave us confidence this would work. Thanks a bunch!!!

And to everyone who thought:
“Just another AI survey” — fair skepticism.
We had to earn trust with data quality.

Now we close the 92% / 1% gap.

At scale.

With resources that matter.
Companies investing in AI need to know where they stand.
We’re building the infrastructure to show them.

PS. Yes — I am VERY excited. Like… a lot.

PS2. Full press release → link in comments 👇

Co-Creator of AI Maturity Index (Acquired by ISG) 🤙 Vibe Worker

Supercharging Founders || AI Tools for HR || Future of Work Ambassador 🇮🇳 || Revenue Leader💰 || Building remote-first Startups 🦄

💼 Helping Global Capability Centers (GCCs), Startups, Unicorns & Sonicorns Hire, Onboard, and Retain top tech talent in India — faster, smarter, and with zero noise.

I’m Shivam Karnwal — a GCC hiring partner, AI recruitment product builder, Startup advisor and remote work evangelist helping Global & Make in India companies scale elite teams in India.

✅ What I Do:

🔹 Staffing & Recruitment for GCCs, Startups, Unicorns & Sonicorns 

• End-to-end hiring solutions for Global Capability Centers in India
• Sourcing & screening engineers (SDE, SSE, Staff Engg, EM, VP)
• Offer negotiation, onboarding, and 90-day retention strategies
• Experience with product companies in AI, SaaS, and deep tech
• Contingent workforce for project-based teams

🔹 AI-Powered Hiring Ops

• Building recruitment AI platform (not GPT wrappers)
• Solving for speed, accuracy, and bias reduction
• Focused on product-market fit and automation for scale

🔹 Remote Hiring & Process Consulting

• Setting up distributed hiring for GCCs across India
• Remote-first onboarding, SOPs, KPIs, and culture rituals
• Contributor at Remote Work Institute – shaping global standards


🏆 Trusted by hiring teams across:
• Global SaaS product companies
• Early-stage to scaled-up GCCs
• Remote-first engineering teams in the US, EU, and APAC

If you're searching for a GCC staffing vendor in India, a recruitment partner for your capability center, or someone who understands AI-powered hiring at scale — let's connect.

📩 DM me or email: shivam@uplers.com

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Iwo Szapar

Shivam Karnwal 🌏

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The Battle

Iwo Szapar

Shivam Karnwal 🌏

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Iwo Szapar's LinkedIn Performance

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